As the world of ear modders know, stretching fast is not the best way to go. So in this story please listen to your body and take it slow and steady. So got my lobes done with a piercing gun which is not the best way to start. Got them done at home with a 18 gauge gun by my mom and had no problems. Everyone says not to change your jewelry for a while, but after a week 12 gauges were set in. Didn't even feel anything after they were put in, but after a couple of days an infection developed and my left ear was in bad shape.
At A Glance Author Mad Mike Contact Mad Mike@bme.anon When Two years ago Artist Myself Studio My Home
Haven't had an infection before, but it felt like and scab so I just picked it and cleaned it out. 2 weeks later, got a couple of tapers and stretched them during class while the bros watched. Never felt pain like that before, left my eyes all watery. The tapers were left in for the rest of the day and jewelry was set in later. Stayed at 4g for about 3 weeks due to the fact that it was a pretty big stretch, and it left me really sore. As soon as they were healed, got some 2 gauge pinchers and went bigger. Things were going smooth but things would change when they get larger.
Eventually bought a 0 gauge taper, but didn't have enough dough to pay for some jewelry. Now the following is definitely what no person should not do, but this is what I did. Pen caps are for pens not stretching, but it seemed like an ideal "taper" to myself. So I took them, cut them shorter, and melted the ends into flares. Readying my ears, I placed them in and followed through without much pain at all. Luckily an infection never came across because my cleaning kept that away.
A couple weeks later... got some jewelry and finally reached 0 gauge. 0 looked small to me, so went searching for a shop that carried something that suited my growing addition. Around that weekend I found this small little hole in the wall and got some wooden half inch plugs. Professional piercers always say to use a source of lube, but I haven't done that with any of my sessions yet.
Still not using lube for the stretch, the half inchers had a real problem going in. I forced them in and felt this crazy pinching sensation followed by my ears turning bright red. This was my last stretch before my graduation, and thought it would be fine to leave them as they were. But this was becoming a full blow addition and wanted still to larger, but I wanted to wait till after school ended.
So graduation came and went, life began, and I was sent into the world. Life sucks as it seemed because money is practically needed for college and jobs around my neighborhood are hard to come by. My cousin was hanging out at my pad one day and she wanted to go out shopping. She asked me to come, so I figure what the hell and went with her and her boyfriend. Now we went to this shop that we found, and checked it out and it carries all types of body jewelry. Now my cash wad was not big and these tapers and plugs sale really caught my eye. Now my cousin's boyfriend borrowed a paintball gun from me a while back, but one night someone broke in his car and took it. The gun was a Tippmann 98 custom, which is expensive, but my dad found it for 20 bucks at a yard sale. Most of you would think that's bs, but it's true. So her boyfriend paid the difference and I went home with some plugs.
So 5/8 was the new size to reach, but don't do what I did and skip a gauge, the results could be disasterous. Stretching in the shower was my way of doing it, and the warm water softens my lobes and water worked as a lube. So finally I hyped myself up and went for it, damn the things were hard as hell to get through. The taper felt way bigger than I originally thought and my lobes were numbing up from all the tension. When they went through it felt as if my ears had been ripped off my face. So in the mirror my ears seemed fine and I decided to put the plugs in the following day.
The next day my ears were swollen as hell, but the left ear felt as if it had a cut and it kept itching. So I checked the back of it and noticed some of my skin was flopped over the taper and was scabbing up. What I did next is very stupid and dangerous, never do this when you get an blowout. People would say to downsize and heal... but I didn't know that when this occured. So the taper was taken out and put in the opposite way, hoping it would fix itself.
About 2 weeks later my quick fix worked out, I've dodged a bullet. With the end of 05 about to end my decision to stay at 5/8 worked out. Most of my relatives say that I'm crazy and can't blame them. Almost a year pasted when 3/4 seemed like a pretty good size and around August 06 is when 3/4 became my new gauge. No problems in this stretch whatsoever and they healed up quite fast. At the end of 06 is when an inch was the next step. Stupidly I bought the tapers, which costed 50 dollars plus the jewelry. The stretch wasn't as bad as the 5/8, no tearing no nothing, and I thought and inch would be the final size for me.
The year ended and I still wanted to go bigger and finally decided to stop at 1&1/2 inches. Teflon tape was great way of gradually getting bigger lobes, so that's what is used for the rest of my stretching journey. The shops around town didn't carry any sizes bigger than an inch so getting them online was my only option. I bought the 1&1/2inch plugs, and weeks later got them in the mail. They were HUGE, and would prove to be a challenge to reach that size. Stretching fast is very ridiculous, but I thought I could reach 1&1/2 in 3 weeks.
With my lobes healed, the tape wrapping began of February of this year. Every 2 days it would be vitamin e oil and tape wrap until I reached a size close to 1&3/8. With all the tape around my old plugs, my ear squeezed them outwards and jacked up my lobes. The tape was shaped into a "tornado" shape with the plug at the end of it. They kept falling out, my left ear had a real problem because it felt as though I had to stretch it over and over again when it fell out. My nails were scratching my lobe and it was bleeding, so downsizing was my only option.
There I am with one lobe larger than the other. Not going out for about a week, my ear healed and stretching started again. I ordered a pair of acrylic plugs and tried them on. The plugs were way too thin and they kept popping in and out of my ears. Both of my lobes were getting very irritated and eventually they got these weird ripples on them that freaked me out. Forced to take them out and order another pair with flares, I had to heal my abused ears. Now with my zip code changed in that month the plugs took longer to arrive. My lobes healed into 1&1/4 and the plugs finally got here. Since my lobes were healed I had to stretch straight to 1&3/8 and with luck I healed up fast. Currently I'm at 1&3/8 and will have to wait for a while to reach 1&1/2 soon. Hope this article shows everyone to not do what I did, and to say the old saying... Patience is a virtue.
PEACE!!!