You should avoid these for an initial stretch, as the grooves can get caught on your ear and cause damage or bleeding. After your ears are healed from a stretch, there are other materials that are safe to use in your stretched lobes. Plugs and other jewelry made of silicone or organic materials such as wood, bone, or horn are safe to use in stretched ears that have been healed from their most recent stretch.
Acrylic or plastic jewelry is also okay for fully healed ears. Double-flared plugs can also be worn in fully healed ears, but it will likely take some additional waiting time. Even if your ears are healed, it can take much longer for them to become loose enough to insert double flares.
Additionally, flare sizes can vary greatly between double-flared plugs. Only wear these plugs when it can be done without pain, and never force them into your ears. No, you should never skip sizes when stretching. Skipping sizes greatly increases the chances of causing trauma or damage to your ears, and may actually slow down or entirely halt your stretching progress!
Tapers should be used only as a tool to help safely stretch your ears. Tapers are not designed to be worn like jewelry. Wearing tapers in this manner can put uneven pressure on your stretched ears, and makes you look silly and uneducated about body modification! After using a taper to stretch your ears, you should put in a pair of single-flared or no-flared jewelry that is the same size as the taper and safe for fresh stretches.
There is no way to know how much your piercings will shrink after they have been stretched, so stretching should be considered a permanent modification. If you're not okay with having stretched ears for the rest of your life, you shouldn't do it! Although there are no guarantees about how much your ears will shrink or close, almost everyone's stretched lobes will shrink to some degree if you leave your plugs out for an extended period of time. The size of 2g is largely considered the "point of no return", meaning that 4g is approximately the largest size you can stretch your ears if you want them to shrink back to a standard earring size of around 16gg.
Stretching too fast and forcing your ears to stretch when they're not ready or not completely healed can result in a number of complications and unattractive results. A blowout is the term used when the inside fistula of a stretched hole is forced out the back of the piercing due to strong pressure. It will also avoid the build up of scar tissue.
Following this process it would take roughly two years to get to 00 gauge this way. Remember, you can do it faster too, but your earlobes will thank you if you take it nice and slow.
Oil massages are the best practice after stretching your earlobes and this is best done after a shower because they need to stay moisturised. Use natural or water-based products to massage your earlobes, for at least five minutes each which helps get rid of any scar tissue, dead cells, and remaining sebum. If you get any tears or injuries you should treat your newly stretched ears like any new piercing and soak them in sterile saline wound wash, not saltwater for at least 10 minutes a day to speed up healing and avoid infection.
We'd recommend using Neilmed sterile saline wound wash in the fine mist. Try to avoid alcohol, peroxide, and similar chemical products because they are quite harsh on the skin and will dehydrate it or aggravate your stretched ears further. First and foremost, use antibacterial soap to clean your hands and the area, or you risk getting bacteria all over your plugs.
Care instructions vary depending on the material the plugs are made of — i. Plugs and tunnels made of porous materials like organic plugs require substantially different care from those made with non-porous materials. Instead of washing them, only clean them with a damp cloth mixed with antibacterial soap, and pat them dry afterwards.
For non-porous materials antibacterial water soaking is the best and easiest option! The terms plugs , tunnels and gauges , are often used interchangeably, which leads to so much confusion when first starting with ear stretching.
The most prominent difference is between plugs and tunnels : Plugs are solid, and tunnels are hollow. When wearing them, plugs will fill the stretched earlobe, and tunnels will only give it shape while enabling anyone to see through the actual piercing. There are also plugs that are fully see-through, which might cause confusion because it seems like they are tunnels at first glance. Other tunnels , however, have decorative shapes inside the actual hole, making them appear like plugs at first, but since the decoration is still inside a hole, they are still considered tunnels.
Gauges are something different altogether and even though many people tend to use it to refer to plugs or tunnels , gauges are actually a type of measurement. The smaller the gauge size, the larger the tunnel or plug will be. Gauges go from 20G the smallest all the way to 00G, which is the largest gauge size. After that, larger tunnels and plugs are referred to in inches. The materials of your plugs and tunnels also play a part, with acrylic plugs and silicone plugs being more prone to this issue.
They need to be cleaned more often and not be worn over longer periods of time. Also, massaging it to get the blood flowing is a good way to increase elasticity in the ear lobe before stretching. Stretching too quickly and skipping sizes is a common problem that can do some serious damage to your piercings.
When you do this, you are doing more ripping of your skin than actual stretching. Human skin only has a certain elasticity, so going too big and too fast is enough to cause ripping and tearing of your skin. It's highly recommended to wait at least a full month between each stretch and to never skip sizes, so your ears will have minimal chances for long term damage.
Also, the slower you go the thicker and healthier your ears will be in the long run which is important if you plan on going to a large size. This is a good ear size chart to determine how long you should wait in between stretches :. Bleeding and pain should never occur during the stretching process! A mild tingling sensation is okay, but if you feel pain or see blood, you are stretching too quickly and should stop, downsize and wait for your piercing to fully heal before attempting to do any more stretching.
To prevent blowouts while ear stretching, make sure you size up gradually. Only stretch once you have healed from the previous stretch. Another tip to prevent blowouts is to use a lubricate while stretching.
The lubricant will keep your ears moisturized and more protected vs dry stretching. We strongly recommend using GaugeGear Stretching Balm. Rub the balm into your ears just before stretching, and rub some on the jewelry you're about to use to stretch up. It acts as both a lubricant and conditions the skin. It is also great for daily use to keep your skin soft and nourished. Go To GaugeGear. Keep it clean and hydrated! Use ear care solution for cleaning away crusties or little bits of sand-like tissue that comes out of your ears.
Jojoba oil is an all-around great product. Standard ear piercings are usually done at 20g or 18g for traditional earrings and that works out at roughly 1mm. This is usually where people start stretching from from there you can go into the next size up which is usually either 14g 1. This means that whether you want to stick with smaller gauge sizes or go all out you can always have some awesome jewellery to show it off!
If you're just starting out stretching check out our collection of small ear gauges. Most professionals would say that size 0g 8mm to 00g 10mm is the absolute point of no return. But, to be on the safe side most would recommend staying under 2g because at this point most people can shrink their ears back.
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