Ear Stretching 101

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First off, everyone you ask about ear stretching will tell you something different. Different methods work for different people and quite honestly, they can all work just as well as the other. I'll just tell you how I stretch and care for mine, and how to avoid blow outs, infections and scarring. I've been stretching my ears since I was 14 (that's five years now) though I haven't actually increased the size of them in two years :S I usually leave mine two months or longer before the next stretch, simply because I don't have a 'target size'. One ear is stretched to 12mm, the other is 10mm - baby sizes in my eyes!

[[ Various stone/ resin flared plugs ]]

So what is ear stretching exactly? How does it work? Ear stretching is a way literally stretch the skin of your ear lobe by gradually increasing the size of the jewellery you wear in it. With each stretch, 'micro-cuts' are created on the inside of the hole, which then heal so that your ear is a larger size and perfectly healthy. It's pretty common in 'alternative' culture, especially in recent years. I find a lot of people refer to is as 'guaging'...technically not the correct terminology, since a guage is a measurement size - it's basically the same as saying 'I'm millimetering my ears.' um...not quite, you're stretching them!

Ear stretching is measured generally across most of Europe in millimetres, whereas US/ Canadian folk prefer to talk in guages. I'll be talking in millimetres. Need a conversion? Check out this chart.

For more info/ FAQ, click to read more!



How to Stretch your Ears

1. Get your ear/ ears pierced professionally. Yeah, your mate can do it with a safety pin, but trust me, you're saving yourself a scarring and complications down the line - is it really worth saving a fiver for?

2. Once your ears are COMPLETELY healed (I'd leave it for two months), buy either a 1.6mm or 1.2mm straight titanium body bar. These are the standard sizes for most body piercings and will easily be available. If you're not sure what you're looking for, just ask the staff. They usually cost between £1 - £2. Push the bar through your pierced ear slowly, it will seem like it isn't going to fit at first, but it will with a bit of wiggling and determination.

3. After your ear has healed from the first stretch (give it at least two weeks) you can stretch up to 2mm. Use a titanium taper.

4. Continue in this way until you reach your desired size. Always leave at least two weeks between each stretch and always only go up by 1mm - otherwise you risk a blow out... A blow out is scar tissue pushed through the back of the ear. Not pretty! Once you reach 5mm, start wearing plugs or tunnels - don't wear tapers. If you get to a point where it is getting difficult to increase in size, try using tea tree oil to help to ease it in - never force a stretch.

FAQ

Q. Does it hurt?
A. Everyone has a different pain threshold. All I can say is try it and find out yourself, but don't expect it to be pain free.

Q. Is it normal for it to still sting the day after I stretch it?
A. Yep. It can sting up to the point when it heals. 

Q. My ear lobe is throbbing/ aching/ very tender/ swollen/ weeping/ bleeding - what should I do?
A. You can either choose to take it out totally and leave it to heal by itself - tea tree oil and antiseptics can help in the process. If you think you can still stretch, baby your ear like you fear it's going to drop off - rub tea tree oil into it at least three times a day, downsize about 2mm and let it get some air until it's totally healed.

Q. What is a 'blow out'?
A. Scar tissue which forms and eventually gets pushed/ pushes itself through the back of your ear. If you get a bad blow out, it's extremely unlikely that your ear will shrink back to a 'normal' size. They're also really unattractive.


Q. What's the difference between a taper, a plug and a tunnel?
A. A taper is a cylinder which is sealed at both ends and 'tapers' into a thin point, they can be straight, curved or spirals. Tapers are used for stretching until the healing point ONLY. Tapers shouldn't be worn past the healing point as the uneven weight distribution can cause uneven stretching, creating scarring and a longer healing process. A plug is a cylinder usually sealed at both sides, they can be used to stretch or to wear past the healing point. A tunnel is a hollowed out plug which you can see through from one side to the other, it can be used to stretch or to wear past the healing point.

