Questions about ear stretching

Ramza

Hi, I've read the thread in the sticky about ear stretching, have some questions about it that weren't addressed in said thread

1) What is an okay size to start at? I've read that typical ear piercings are done at 20g/18g, and starting there is recommended. I've read in a lot of places that if you've worn your ear rings for a long time (I've worn ear rings for 2 years in a row, got them pierced two years ago and never was without jewelry in my ears), that you can start at 16g. Would going from 16g to 14g for a start, be too harsh, or should I start at 18g and go to 16g?

2) What jewelry is okay for a stretched ear? I've seen loads of stretching kits online, that have all the tapers and plugs, but there's always more tapers then plugs, the set of plugs for the first two sizes is always missing (I'm guessing because plugs that size don't exist/aren't necessary?). Is regular jewelry okay for strecthing earlier sizes for which plugs don't exist?

3) I'm looking into buying a kit to save money in the long run. Best place to pick one up along with jewelry? I'm sticking to strictly looking at 316L SS and titanium ones, these are the best materials, correct?

Thanks to anyone who reads this post

Arawn

if freshly pierced you can go straight to 4mm i beliee, if pierced a long time depending on your lobes they will sometimes be bigger than you think.


Tbh you should at the very least go to a piercer for your first one so you know you're size etc and go from there

RhoDoDenDron

1) You can start as small as you like. If you have existing piercings, have a piercer check that they're centred in your lobe appropriately for stretching. If current piercings aren't appropriate, or you aren't pierced at all, then what a piercer can do is pierce to something like 2.4mm and taper immediately to 4mm

2) Stretching should be considered like a fresh piercing. Tapers are tools, not jewellery, and should not be worn for an extended period of time. I would also like to add that reputable body jewellery manufacturers stopped making acrylic jewellery (most of the hard plastic you'll see) in the '90s, as they're mildly toxic. Silicone is fine for healed piercing, but if using it to stretch, it doesn't allow your skin to breathe properly and there's a small chance at any stretch that it can mess up badly enough for you to loose your earlobe. Sound rare but it does happen. Would avoid silicone. Stainless steel is what I use mostly, because it's cheap. The thing with SS is that it contains nickel, which your body doesn't like. SS leaks more nickel the older it gets, so if you're just wearing it for a few weeks, then it's not too bad. Titanium is ideal, but expensive.

3) There are very few places online that I trust. Body Art Forms is decent, but you have to be careful to choose the reputable manufacturers on there, as they have jewellery lines from various different companies. Personally, as I'm based in Dublin, I just buy jewellery from Wildcat Ink as I need it, as they have a decent selection and are reasonably priced.

Lastly, and I'm sure you know this, don't skip sizes. Going up 1mm per month is a pretty decent rate, and you should leave it slightly longer if any of the stretches give you any trouble. For example, I'm leaving 2 months going from 20mm to 21mm.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

SillyMangoX

Sorry to jump in on this thread but it's on ear stretching too, when I was a teenager (jaysus now I feel old saying that!) I got my ears stretched as 'payment' after doing work experience in a piercing/tattoo studio. When I was getting them stretched there was no taper things left in my ear to be gradually stretched, it was a straight shove with the tapir and put in whatever mm jewelry was needed. I got up to 8mm but had to take them out for surgery and they shrunk so I didn't bother maintaining it. Am I right in saying this was the complete wrong way to do it? I just remember it being agonising!

Arawn

no it was correctly done, leaving tapers in is the wrong way to stretch

RhoDoDenDron

Arawn wrote: »

no it was correctly done, leaving tapers in is the wrong way to stretch

No, if it was "agonising" then it was most certainly wrong. Normal piercing stretched up to 8mm? Or am I reading that wrong?

As regards the actual stretching, tapering and immediately inserting jewellery is correct, but it all depends on the gap. Anything more than 2mm in one jump is total butchery.

SillyMangoX

RhoDoDenDron wrote: »

No, if it was "agonising" then it was most certainly wrong. Normal piercing stretched up to 8mm? Or am I reading that wrong?

As regards the actual stretching, tapering and immediately inserting jewellery is correct, but it all depends on the gap. Anything more than 2mm in one jump is total butchery.

Oh no sorry that's my fault I probably phrased it wrong, went up by about 1-2mm each time! Glad to know it was correct though, a lot of people told me it should never have been done like that!

RhoDoDenDron

It sounds spot on, except for the pain! You could just be particularly sensitive.

SillyMangoX

RhoDoDenDron wrote: »

It sounds spot on, except for the pain! You could just be particularly sensitive.

Yeah that's probably it, I have no bother getting tattoos but piercings are a different story :P

Killer_banana

If you stretched to 3mm and then took them out temporarily would it be noticeable your ears are stretched or would it look like a normal piercing? Tempted to try stretching my ears again (got to 3mm before, got an infection, went back to 2mm, took it out for an op and then never put it in again) and since I won't have a job till this year of college is done feel like I might as well while I can. Was just wondering when I finish and do (hopefully) find a job if I took out the jewelery while working would I manage to pass it off as a normal piercing or would it be obviously stretched? I know with the big ones you can tell really easily. Also if I took it out for work and put it back in straight after would it stay the same size or start shrinking from being taken out a lot?

Arawn

3 mm is not noticible

RhoDoDenDron

Nope, 3mm isn't noticeable, but you'll realistically be limiting yourself in terms of jewellery. Not much you can wear at 3mm, and there's very little difference between 3mm and standard 1.2 or 1.6

Killer_banana

RhoDoDenDron wrote: »

Nope, 3mm isn't noticeable, but you'll realistically be limiting yourself in terms of jewellery. Not much you can wear at 3mm, and there's very little difference between 3mm and standard 1.2 or 1.6

I've been 3mm before so I have an idea of the size and jewelery (I wasn't 3mm for long 'cause of the infection like I mentioned so couldn't remember what it looked like taken out). I know it's not a huge difference out but it's enough to keep me happy. If I could I'd go to 6mm or 8mm but like I don't want to go to the effort of stretching them to that and then having to let them shrink down again. It feels like a waste of time really. I don't have long hair so there'd be no way of hiding it either.