So about 9 months ago, I decided that I wanted to get my ears stretched. I had been around a lot of people who had them and was always jealous but never had the courage to do it. I had my ears pierced by a mall mangler gun when I was around 10 years old but had taken them out at about 15. So when I was 21 I was hanging out with a friend in downtown Sacramento and decided to go see how much it would cost. We walked to Sub-Q and talked to Gary Vargas,(who now works at Mom's Tattoo's and Piercing in San Francisco) and talked about how big we could pierce with right away, and he told me he would recommend a 2 gauge. I was worried at first but just decided to say fuck it, and do it. We went back, everything was clean and sterile, he was really cool and we were joking around which made me feel at ease. Then came the piercing.
At A Glance Author Mr. Pink Contact mrpink@dcon.net When N/A Artist Gary Vargas Studio Sub-Q Location sacramento, CA I didn't know at first, but the way he would be doing this is piercing them with a 4 gauge and then automatically tapering them to a 2 gauge. And I gotta tell you, this hurt like hell. The 4 gauge piercing wasn't to bad, hurt, but not to bad. However the automatic tapering to a 2 gauge, wow......could not believe the pain. Amazing. Oh well. We did both and I was pleased. My lobes had this crazy throbbing feeling for like 3 days. Good stuff. Payed and tipped of course, and went along my way with my Dr. Bronners and some other aftercare products. Had some minor bleeding the new few days but very minimal. I was happy cause I didn't want to have to deal with all the crap of the small sizes, 18, 16, 14, blah blah, way to much work.
So I took my Piercer's advice and waited about 2 and a half months to start stretching. My first stretch to 0 was scary, little bit of pain but really not bad at all. From there I would usually wait about 3 weeks to go up to the next size, but would wait if Gary didn't think it would be good now. So I waited a few times. Next was 00, then 7/16ths, then ½ inch. 9/16's, then 5/8's. I WAS going to stop at this size. And did for about 2 months, but then I got greedy. And decided I wanted to stretch to 3/4's. Well that would've been fine if I didn't get impatient and try and do 5/8's - 3/4's in one step. Wrong move. My piercer had moved to San Fran to work at a new shop. So I decided to do it on my own thinking I knew what was best. This is the ONLY time in all my stretching that I really feel like I fucked up. So I went to another shop and bought some 3/4 plugs and a 3/4 acrylic taper. Went home and tried to shove em in with a hot shower and some soap. Well....I got em in, but holy shit did they hurt like hell. I was happy they were in and figured they would stop hurting after a few days.
They didn't. After about a week I knew I had to take them out. So I did. The inside of my Fistula looked disgusting. Not blown out I might say, just....weird and probably a little infected. So I started doing sea salt soaks and many cleaning's. I down sized back to 5/8's. I knew Id have to get some 11/16's so I ordered them, waited a few weeks for my lobes to heal and got the 11/16's in with no problem. Then 3/4's a few weeks later with no problems and no pain. So that was where I decided ok...im gonna stop. And I did, for about 2 months. Then.....I got impatient and jealous again of my friends with large lobes. So I got a pair of 13/16's and a pair of 7/8's stainless tunnels from my friend, got the 13/16's in no problem. Then 2 weeks later the same with the 7/8's. So that's what I'm at now and I couldn't be happier. Firmly deciding that your gonna stop is nice because you're a lot more willing to spend money on nice jewelry, Tigers Eye, Pyrex, Stone. its amazing the selection you have when your at a larger size.
I'm very happy with my results. My lobes are still pretty and blowout free. I love the shock and questions they get. Explaining them to my hard core Jehovah witness co-worker was fun. And she was surprisingly very curious and not all that disgusted.
So my only advice would be to take it slow and go one step at a time. And go to a Piercer who knows what there doing and is willing to tell you that you should wait. I'm glad I did.
Shane / Mr. Pink