Q. What materials should my jewellery be made from?
A. Practically anything so long as it is fully sealed and treated after your ear has fully healed. Only use materials which can be autoclaved during each stretch. Titanium, plastic and silicone are the most common. Stainless steel, wood, bone and polished stone are also quite popular.

Q. Where can I buy tapers/ tunnels/ plugs?
A. Your local piercing parlour will definitely sell them, a lot of tattoo parlours sell them too. Otherwise, there are LOADS of shops on eBay which sell body jewellery and plenty of web stores to choose from, too.

Q. What is the smallest size of plug/ tunnel? What is the largest?
A. The smallest I've seen or heard of is 2mm. Plugs and tunnels can be custom made, usually past 2" you will find it harder and harder to find 'off the shelf' jewellery and will need to find somewhere that will make them for you. Check etsy, only use recommended makers/ sellers!

Q. Will it shrink back to a 'normal' size? When is the 'point of no return'?
A. It's different for everyone. Mine personally shrink back over night from 12mm to around 8mm, it would shrink further the longer I left it but probably only as far as 2mm. 'The point of no return' is usually considered to be around 1.5", though it is obviously different for everyone.

Q. If I stretch it up to a certain size, will it continue to stretch by itself?
A. No, your ear can only stretch up to how far you want it to stretch.

Skulda further expands on a point I missed out on - "Depending on the size of the gauge, weight of the jewellery, and age of the person, your stretched ears can become loose and stretch a little larger. Ear weights (heavy jewellery) are designed to slowly stretch the lobe over time to fit a larger gauge piece. This is generally done for much larger gauges because lets face it, I've never seen a taper 2" wide so they aren't very common if they exist at all. Naturally as someone gets older the elasticity of their skin breaks down therefore sagging and if accommodating weight, can stretch. "


This is why I usually recommend light weight jewellery.

Q. Why does it smell?
A. Because you're not washing it, skank. You should wash both your jewellery and ear lobe every day. I wash mine when I wash my face - morning and night. I usually rub some tea tree oil into it once a week.

Q. My friend went from 1.6mm to 10mm in a week - why are you saying I shouldn't?
A. Because your friend will most definitely now have caused scarring/ a blow out, if they should want to shrink back at any point, they probably wont be able to. It's also likely that despite your friend's macho 'It didn't even hurt!' it will have hurt like a bitch - stretching at a healthy rate should not hurt more than a slight sting.

I think that about covers it. Any more questions? Feel free to ask. Remember, if in doubt - go to a professional piercer!

* Comments disabled due to jewellery sites attempting to spam the post.

11 comments:

  1. Good article, I think that covered everything!
    I buy all my stuff from bodyjewelleryshop.com, as it tends to be cheaper than most shops around Glasgow and they deliver SUPER quick. That said, I bought a stretching kit with tapers and plugs up to 8mm on eBay for around a tenner and used it over a period of around 7 months with no problems.

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  2. Great post - I found it super useful!! x

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  3. OOO you KNOW I love this post!! :D Now, help me get my husband on board? :/

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  4. great article! love this:
    Q. Why does it smell?
    A. Because you're not washing it, skank.

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  5. Oi. I always sort of cringe when non-professional peircers have an instructional guide on how to modify or stretch your piercings. This is by no means an attack on you.

    Being someone who has apprenticed as a piercer (not to full term), has done loads of research, and has a friend who is a professional piercer/body modification artist (typical, huh?) I have a few things to say about your article. AGAIN, not bashing you!

    "Q. What materials should my jewellery be made from?
    A. Practically anything so long as it is fully sealed and treated. Titanium, plastic and silicone are the most common. Stainless steel, wood, bone and polished stone are also quite popular."
    -When stretching you should always get a professional to do it. Doing it yourself may be fine for some, but is not recommended. Any reputable shop I have been to has NEVER sold tapers to people who want to stretch themselves or install plastic jewellery to people with freshly stretched ears. Only items that can be autoclaved should be installed. As you said, when you stretch your ears tiny open wounds can be made to increase the surface area of your piercing, so putting something not sterile in your ear can lead to infection. Just because someone put in something porous or plastic into their freshly stretched piercing and it didn't get infected doesn't make it right.

