I'd had my ear lobes pierced with a gun the summer before my freshman year of high school. At the time, I hadn't been made aware of the dangers of being pierced with a gun, but they healed very well, and had been at the standard 18 gauge for 6 years until I toyed with the idea of stretching them. I'd gone back and forth about a year prior between stretching and not, and had decided not to because I liked my regular earrings a lot; mom and dad had gotten me a few pairs of really nice ones – amethyst, pearls, 14K gold, etc., and I didn't want to give them up. However, eventually, the idea started to appeal to me again, and I decided just to do it.
At A Glance Author Lauren Contact Lauren@bme.anon When N/A I had started looking for all the information I could regarding proper stretching techniques and risks involved with the process, and how to deal with them. I considered myself pretty well educated at that point, so I decided that I'd take a whack at it. I set my goal size to be either a 4 or a 2 gauge – I wanted to keep them small-ish, so that I could de-stretch if I had to, and because I don't really think super-large gauges look very pretty.
I had some 14 gauge stainless steel seamless hoops that I had purchased from Hot Topic to start off with. They slid in with no problem, only a little resistance, as my holes were already stretched out a bit, having had them for 6 years. My lobes did begin to itch a little and dry out while healing, though, so I started moisturizing them with lotion, and within two days, they didn't itch anymore. I wore these rings for about a week, while I was home on break, and couldn't get any place to purchase tapers.
After the break, I bought a cheap acrylic taper kit, including sizes 12 – 0. After they arrived, I took a warm shower, and massaged my ears to prepare them for the 12 gauge stretch. This also went off without a hitch, with no resistance, but I left them in for a week anyway.
After the week was up, I again prepared my ears for another stretch. Going up to a 10 gauge was harder than the other two stretches. The taper slid through easily, until it got up to the part that was actually the 10 gauge. I had to breathe deeply and push hard-ish to get it all the way through. There was no bleeding and no blowout at this point, so I assumed the stretch went well. That evening, I took out the tapers to check on the status of my ears, and when I removed them after struggling for a while (I think my ears actually healed on to the tapers a bit), both lobes began to bleed. I panicked slightly, but decided to just clean them up and put the tapers back in.
I decided that they were probably acting up because of the acrylic material of the tapers. I'd read that some people have problems with acrylics, because they release chemicals into your body which can hinder the healing process. I figured I'd go to my local piercer and purchase some stainless steel plugs to wear instead of the tapers. After I got home from making my purchase, I took out my acrylics, only to find more blood, and this time, a little bit of puss coming out of the holes. I cleaned them up, and inserted the new plugs, and hoped for the best. Additionally, I sent out an e-mail to John Joyce (Scarab Body Arts) to get his opinion on the situation. He explained to me that I had probably stretched too soon or, by taking the tapers out and putting them back in so many times, I had probably torn the tissue. He suggested doing hot compresses and downgrading to a 12 gauge. I decided just to do the hot compresses and keep track of them, remaining at a 10 gauge, and to downgrade only if things didn't start to look up in few days. They stopped feeling fiery and didn't feel as swollen the next morning, so I guess not playing with them was helping for the moment. After about a week, they were doing much better; they weren't sore anymore, and I could take them out and put them in without them doing anything funny.
At that point, I decided that I would see if the 8 gauges would fit without trouble. Miraculously, they did, for the most part. They did crust for two or three days, but I think the crust was mostly the lotion I was rubbing into them to keep them from drying out. I cleaned them religiously, and another week later, they were doing dandy. I could finally see that my stretches were getting somewhere. I could actually see through the holes in my ear, and they didn't look like the "cat butt" many people describe. At that point, I decided I had probably tempted fate enough, and that I would wait the full month recommended between stretches while I was home for Christmas break.
(To be continued ...)