I have been though an ordeal with my ears. I've had infections that sent me from ½ inch to four gage, I've stretched too fast, and started out bad. It started six years ago in the cheap-o piercing place at the mall. I was so proud that I could wear earrings. I cleaned them, and wore only silver in them. A few years later, I decided that my ears would look neat at about a ten gage. I was not so diligent in taking care of my ears as I had been before, thus resulting in infection and loss of jewelry.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When N/A I did not pay any attention to my ears until last year around November. I had wanted my ears to be a zero gage for a long time, but hadn't gotten around to stretching them. I finally got them to a zero gage, stretching from a four to a zero in one day, which is the reason why my ears have blowouts. Looking back, I realize how cheap it would have been to buy some smaller plugs rather than the taper that stretched my ears up two gages in a matter of hours.
Stretching so quickly might not have been as bad, had I invested in good jewelry. Instead, I had bought cheap acrylic to stretch with. Not only was the jewelry bad, I kept losing O rings, and my plugs would come out. My ears closed up a little, and I would have to re-stretch, probably causing me to be more susceptible to infection.
I went to a concert a few days after I got my ears to zero gage. I had fun, but I was not prepared for the havoc it would wreak on my newly stretched ears. The next morning, rather than having both plugs, I had one plug, and a blood-encrusted hole. I had to start over on one ear, which was a pain in the ass. I later discovered the miracle of silicone plugs, which won't get ripped out, no matter how hard the pit is.
I went from zero to double zero, to seven sixteenths. I made an error in going to double zero to seven sixteenths. My ears were not ready, but I had been pressured. A friend of mine made his living making glass plugs, and had managed to make me two pairs of custom plugs. I was exited to finally have good jewelry. One pair was seven sixteenths, and the other was one half inch. My friend wanted to see me put them in. It took me a half hour of pushing, tearing, and damaging my ears, but I finally got them in. I still wish I would have taken my time and waited until my ears were ready.
I stretched my ears to one half inch, and they stayed that way for about two weeks. One morning, I woke up with a severe infection out of nowhere. I put a smaller plug in the ear that was infected. Later that day, I was making out with a guy who liked to lick around my plugs. I had told him not to again and again; I didn't want an infection, and it seemed really weird to me that he would want to taste my ear gunk. I pushed him off of me, and showed him the infection. He convinced me that I needed to take the plug out. His ears were bigger than mine, and I trusted him. He was right, and the infection went away. It probably wouldn't have, had I left the plug in. The other ear had a blowout that I hadn't noticed until my make out buddy rudely pointed out that I had an ass hole on my ear. I decided to take that one out too, hoping the blowout would go down if I re-stretched slowly.
One of my ears had become infected without anything in it. I began to panic, and soaked it in sea salt obsessively. There is one shot glass in my friend's house that we simply do not use, due to the memory of my oozy ear being dipped in the salt water that was in it. My random infection delayed the re-stretching of my ears. For a week or two, I had even made the decision not to stretch again. As always, I came around, and stretched again.
Most of my practices were unsafe and should not be repeated. I encourage others not to make the same mistakes I've made. Today I'm lucky to have my ears at one half inch again, and I am a lot smarter about stretching. I wish I would have cleaned my ears and jewelry more often, stretched slower, and bought higher quality jewelry. Stretched ears are fun, infections are not. Be safe, and your ears will be beautiful.