This was basically my first experience with body modification. I've always been interested but also concerned with how it would affect my personal life (as far as jobs, my family's opinions, etc.). Whenever I brought them up to my parents, and even younger sister (since I was about 17) they always seemed to frown upon it or just say "gross!" I guess these opinions turned me off to the idea for awhile, until now. So now that I've finally moved out of my house (hopefully for good) I decided stretch my ears to an ultimate 4 gauge. Despite what everyone else said I just wanted to do this for myself since it's something I've been interested in for quite sometime.
At A Glance Author equil Contact equil@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Peter Cavorsi Studio Body Art Studio Location Brooklyn, New York Unlike most girls I did not even have standard lobe piercings up until about three years ago (when I was about 18). I was always too busy either playing sports or something else that would interfere with any piercings. Growing up by the beach, a practically living there everyday usually stopped me from getting any piercings. My jobs (life guarding) since I was about 15 always kept me in the water and away from getting any piercings in my ears.
I've always been considerably attracted to the appearance of stretched lobes and have always wanted mine to look like that. So the other day I finally took the plunge and went down to the shop to see what I had to do, since I really had no idea where to start. Oddly enough, I don't think that I know a single person that has stretched lobes or anything of that sort.
I decided to stretch to a 4 gauge for a couple of reasons. First, this stretch was enough for me to obtain the appearance that I wanted without being too big or small. Second, if for some reason I have to remove them in the future (which I do not plan on doing), a 4 gauge may give me some chance of eventually closing up. Lastly, it gives the appearance of being stretched, while not being too noticeable. As a graduate student I'll be looking for jobs relatively soon. Although it would be nice to say that interviewers do not base acceptance on looks, it is unfortunately not true. So I believed, and hoped that this would give me the desired look without possibly comprimising any job opportunities.
So I went down to the shop with a bunch of questions, since I'm generally not too trusting of the internet. I had done a considerable amount of research before going to the shop but I just wanted to clear up some ambiguities and get a professional opinion. The guys were very helpful and I left knowing exactly what I had to do.
I left the shop and ended picking up 16 g to start off with. I wanted to make sure to go slow so that the results would be worth it and also to try to avoid any complications. About 3 weeks to a month later a purchased 12 gauge and they went in pretty easily. A month later I bought 10 gauge tapers which I also did not experience any problems with. After some research I found a lot of people recommended waiting closer to two months before moving to an 8 gauge or bigger (to avoid a blow out). The tapers cost me about $10. I also ended up buying anti bacterial ointment that applied to the taper. It was not difficult to fit in but I worked them in very slowly to avoid any unnecessary problems. Anyway, I followed this procedure (with a little more time between each consecutive gauge) down to about a 4 gauge (not wearing the tapers for more than a couple or hours a day). I would estimate that it took me about two years to go from a standard (20) ga piercing to a 4 ga.
I would definitely recommend taking your time. If you take anything from this experience let it be that this is a process that takes time to get desirable results. I am extremely pleased with my results and would not have done it any other way. Many of my friends have been making many [positive] comments and I love my new lobes! I have also interested a bunch of my friends in stretching and possibly looking into other body modifications. One of them has even begun stretching their ears (they're down to about a 10 ga now). Additionally, I have been on a couple of job interviews and I don't believe this has had any affect since I have gotten job offers from all of them. Overall this has been a very positive experience! I would definitely recommend stretching your lobes even if you are a bit hesitant because of reasons similar to mine