When I was sixteen I got my left ear lobe pierced. That just didn't satisfy the beast within. Then I stretched it to a 2ga. Still this inner thirst to change my outward to reflect the inner. Then I got my sadhus (my favorites until the real goods). I know, more people recognize them as inner conches, but referencing nomadic Indian monks is just a little more fun than a sea creature whose penis is eaten by gullible tourists. These have also proven to be the most notable, receiving the most attention and warranting the,"What else is pierced," question. I decided to begin stretching them shortly after I was told I couldn't. It just seemed like the thing to do. If the Sadhu monks can pierce it with a large knife, I don't see why I be able to stretch mine with some 316L implant grade material.
At A Glance Author Shane Contact Shane@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Did it myself Studio jewelry from Beyond Taboo Tattoo (the best ever) Location Macon, GA This is where I bust out disclaimers and scare people. Stretching cartilage is not the safest thing (not that any body mod is completely safe) you could possible rip the cartilage badly, and I don't know if you have ever played with chicken cartilage chicken cartilage, but once you make the initial tear the stuff splits like a blade of grass. I really don't know if that is how it works with human ears, but I have seen the pictures of sadhus ripped out and that just does not look like my cup of tea. But with care and precaution anything is possible.
Anyway back to the juice. I became good friends with the piercers and tattoo artists at Beyond Taboo Tattoo in Macon, Georgia (quick plug, best place to go, cleanest facility and staff members I have ever encountered in my days of mods, straight shooting, no bullshit, tell you how it is and let you make your own decisions) and they came to the concensus that it is possible but not for the careless.
But I am not the most careful. I am lucky with the health that I am in and I have been blessed with a great immune system, having said that this is just my story and the way I do things is not necessarily (it just isn't) the best way to do them. I decided to just randomly buy jewelry as I pleased (time wise not quality wise) and shove it in the holes. This approach was great and dandy for the longest time. I started at a 14ga, but like my lobe, that wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped. The 14's lasted until they healed and I was immediately buying new jewelry. I just used a little ointment and pressure and muscled them in, didn't use a taper or anything just the rounded ends of CBR's. Now up to 12ga and no real excitement, no pain, no blood, so splitting, not even crusties. So I went to the 10's the same way, ointment and push, a little feeling of pressure and warmth but nothing more. I decided to let the piercer put in the 8's, not because I thought it was necessary I was just hanging out for a while anyway and he was bored at the time (dead time of day). Had the 8's for the better part of 8 months, they were just sweet vampire claw CBR's really shiny and perfect size. Then I decided I wanted to take my nipples to 8's and had just kinda thought about going up with the sadhus no real decisiveness, so to keep from buying another set of 8ga CBR's and then having an extra later, I just decided to go ahead with the 6's. This is where the dumb moves come in.
I bought the CBR's and didn't just go ahead and let the piercer put them in (even though I had to get them to loosen up the rings a little so I could use my cheap opening pliers to get the balls in and out) and didn't get any lube for it, I did however purchase a taper because I will eventually need it again for my apadravya. I got a little over zealous about putting them in so I just went in the bathroom at work, took the plugs I had in out, licked the taper to lubricate it and rammed it through with the CBR's right behind. I never washed my hands, cleaned my ears or anything. THAT WOULD BE THE WRONG WAY TO DO THAT IF YOU ARE TRYING TO GET IDEAS. So now it is taking a really long time for them to heal, despite my kickin immune system. They hurt like hell all that day, they bled a little that night, and the crusties have been unyielding and horrendous. My girlfriend actully asked me if my ears were supposed to have boogers (she doesn't do the whole mod thing, therefore doesn't get the crusty thing). But they look awesome and once they finish healing I think they might be finished. Plus I am starting a new job and anything much bigger would be too hard to hid.