The concept of a piercing has always fascinated me. Their use in cultures is as various as there are places for piercings, which is seemingly limitless. I did my research and developed an appreciation for piercings. The act of modifying your body and voluntarily inflicting a wound on yourself is something that takes a strong character. Most people tend to avoid pain at all costs, but body-modders welcome it. I think we all have a masochistic side to us, physical or not.
At A Glance Author Ben Contact Ben@bme.anon When A year ago My first piercing ever was my right lip. Right after I finished high school I had been craving some sort of piercing. So in mid July I went and got it done at a local shop. Unfortunately it was pierced poorly and I got it redone a few weeks later. I kept the lip piercing in for a few more months as I entered college.
For about 4 months I was hole-less. I was in need of that adrenaline rush again. I always wanted my ears pierced and decided it was the time. So a friend who wanted his septum pierced and I went to a shop downtown. At first I just wanted a basic 12 or 14gauge on each lobe. Then I started looking into lobe stretching, where I found a ton of information online (thanks BME!). I learned all about the proper way to stretch, how to avoid blow-outs, and how to take care of stretched lobes.
The first thing I did was buy a taper kit on eBay. It was a set from 12 to 00g acrylic tapers. It only cost about $15 and to this day I think it was one of the best investments I've ever made. I always found organic jewelry to be the coolest and the health benefits of having organic jewelry appealed to me as well. So I went ahead and bought some pairs of 12 and 10 gauge plugs made out of glass and stone.
When I got my lobes pierced the piercer asked if I wanted to structure my lobes and I said yes, so he used heavier captive beads to help stretch the hole. The first stretch was from 14 to 12 and I found it mildly uncomfortable. I used provon and lubed up the taper and slid it right in. So I waited about two weeks and was very eager to stretch again. This next time however, was a bit more painful going from 12 to 10. I then ordered a few more plugs/tunnels for the next few gauge increments.
The larger the stretch certainly does not make it easier to stretch. Time to time I would force some of the plugs in, with minor bleeding. This would cause me to have to settle down my stretching routine of about every two weeks and wait a little bit longer until the ears were no longer tender. The best thing I did was to use sea-salt soaks on my ears as often as I could. I would just put a little bit of salt at the bottom of a shot glass and mix in water and soak each lobe for about 10 minutes. The pain at times was pretty strong; I just took a few breaths and slid the taper through. I would then leave the taper in for awhile until I could get the jewelry in.
I loved the routine I got into. It was so thrilling to get to the next size. I would listen to some music that inspired me and made me feel powerful right before I stretched. One of my favorite songs to listen to while I stretched was Third Eye by Tool. Modifying your body is a very personal and special thing. Many uninformed people look at stretched lobes as an act of belligerence and lack of respect for the body. I completely disagree with that way of thinking. Each time I stretched I treated myself with respect and used it as an act of empowerment and to build character.
So in about 6 months I went from 14g to 0g where I currently am today. I enjoyed every minute of stretching, between the pain and pleasure of seeing your body become your work of art. To me lobe stretching is about respecting your body and learning a thing or two about yourself. Taking care of each stretch gave me something interesting and thrilling to do. I can't stress enough as to how good it is to use sea-salt soaks and a taper and to give your enough time to heal between stretches. At the moment I am satisfied with my 0g lobes, but for the future who knows when the itch to stretch will come again? To this day my lobes are still my favorite body mod. Remember patience and respect yourself!