So when I was about twelve or so I wanted to take my ears up a notch from my boring standard one hole earlobes. I couldn't decide what I wanted on them. So I researched all the possible options for ear piercing and decided on a nice, tame little standard cartilage piercing.
At A Glance Author anna Contact anna@bme.anon When N/A Artist me Studio home First thing I had to do was convince my parents. This required even more research on my part. My arguments were that it was a safe and sterile procedure that has been done many times. My parents agreed on the condition that I clean it every day and follow the care instructions for it. Of course I agreed and I was on my way to my third piercing.
I wanted to get it done with a needle not a piercing gun, because I figured that was better. So I had to find a piercer who was willing to pierce me. Finally I did and we set up an appointment.
When I got there first thing I did was decide what kind of jewelry I wanted in there. I chose a standard 14 gauge steel barbell for the initial piercing. So I sat down and the piercer ran me through the procedure real quick. Then she took and needle and made my hole. Ouch! It hurt for a minute but then it was all done and I had my pretty barbell through my ear. I was given cleaning instructions for my ear and told to call if I had any questions or concerns about my new hole. So I went home and showed off my new piercing to all of my jealous friends.
Well I cleaned it every day. And after quite a while it was finally healed. I was really excited and changed the barbell to a captive bead ring right away. I was content with my piercing for a while but then I decided I wanted to stretch it. It seemed like a very painful project but I knew the results would make it all worthwhile. So about a month later I bought a twelve gauge captive bead ring and stretched my piercing. I was surprised at the lack of pain and blood.
So because I was overly excited about my new quest and had a major lack of patience for this procedure (a major requirement) I stretched my piercing from a twelve gave captive bead ring to a 10 gauge captive bead ring after only two weeks. This was WAY too soon and I got a very red, sore, and oozing ear from doing so. I downsized back to my twelve gauge and decided to wait another month until I tried again.
One month later I tried again and this time I was successful in my stretch. Then I got all I needed to stretch to eight gauge. A taper and a plug this time instead of a captive bead ring. I had to wait about two months this time because my ears are really sensitive and I didn't want to hurt them by prematurely stretching them. So finally the big day came where I decided it was time.
I put some petroleum jelly on my taper and psyched myself up for the big stretch I took out my ten gauge jewelry and put the taper in. I slowly guided it through my ear and finally after a bit it was all the way through to the other end. I took the o ring off my plug and put it in my ear. Then I put the o ring back on and I was done! An eight gauge hole! This was something. It was significantly big. I couldn't wait to show it off. Not only could I not wait to show it off, but I couldn't wait to upsize it!
After about a week, I would sit down and go through the whole procedure of stretching it. I would have the jewelry and the taper and everything waiting there. I kept trying but my ear just wasn't ready to stretch. So I left it alone for two months and then decided to try again. I was very nervous and hopeful. I did every trick I knew to try to help it stretch better. And guess what, it did! A six gauge whole in my ear. I was on my way to the big times.
I decided it was time for me to choose a finishing size for my ear. I wanted something that was noticeably big but not big enough to make people gasp in shock. I decided on zero gauge because it was big but not too big and it had a lot of jewelry options because it was sort of the line between major stretching and minor stretching. A couple months after my decision and stretch to six gauge I repeated the procedure with a four gauge. Then with visions of a zero gauge hole, I repeated this every two months until I finally had that wonderfully big hole in my ear.
Sure it took a long time for me to finally reach my goal but in my opinion it was well worth it. I love having my hole and I am even considering getting one on the other side. This process is one that needs much consideration before doing because once you get a big hole in your ear, its hard to get rid of it.