Rotating Gauges

One of the questions I get asked a lot is whether or not you should be rotating you plugs/tunnels after you size up or just in general. The answer is it doesn't matter but you might wanna know why.

Rotating:

Not-Rotating:

So, if you take anything away from this post it should be that you should leave your ears alone for 2-3 dyas after a stretch. Don't turn, twist or fiddle with them, leave them alone. If you've been at a size for a while rotate them every so often.

P.S.: This is only for people with small enough sizes to rotate -up to 7/16"

Dry Stretching

Dry stretching is NOT the same as Dead Stretching!

Dry Stretching is sizing up your lobes without any lubricant. That's it.

P.S.: Taping Method isn't considered dry stretching.

Salt Soaks

1/8tsp non-iodized salt : 1 cup warm water

Create this mixture and put it in a cup or bowl. Fill it up close to the rim (this will make it easier to soak) and you basically dip your ears into the solution. Do this about twice a day every other day and your ears will love you!

Tip: Make solution in squirt bottle for easy cleaning!

Tapers + 2g -> 0g

There comes a point in your life when you have to stretch up from a 2g to a 0g. Now, if you don't take my advice and stop using Tapers after 2g and you plan on using them to size up, here's what you need to know:

How to make it easier on myself if I still plan on using tapers?

Dead Stretching?

Dead stretching is easy to define and it's easy to resist.

The Basics: Dead Stretching is when you don't use Tapers or the Taping Method. It's when you're at a 0g and you basically shove a 00g plug into your ear. You avoid all ways of stretching as well as avoid all lubes and basically just shove a size that's not your size in your ear.

Sounds awesome? NO! Dead Stretching is extremely painful and the #1 cause of Blowouts.

BLOWOUTS!

BLOWOUTS! What to do? How to fix? and What the hell are they?

Blowouts: Blowouts occur when stretching your yours, more specifically when your sizing up your ears. They are not fun, they're extremely painful, and they suck to try and fix.

Blowouts can be caused by the following sizing up methods:

Basically a blowout happens like this: You massage your lobe and get it ready to stretch. When you put in a taper you reach the point where you have to start pushing it through to get to the next size. While you're shoving that taper into your hole, It's getting slightly agitated and upset with you. Before you know it, it will be slightly swollen. Well, while you're still pushing that taper through, you're putting pressure on your entire ear, more specifically, the lobe. The lobe can't always handle that kind of pressure. So there's two things that can happen.

So your lobe/hole will turn red and purple and look goddam awful and yes, there will be blood. How do I fix this? Simple! DOWNSIZE! What do I mean when I say downsize?

DOWNSIZE: 10mm if your at +1/2" DOWNSIZE: 2 sizes previous to the size that you blew out your ear!

What else can I do? MASSAGE with Jojoba oil, and stick that fat piece of skin back in! Give it time and it'll heal. That's it.

Taping Method

The "Taping Method" is probably the BEST method for sizing up your lobes at larger sizes! Basically, you get Waterproof Adhesive Tape from your local drug store (like the ones below) and wrap the tape around your plug/tunnel.or

This is the BEST tape to use since its waterproof and non-porous which just means it won't grow to your skin like silicone.

The procedure:

Do this every day or two depending on how your ear feels with it. REMOVE tape if irritation occurs!

And that's it! Watch this video I found to see how its done!

*Works best with double flared

Coming soon!

Topics on: Taping Method Salt Soaks Shower Sizing Swollen Lobes Turning your Gauges Sleeping Methods Dead Stretching

Silicone

Silicone is a "rubber" material. Its squishy and smooth and can be very comfortable when using it as a gauge. I pretty much can 100% guarantee that silicone gauges are the most comfortable gauges you will ever wear. However, they have a dark side.

Although silicone makes for a great and comfortable gauge, its also very dangerous. You should never size up with a silicone plug/tunnel.

To size up with silicone, all you need to do is to remove previous gauge and squish the silicone down and stick it in the already stretched hole. You then take your fingers and "pop" it open which in terms will stretch the ear to which ever size the silicone gauge is.

Never size up like this because what will happen is that if you accidentally rip/tear your lobe while stretching, the skin is automatically going to want to heal and will recognize the silicone material and mistake it for skin. The ripped/torn skin on the lobe will adhere to the silicone and next time you go to clean or remove the gauge, you will rip your ear wide open.

