I come from a conservative Christian family, so body modifications outside of a lone 20g lobe piercing were absolutely a no-go. My ears were originally pierced when I was an infant at Walmart. The wonky placement came back to bite me in the ass later.
At A Glance Author raevanaa Contact raevanaa@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Self done/Trilogy piercers Studio Home/Trilogy Location Memphis, TN My interest in body modification started in 2003, when I decided that I wanted a navel ring. Searching around the internet for pictures of navel rings led me to BMEzine. It wasn't long before I stumbled upon stretched lobe piercings in the "ear" section. Initially, I was grossed out by stretched lobes, as I hadn't seen them outside of the pictures online and a past incident in which a couple with large lobes passed my mother and I on the street. She told me that those people were "freaks" and that that was an "ungodly thing to do to your body." Irony, right?
Fast forward six years: I an eighteen, legal, and itching for a new piercing. I'm pretty limited to what I can do: in nursing school, cartilage and facial piercings are prohibited. One night while browsing this site, I came upon stretched lobes once again, except this time, I was completely enamored with the idea. I figured, "Hey, I could stretch my lobes to a moderate size and get away with it. Plus my mom wouldn't bitch as long as I don't wear tunnels around her." It seemed like a great idea.
A week later, I ordered a stretching kit that spanned from 14g-00g for $24. I didn't quite understand the risks of stretching with acrylic jewelry, so I opted for the cheaper set in acrylic. It came with a taper for each size and two plugs with grooves for the o-rings. I didn't quite realize the benefit of these grooves then, but I would later. That day, I began stretching to 14g. To my surprise, the 14g went straight through, presumably from me wearing heavy, dangly 20g earrings. I went straight ahead to the 12g and with a little struggle, they went straight through. I took an Advil and went to bed quite pleased with myself that night.
The one downfall of stretching kits is that you are forced to look at the larger sizes that you want to be able to fit so badly. It really is a test of your self discipline. Having the taper and corresponding plugs on hand can tempt one to stretch too fast or even skip sizes. I can honestly say that I succumbed to stretching too fast on a number of occassions throughout my stretching journey. A week after stretching to 12g, I figured I was ready for 10g. At that time, I was using Neosporin as my lube. I struggled with the taper for a while, and eventually I got so frustrated with trying to get it through, I shoved the plugs through. Needless to say, it hurt like a bitch. I was blessed on that occassion to not have had a blowout or tear, but had I waited, I could have saved myself quite a bit of pain.
Another week later, those little red 8g plugs were calling my name. I was in love with the idea of entering single digit sizes as it put me even closer to my goal size of 0g. I tried to get the taper through, but it would not go through. I thought maybe if I tried shoving the 8g plugs through, i'd have the same luck I had the last time. I was aware that I should have waited at least a month, but I was desperate to be at 8g. After lubing up my plugs with Neosporin, I began to shove the plugs through. They would not budge. Afer researching online, I found out about taping my plugs. Because I didn't have any PTFE tape on hand, I wrapped my 10g plugs with a single layer of electrical tape. It was a litlle uncomfortable, but I left them in for one ngiht. The next morning, my lobes were unusually sore. Upon further inspection, I saw that I had very swollen ears, both of which were oozing pus and blood. I quickly removed the taped plugs and cleaned my ears thoroughly with hand soap and peroxide. Then, against my better judgement, I shoved the 8g plugs in my pissed off ears. They slid through, but it hurt so badly I cried.
The last experience with stretching scared me a bit, so I hid my plug set away from myself and let my 8g ears calm down. In the month that I let them sit, my family moved and the plug set was lost in the move. Initially, I was quite pissed that my investment was lost, but looking back, it was quite possibly the best thing that could have happened for my ears. When I finally got enough money, I went to Trilogy Body Piercing and Tattoos to find a set of 6g plugs. The people there were friendly, and they stetched my ears for free with the purchase of the jewelry. 8g to 6g was a tough stretch, as it took about 30 mins to get both plugs through. I settled once more for acrylic plugs. It took a while for my ears to recuperate from the stretch: I had small tears in each ear, neither of which bled profusely but were noticeable in later stretches.
About a month later, my ears felt good and I could play with them pretty roughly. I decided I was ready to stretch to 4g. I went back to Trilogy and purchased a pair of gemfront single flare plugs from them. They stretched my ears free there, and it was by far my easiest stretch yet. The steel plugs did the trick for my ears: they healed nicely and were quite easy to clean. I knew that steel was the best for me, but my cheapness led me to buy acrylic 2g plugs and a taper from Hot Topic 2 months later.
After two months, I decided to stretch to 2g. These plugs had ridges for the o-rings as well, but they were acrylic. I stretched up to 2g with a moderate amount of pain, this time using Provon as my lube. The plugs went in like a charm. The next day, my ears were unusually swollen. I took the plugs out to find that they were filled with pus that the acrylic had absorbed partially. I immediately took out the plugs and cleaned my ears thoroughly with a Q-tip and some Provon. Every hour, I did a sea salt soak until my ears were a little less pissed. I put the 4g plugs back in and prayed that the swelling would go down before work the next day.
About 2 weeks later, my ears were down to a normal size and were not sore. The 4g plugs were quite loose, so I stopped over at Trilogy and picked up a pair od 2g single flare tunnels. I went home, cleaned the tunnels, and slipped them in with ease. They didn't hurt at all - just as a stretch should be.
In a month, I was settling into having 2g lobes. The tunnels were nice, and I was quite happy with them. However, one day while tugging on my tunnels I realized that my 2g would slip out over the flared end. I figued, "Hey, I could probably stretch up to a 0g with no problem at all!" I ordered a stretching kit for $12. It came in a week and a half.
Today, I stretched my lobes to 0g with single flare steel plugs. The stretch went well and the plugs have a nice weight to them. However, the plugs are unusually short and don't have a groove for thr o-rings to fit. I ordered a pair of cheap longer plugs ear lier today so that I can switch these out immediately.
In all, I realize that stretching takes a great deal of self discipline. I wish I would have waited longer so that I could have saved myself some pain in the earlier stretches, and that I should have been less frugal while stetching and invested in steel plugs. Happy stretching!