At A Glance Author Dawnie Contact Dawnie@bme.anon IAM Dawnie When Two years ago Artist Meg (IAM:Serpenttitties) Studio Beelistic Location Cincinnati, Ohio I had been stretching my lobes for a total of two years when I decided to have my ear lobes scalpeled. I was able to successfully stretch my lobes to 5/8's of an inch before I ran into any problems with stretching. When I tried to stretch larger than 5/8's they just would not budge, no matter what I tried. I gave my lobes plenty of vitamin e oil massages along with downsizing and then re stretching up to attempt to help with my long term stretching process as well.
The problem I ran into with stretching was when I had first started out stretching my lobes, I had mistreated them by not allowing enough time in between stretches and in the process I had built up quite a bit of scar tissue in my lobes, so stretching any farther than the size I was at was a bit difficult. I knew that I wanted my lobes to be larger than 5/8's of an inch so I decided I would contact Meg (IAM: Serpenttitties) to ask her about scalpeling and if it would be an advisable option for me. She talked to me about the risks, the benefits, what to expect and then I thought about it for a couple of weeks before I made my final decision.
Obviously, since I am writing an experience on the procedure, I did indeed decide to have my lobes scalpeled! When I made my final decision, I called Meg and told her I had decided to go ahead with the procedure, and then we discussed jewelry options for the initial healing period, and we also discussed what size would be appropriate to scalpel up to from my current size.
Jewelry wise, with Meg's recommendation I decided on a pair of single flared glasswear studios clear tunnels in the size 7/8's of an inch. Meg went ahead and placed the jewelry order for me and then about a week later after the new jewelry arrived in the mail, I went in to see Meg at the shop she works at in Clifton (Cincinnati) Ohio. The shop is called Beelistic Tattoo and Piercing.
On my approximately 30 minute car ride to the shop, I just listened to music on the radio, and drove excited that on the way home my lobes would be larger than when I left home! I love the pre-modification feeling you get on your way to get the procedure done; it's a huge adrenaline rush!
Upon arrival to the shop, I parked and then went into the shop where I was greeted by Meg and also Sarah (IAM: Walnut). It was super exciting being able to see the both of them again and hang out for a bit before my lobes were scalpeled.
I signed a form (just the typical consent form), and let her re-copy my ID. Meg then showed me the jewelry that had arrived, which was absolutely perfect.
Meg then went ahead and set up for the procedure. She sterilized the tunnels, and then she set up her work tray she always uses. She had a one-time use packaged scalpel (and an additional one on hand just in case), along with a clamp to hold my lobe along with the jewelry when it was ready to be worn as well.
I sat down on one of her piercing chairs and then she started with my left ear, I removed my current ear lobe jewelry and she then put on gloves and she cleaned the ear, marked where she would be cutting with a one-time use surgical marker, and then she began to clamp my ear a bit and Sarah also put some gloves on to hand her whatever she needed during the procedure. When Meg began to make the cut in my ear lobe, I did not feel any sharp pains, it more than anything felt like a burning sensation, kind of like my lobes were really hot! Then the blood had begun to drip a bit, and Meg cleaned my lobe up a bit and then popped in the tunnel in my ear. She then continued on to my other ear lobe, where she did the same exact thing. A lot of times you hear that the second side of a modification or a piercing hurts more, but to me, personally, it felt the exact same as the other lobe, just a burning feeling in this ear as well! After Meg had put the jewelry in my left ear as well, I stood up and went over to the mirror on the wall to look and my new larger than before lobes. I had a huge grin on my face! I loved them! And the blood that you could see through the clear tunnels was really the "icing on the cake" as some would say! I was thrilled with how they looked!
Meg then cleaned up the area thoroughly as usual (I must say Beelistic is a very clean shop, which definitely is a huge reason I love it so much there, not to mention Meg is a fabulous artist who I trust very much). Meg then met me at the counter outside of her piercing room, and she wrote down and explained the aftercare for me. I then paid and tipped her for the procedure, and thanked her!
I left the shop, and I was on cloud nine the whole drive home! When I went to sleep that night, I took Meg's advice and slept with a clean towel under my head so it would catch any blood that would rub off or drip through the night. I woke up to blood-crusted tunnels, so I cleaned then very gently and continued to do just that through out the whole healing process.
It has now been almost two years since she scalpeled my lobes to 7/8's and I am now at 1 inch. I am able to sleep with my tunnels or plugs out for days at a time and I have no problems getting jewelry back in. I am very happy with the way my scalpeled lobes turned out, and I plan to stretch larger in the future.