I'd had my ear lobes pierced with a gun the summer before my freshman year of high school. They healed very well, and had been at the standard 18 gauge for 6 years until I toyed with the idea of stretching them. I'd gone back and forth about a year prior between stretching and not, and had decided not to because I liked my regular earrings a lot; mom and dad had gotten me a few pairs of really nice ones – amethyst, pearls, 14K gold, etc., and I didn't want to give them up. However, eventually, the idea started to appeal to me again, and I decided just to do it. (I should also mention that prior, I had not liked the idea of stretched lobes at all, and planned on never doing that to myself.)
At A Glance Author Lauren When N/A I had started looking for all the information I could regarding proper stretching techniques and risks involved with the process, and how to deal with them. I considered myself pretty well educated at that point, so I decided that I'd take a whack at it. I set my goal size to be either a 4 or a 2 gauge – I wanted to keep them small-ish, so that I could de-stretch if I had to, and because I don't really think super-large gauges look very pretty.
(Time between 18g and 14g = several years)
I had some 14 gauge stainless steel seamless hoops that I had purchased from Hot Topic to start off with. They slid in with no problem, only a little resistance, as my holes were already stretched out a bit, having had them for 6 years. My lobes did begin to itch a little and dry out, though, so I started moisturizing them with lotion, and within two days, they didn't itch anymore. I wore these rings for about a week, while I was home on break, and couldn't get any place to purchase tapers.
(Time between 14g and 12g = 1.5 weeks)
After the break, I bought a cheap acrylic taper kit, including sizes 12 – 0. After they arrived, I took a warm shower, and massaged my ears to prepare them for the 12 gauge stretch. This also went off without a hitch, with no resistance. I was sort of disappointed.
(Time between 12g and 10g = 10 seconds)
I decided that since the 12 stretch didn't yield many results, I could probably stretch up to a 10 successfully. I again prepared my ears for another stretch. Going up to a 10 gauge was harder. The taper slid through easily, until it got up to the part that was actually the 10 gauge. I had to breathe deeply and push hard-ish to get it all the way through. There was no bleeding and no blowout at this point, so I assumed the stretch went well. That evening, I took out the tapers to check on the status of my ears, and when I removed them after struggling for a while, both lobes began to bleed. I panicked slightly, but decided to just clean them up and put the tapers back in.
I thought that they were probably acting up because of the acrylic material of the tapers. I'd read that some people have problems with acrylics, because they release chemicals into your body which can hinder the healing process. I figured I'd go to my local piercer and purchase some stainless steel plugs to wear instead of the tapers. After I got home from making my purchase, I took out my acrylics, only to find more blood, and this time, a little bit of white stuff coming out of the holes. I cleaned them up, and inserted the new plugs, and hoped for the best. Additionally, I sent out an e-mail to John Joyce (Scarab Body Arts) to get his opinion on the situation. He explained to me that I had probably stretched too soon or, by taking the tapers out and putting them back in so many times, I had probably torn the tissue. He suggested doing hot compresses and downsize to a 12 gauge. I decided just to do the hot compresses and keep track of them, remaining at a 10 gauge, and to downsize only if things didn't start to look up in few days. They stopped feeling fiery and didn't feel as swollen the next morning, so I guess not playing with them was helping for the moment. After about a week, they were doing much better; they weren't sore anymore, and I could take them out and put them in without them doing anything funny.
(Time between 10g and 8g = 1.5 weeks)
At that point, I decided that I would see if the 8 gauges would fit without trouble. Miraculously, they did, for the most part. They did crust for two or three days, but I think the crust was mostly the lotion I was rubbing into them to keep them from drying out, because gunk stopped collecting when I stopped moisturizing. I cleaned them religiously, and another week later, they were doing dandy. I could finally see that my stretches were getting somewhere. I could actually see through the holes in my ear, and they didn't look like the "cat butt" many people describe. At that point, I decided I had probably tempted fate enough, and that I would wait the full month recommended between stretches while I was home for Christmas break.
(Time between 8g and 6g, Take One = 3 weeks)
Yeah, OK, so I didn't wait until after break. About 3 weeks after the 8 gauge stretch, I wanted to go up to the 6's. I couldn't run the tapers through, so I put the 8 jewelry back in, and then pushed a 14 gauge taper through with the jewelry, and then got the 6 taper in. It didn't hurt, bleed, or anything nasty. However, I didn't have any suitable 6 gauge jewelry, not having planned to go up until I got back to my dorm where I could go get some. I decided that I would risk wearing acrylics in a fresh stretch, and did sea salt soaks, warm compresses, and took the tapers out twice a day to wash them with Dial soap. I did this for two days, and then I thought I noticed that my lobes were itching. I decided to leave the tapers out while I took a shower that night to give my lobes a chance to un-react to the acrylic, but when I got out of the shower and tried to put the tapers back in, the end wouldn't even fit in – my lobes had downsized themselves to an 8 in the time it took me to take a shower. I took this as a sign that I should downsize to an 8 until I could find good healing jewelry, and did so. They were quite sore and crusted something awful for about three days.
(Time between 8g and 6g, Take Two = 2.5 weeks)
About two and a half weeks later, the family went out for a shopping excursion after Christmas, and I moseyed into Spencer's and bought a pair of double flared screw-on-end stainless steel plugs. That evening, after a shower, I stretched up to 6g. My right ear went beautifully – it didn't hurt; only the very slightest of burning sensations while stretching. My left ear was a little harder. I had to push harder, and the burning was deeper, and lasted for a little longer. With both lobes, after I inserted the jewelry, they were a little sore, and a little warm to the touch, but the next morning, they were just peachy. Three days later, I took the jewelry out to clean and inspect, and everything looked good – no crusting, blood, etc.
(Time between 6g and 4g = 3 weeks)
After I got back to university, I purchased a pair of stainless steel single flared eyelets, and taper-stretched my lobes up to a 4g. I hadn't ever used eyelets, and found them really difficult to get in, as they weren't rounded on the end, and didn't sit nicely on the taper. I wound up leaving the tapers in for about 2 hours to see if my ears would adjust to the stretch, making it easier to slide in the plugs. My left ear finally accepted the plug, however I couldn't get in the right one, even after a shower and lubrication. So, I put the 6g back in that hole. The following evening, I visited a local piercer, and she used a taper to help me get the plug in, and I tipped her $5.
(Time between 4g and 2g = 2 weeks)
My ears had stopped hurting from the 4g stretch, so I decided to see if the 2g taper would slide through easily enough to go up another size – and, it did. So, I got another pair of single flare eyelets. I showered, slipped in the tapers, followed through the eyelets (I finally figured out how to do it well – hold on to the taper and push the eyelet against it the whole way through, instead of letting the taper fall out), and was done. Amazingly simple. They ached only for the night, and were peachy by the next morning.
I think I'm done with stretching – I like that 2g is small enough to be discrete, while allowing me to wear the "cooler" jewelry. I plan on getting a lot of organics and maybe some glass for them when they're healed, and maybe eventually stretch up to 0g, if I feel it will suit me.
Re-reading this account makes me realize that I made some common mistakes while stretching, and hopefully you might take this into account when stretching your own lobes.