Silicone is extremely comfortable to wear as a gauge and I seriously advise you to pick some up cause you will love them. Just make sure you are buying the current size of your hole and make sure it's completely healed and you should have any problems.

I also reccomend Google-ing "ripped silicone gauge" and you will get a coupe of great horror stories or videos.

Sizing

Here is the official chart of the sizes for Stretching your Ears

Rule #4

Rule #4: Sizing up!

When it comes to stretched ears, people are always miss guided in the proper way to stretch your ears. Here is how to take the appropriate measures.

So as stated above, Tapers are only safe to use up until you hit a 2g! If you don't believe me check out the All About Tapers page!

Taping Method is one of the best methods out there! More info to come on this topic!

Weights are just ... Rule #2

Silicone, is dangerous!

What to take away from this rule? Use tapers, they're a great way to size up, but have a few risks and should only be used up to a 2g and that the Taping Method is a great alternative!

Products such as Alcohol & Peroxide

In rule #3 we discussed always maintaining clean ears when it comes to stretching. A couple of people were nice enough to let me know what I left out. And for that, I'm happy. When you stretch your ears, I told you to clean them with water or a salt water solution. The reasons for this is NOT because Alcohol & Peroxide are to harsh. Everyone thinks that their to "harsh" on the ears and there false. The reasons I warn you not to use these products on your lobes is for one main reason. They clean and sanitize your ears but they will leave your ears feeling tight and this is because THEY DRY YOUR EARS OUT! When your ears get dried out, it causes them to crack and rip! This will cause permanite damage and nobody wants that. So although they seem like the best way to clean your stretched lobes, it's actually the worst!

Rule #3

Rule #3: Care for you ears!

Rules #1 and #2 both focus on taking your time which is the whole process of stretching. Rule #3 is that you must take care for your ears! This includes the following:

You should NEVER have to CARE for your ears as if they were a new piercing. Care should be very minimal but cleaning should be daily. Remove your gauges at least once a day and wash the jewelry with soap and water. You can clean your holes with simply water or use salt water mixture with the ratio of 1/8tsp non-iodized salt : 1cup of warm water. Use this to rinse of your lobes and let dry.

Massaging is key to having nice lobes. When gauges are removed from the ear and you have finished cleaning, massage your physical hole on the lobe. You should do this once or twice a day. At the same time you need to apply the appropriate oils.

or

There are NO SUBSTITUTES! These oils aren't the same and there are no substitutes. In my personal opinion, you should get your hands on both of these and conjure a mixture between the two. This is what's going to give you nice, fat lobes!

The whole process should be this:

Get in the habit of doing this every day, even if ears are healed!

UK Custom Plugs!

One of the best place to buy your plugs is UK Custom Plug. Don't let the name fool you, they ship world-wide. I have bought many products from them, and I think they are some of the sweetest plugs I have bought. I get tons of compliments when I wear them. And the shipping to the US price is very affordable so check them out!

UK CUSTOM PLUGS!

Tapers

Tapers. Do I use them? Do I not?

First off, tapers are NOT jewelry! They were designed to stretch ear lobes, not to be worn. Tapers are nasty little tools that generally fuck up your ear lobes. Here's the breakdown:

More can be found out by visiting the All About Tapers page.

Rule #2!

Rule #2: Never use weights!

In Rule #1 we learned that you need to take your time when it comes to sizing up and that 2 weeks was an appropriate time to wait between sizes. Well, Rule #2 of stretching your ears is that you should NEVER NEED to wear weights. For those of you who are new to stretching, there are weights made especially to hang on your ears to allow them to get bigger and help the stretching process. Now, some of you who know what you're doing are probably like, "What are you talking about? Weights are fine!" My response to that is that weights should NEVER be worn under circumstances.

If you are any where from 16g-1/2" you should NEVER NEED to wear weights on your ears to stretch them further.

If you are any where from 1/2"-1"+ then weights are okay because at those sizes, anything is better than using tapers. By 1/2" you should know what you are doing and should understand that weights do help the stretching process but can be dangerous at the same time.

Links

Make sure you look at the Links page to find out where to shop and where not to. You can also find reliable resources on stretching your ears.