After reading numerous accounts on BME of horrific blowouts and 'stretched with a knitting needle' stories, I soon learned that stretching was a delicate art. You have to approach it with patience, and have to listen to when your body is telling you it isn't ready to go up a size.
At A Glance Author Metalfacedfrog Contact Metalfacedfrog@bme.anon IAM Metalfacedfrog When Three months ago Artist Myself Studio My room Location UK I orginally had my ears pierced with a gun by my friend's mother who had recently 'been trained' to use it in a beauty class. I then had small silver stars in my lobes which I flashed with pride to my friends. They were relatively unimpressed seeing as they had their lobes gunned when they were infants, and at the time I was a good 15 year old christian girl. However, this didn't crush my pride at all. I had just begun my journey.
1mm - 1.2mm
I wasn't even aware I had performed this stretch at the time! I had been shopping with some friends and picked out two steel BCR's which I couldn't wait to put in my ears! I went home and they slid in with very little resistance.
1 month later = 1.2mm - 1.6mm
A month or so later I was looking at jewellery again. This stretch was slightly more difficult for me. I purchased two dark blue titanium barbells which I thought would spice my lobes up a little. When I went home I rushed upstairs to change my jewellery. There was more resistance this time and I was confused as to why. I hadn't researched stretching much at this point and guessed that 0.4mm wouldn't be that much different to what I already had. The barbells went in after a few minutes of salt soaking and fiddling, and I was pleased with the result.
1 month later = 1.6mm - 2mm
Before this stretch I decided to do a little more research to get to grips with how i was modifying my ears. I learned not to go up in more than 1mm steps at a time and that tapers would make this process a whole lot easier! I bought a white and black acrylic claw and used Vitamin E oil as lubrication. These slid in nicely and caused me no problems with healing or crusties. They were easy to clean, although they did keep getting tangled in my hair!
1 month later = 2mm - 3.2mm
Again I used an acrylic claw for this stretch.
1 month later = 3.2 - 4mm
This time I used an acrylic taper and inserted a purple plug in afterwards. I lubed the taper up with Vitamin E and pushed it through slowly. This stretch made my lobe burn a little more than the others, but it was nothing unmanageable. When my stretch was healing I discovered that the cheap option isn't in fact the best option, and I decided to use steel for my next step. When I went into my usual shop to buy a taper, I asked the woman serving if acrylic was harmful in any way. She laughed in my face, which lost her a customer!
6 weeks later = 4mm - 5mm
Decided to use a steel taper this time and I also purchased two steel tunnels with black o-rings. It doesn't seem fancy now, but at the time I felt i had made huge progress, as the hole was visible on removing of the jewellery! Steel taper was easier to use and gave the fresh stretch a nice 'cool' feel.
7 weeks later = 5mm - 6mm
This was my hardest stretch to date. Salt soaks really became my friend! I waited as long as is possible for me, and bought another steel taper and a pair of 6mm septum bullet retainers to give my ears a different look. I had begun to massage my lobes with Vitamin E oil prior to this so as to break down any scar tissue that was forming and to keep them healthy! I laid out all the gear in my room and began to push the taper through. I felt a fair bit of resistance about 75% of the way along the taper, but decided to keep pushing slowly. I reached the end with my ear stinging, but I kept checking for blood and there was none so I was blowout free! The tough part was inserting the jewellery. The only irritating thing about using lubricant is that the jewellery kept slipping out of my hands onto the floor! And because I'm a clean freak, I sterilized it every time this happened...which led to a total of about 5 times! Luckily I managed to get it in on the 6th try however and had a cookie to congratulate myself.
2 months later = 6mm - 7mm
Stuck with my method of lube and steel. This time returned to no flare steel tunnels, as I find they are easier to clean. The first time I attempted to stretch my ears felt uncomfortable half way down the taper so I decided to leave it another few weeks and salt soak every other day. When I came back to doing it, this stretch was easy and uneventful.
10 weeks later = 7mm - 8mm
Waited a good while longer for this stretch, which pushed my short attention span to it's limits! Same story - Steel taper and single flared eyelet with Vitamin E oil. Although I did feel a lot of resistance with this step, it wasn't so much that would make think I would cause a blowout if I continued. It didn't bleed at all.
Now I am at 8mm and am staying there for a while as I just had my second lobes pierced and don't wish to irritate them! My advice to all prospective stretchers is: Don't go too fast, moisturise your lobes to keep them healthy and salt soaks all the live long day!