    "Q. If I stretch it up to a certain size, will it continue to stretch by itself?
    A. No, your ear can only stretch up to how far you want it to stretch."

    Not true. Depending on the size of the gauge, weight of the jewellery, and age of the person, your stretched ears can become loose and stretch a little larger. Ear weights (heavy jewellery) are designed to slowly stretch the lobe over time to fit a larger gauge piece. This is generally done for much larger gauges because lets face it, I've never seen a taper 2" wide so they aren't very common if they exist at all. Naturally as someone gets older the elasticity of their skin breaks down therefore sagging and if accommodating weight, can stretch.

    "Q. Why does it smell?
    A. Because you're not washing it, skank. You should wash both your jewellery and ear lobe every day. I wash mine when I wash my face - morning and night. I usually rub some tea tree oil into it once a week."
    -Because dead skin cells and sweat will be chillin' in your hole. :D


    Anyways, I'm sorry if my "two cents" bothered you. I am not a professional but these things I know to be true. :/ Have a good one.
    AND THANK GODS you cleared up the "gauging" thing. I HATE it when people refer to their stretching/larger sized jewellery as "gauges" or "gauging"!

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  6. @ Julia M, thanks! I've ordered from there too and usually get everything quite quickly. The stretching sets on eBay are usually a very good deal indeed!

    @ ..R May A.., happy to help.

    @ Wendi, haha, you know I posted it because you'd asked for help! I kept meaning to post it but never got around to it.

    @ liquoredonlacquer, haha :)

    @ Skulda, no worries, I usually cringe too. I posted this because I often get questions about my stretched ears and how I went about stretching them. I learnt about stretching from two friends who are both qualified piercers and asked their advice as I went along.

    In my opinion, it's perfectly safe for somebody to stretch so long as they do it gradually and responsibly. I've never heard of anyone going to a piercer to go up 1mm (which is as far as I'd recommend to stretch at once) though perhaps it varies place to place. You may see that in the 'How to' section, I only recommend titanium jewellery since it can be autoclaved and it's light weight.

    I totally forgot about weighted/ heavy jewellery and ages! I've never used them and age hasn't effected mine yet so it completely skipped my mind. I have added that entire section of your comment to the post.

    Your two cents don't bother me at all :) I found them very helpful and insightful!

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  7. :D
    Stretching up tiny amounts on your own can be fine, but wearing the taper probably isn't good because it's got a big pointy end sticking out and it can get caught and ripped. A clean piece of jewellery should be place in it with some medical lube for better healin's!
    I'm so glad my post didn't bug you. :)

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  8. @Skulda: Actually, it's pretty widely accepted that you DON'T go to professional piercers to stretch piercings for you, you do it yourself. Only you know how something feels, if someone else is doing it for you (given that you aren't stupid about it) it's more likely to cause damage because they don't know how it's feeling for you. Totally agree on the rest of your points, though.


    Also! For larger sizes, I'd say taping is a better alternative to weights, because weights are prone to causing thin spots.

    I haven't stretched in two years either. I'm currently at an inch and I'm not sure if I want to stay here or not, so meh. I'll chill until I get the urge.

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  9. Great post! :) I've only got one stretched ear which is probably about 8mm at the moment. I did mine myself and it took me months to get it to that size but better safe than sorry. A friend of mine stretched her ear to a huge size and did it ridiculously fast. It went proper nasty and her ear just looked really ugly - she ended up having to have surgery to fix it. :(
    x

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  10. ..Or you can be impatient like me and get your ears dermal punched. ;) Just be sure that it is what you want and won't regret it later.

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  11. Gorgeous jewelry!! I have some 6g jade gauges that have been waiting around too long. I used to have my stretched to 10g, but let them go because I thought my ears were to small to handle it. (They're uber tiny!)

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