My mother gave me my first ear piercings when I was 7 weeks old. As a registered nurse, she used a sterile needle and 14k gold "baby studs" she'd purchased, which had screw on backs to keep children from being hurt by the sharp pointed backs of regular "piercing" studs. After years of adding lobe piercings and other sorts of ear projects, I finally decided to stretch my lobes.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When N/A Artist self done With no finite gauge in mind, I began researching different techniques used. At the time, my money was devoted to paying for schooling and more important life needs, so I decided to try "at home" methods of stretching and save money on the purchase of tapers and jewelry. Someone had taken the time to create a listing of household items with a comparison of which gauge they aligned with, and I realized for the first time I was surrounded by potential "tapers." I used a caliper to measure the plastic ink holding tube of every ink pen in the house. Between old body jewelry and the pen tubes, I began developing my plan for stretching from the 18 gauge holes I'd have for 25 years to at least a 0 gauge. I'll add that the methods I used for stretching may not work for everyone, and certainly were not performed under sterile conditions. Having said that, also note that indigenous people have been performing modifications for hundreds of years without the benefits of autoclaves, Wavicide, or latex gloves.
The first stretchings, from 16 gauge to 12 gauge, were done by adding either sterling silver hoops, or surgical stainless steel captive bead rings to the holes. I was very patient, knowing I had the rest of my life to slowly stretch my ears, and that if I stretched too quickly, I could cause irreparable damage. The relatively small jump took about 6 months to complete. During this time I discovered that it is best to remove sterling silver jewelry from your ears while you are bleaching your hair. It causes a horrible discoloration to the silver, and the combination of the tarnishing and additional chemicals irritated the freshly stretched piercings.
The jump from 12 to 10 gauge was the first jump that caused some discomfort and measurable discharge of lymph from my lobes. I cleaned twice daily with diluted Provon soap, and also used a Tea Tree ointment to help keep the piercings from drying out. After a month, my lobes settled down. I left the piercings at 10 gauge for six months.
My right lobe piercing rotated very easily, and had apparently began to stretch on its own from the weight of the jewelry. I decided it was time to move up to 8 gauge. I fashioned "plugs" from plastic Q-tip barrels, cutting one end in a V shape, and melting it to a spike with the flame from a cigarette lighter. Using tweezers, I held the other end of the piece of plastic over the flame and pushed the melting end flatly onto a piece of glass. I applied some Astroglide to the plug, and slipped it easily into my right ear. I repeated the same steps for the left lobe, but the stretch did not go so easily. I used a small paintbrush to taper the hole open, and eventually was able to stretch the hole to 8 gauge. The stretchings were healed within the month by twice daily cleanings with Satin Soap and once daily sea salt soaks. I used one teaspoon of dry seal salt per 8 ounces of water, as warm as I could stand it. I filled a small Dixie cup with the solution and soaked my lobe s for 10-15 minutes. During the month of healing, I purchased a pair of 8 gauge Pyrex plugs. Once I determined there was no more discharge from the healed stretches, I exchanged the modified Q-tips for the Pyrex. I found out my right lobe was very eager to stretch again, because it "ate" o-rings and spit out the jewelry several times. I made several more "emergency" Q-tip plugs to keep on hand, because once a week I'd lose a real plug. Finally a friend donated a set of 8 gauge plugs to me, and my ears completed the 8 gauge stretch after 8 long months.
I ordered a set of 6 gauge flat back surgical stainless steel plugs from Anatometal, and as soon as they arrived in the mail, I was eager to try and stretch again. I was not amazed to discover the right lobe seemed all too ready for the new plug, but the left lobe was highly disinterested in the jump. I tried several different methods, including using the flame and plastic method of creating a 6gauge plastic plug from a pen barrel, but the left ear lobe would not stretch. It was almost a year before I was able to stretch the left lobe to match the right lobe. Several failed attempts prompted me to purchase a 12 gauge circular claw. I inserted the old 10 gauge CBR in my left lobe along with the claw. My goal was to gradually slip the claw thru the piercing until it reached the 6g I'd been trying for. I used o-rings to connect the CBR and the claw, and again used a water-based lubricant called "Embrace" to insert the claw along side the CBR. I was prepared to wait a month or so until the claw could easily slide thru the hole. In anti-climactic fashion, I awoke the next morning to see the claw had slipped through the piercing entirely over night! Using a small amount more of the Embrace, I was able to insert the flat back plug into my ear. I decided to abandon using any chemicals to heal the 8 to 6 gauge stretch, something I've seen referred to as the "Leave it Alone Method." I used no salt soaks, no antibacterial or medical soaps, and no cleaning of the piercings at all. They were healed in two weeks.
Again, I understand the professional piercing community may not endorse my methods, but the successful results of stretching my ears slowly over several years cannot be debated. I have no scarring, no blow-outs, and no "cat-butt" appearance to my holes.