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*Disclaimer*
I'd like to congratulate anyone who is going to take time out of their day to say something negative about stretched ears and the people who have them ahead of time. You have your opinion, good for you. Take your golden star and have a lovely day. Now, I'd like to go on with this very in-depth Take about this thing people seem to be kind of clueless and for some interested about.
Terminology:
Plugs - solid ear jewelry
Tunnels or eyelets - hollow ear jewelry
Ear weights - pretty self-explanatory
Gauge - a unit of measurement used for ear jewelry
There's this common misnomer of people thinking that's what the jewelry itself is called which is incorrect. Saying "I like your gauges" makes as much sense as saying "I like your inches".
Sea salt soak - soaking your ear lobe in warm water with sea salt to get rid of any crusties or keep your ear clean after a blowout.
Now for the unpleasant things that can easily be avoided with proper stretching...
Cat butt - foolish stretching often leaves people with lobes that resemble a cat's butt.
Blowout - occurs when you stretch to quickly and/or skip sizes. This results in an unpleasant looking flap a skin forming behind your ear lobe or even in the front depending on which direction you stretched in.
Ear cheese - this is pretty much ear smegma. Wash your ears and you'll be fine, don't wash them and your ears will be a funky mess.
Size Chart:
Let's talk about size and whether it matters. Of course, it does. People usually think of super big stretched ears when it comes up but there are tons of sizes and not all of them are large. Most ears are pierced at an 18 or 16 gauge and then the gauge number drops until you reach 00 gauge.
It would be smart to note the larger you're ears are the more expensive your jewelry will be.
Stretching Methods:
Tapers
The most common way to stretch when you start stretching. It usually recommended using stainless steel tapers until you get to 00 gauge. Never wear tapers as jewelry. They are a tool to stretch and aren't meant to be worn for fun or slept in. Wearing them for long periods of time causes uneven weight distribution to your ear which will lead to them looking wonky.
Tape
The best way to move on from using tapers is by using the taping method. Using non-adhesive tape you wrap your plug with about an inch or two of tape and continue to wrap new layers of tape the next week (if your ears allow it) until you reach the next size. Make sure you replace your old tape with new tape as you add new layers.
Scalpelling
Scalpelling benefits people who want to size up fast and don't really have the patience. A scalpel is used to cut a to the ear lobe skin leaving the person who gets the procedure with a large hole sooner.
It's very common for people who get their ear scalpelled ending up with their lobes stretching easily after it's done so if you have a set size or don't want them too big this might not be right for you.
Dead stretching
You might have caught onto how bad stretching quickly and skipping sizes is if you've gotten this far. Dead stretching is when you take a plug or tunnel that's a size up from your current size and simply insert it without using a taper, taping, or anything else. This is an extremely stupid thing to do if you're doing this very soon after your last stretch or even skipping sizes. Dead stretching works best for people with larger lobes. If you wear heavy plugs or weights your ears will stretch naturally and you'll see a gap between your ear and the plug. If the plug goes in with ease then you're fine. Obviously, stop if that isn't the case.
Types of Jewelry:
painful and not worth it)extremely Screw back (beware these often have a horrible wearable and getting your lobe stuck in one of these is
Materials:
Acrylic
-porous
-good for winter
Bones and horn
-great material if you don't mind wearing animal parts
Glass
-great material
-horrible for winter
Silicone
-porous
-great for sleeping
Stainless steel
- great material for a fresh stretch
-horrible for the winter
Stone
-great material
-horrible for winter
Titanium
- expensive but great for ear stretching
Wood
-porous
-great for winter
-require bi-weekly or at least monthly oiling to prevent cracking
-DO NOT LET YOUR WOODEN PLUGS GET WET
Porous plugs will trap any dead skin or germs from your lobe so never wear them after a fresh stretch.
Winter can be rough on stretched lobes. Protect your ears with materials that won't get as cold like acrylic, bone, horn, and wood. Keep your ears covered when you're walking in the cold so you don't end up with poor blood circulation and frostbitten ears.
Reaction To Expect:
"Does it hurt?"
People really think everyone with stretched ears is just suffering in excruciating pain. That's not the case for a majority of us unless something has gone very wrong it should be completely painless.
Compliments
People often pair their questions about my ears with a compliment which is cool.
Insults
It wouldn't be life if the occasional asshole doesn't degrade your entire existence for the accessories you have in your ears.
As you might be able to tell having stretched ears draws attention from strangers. If you're a socially anxious person who can't deal with that type of attention that would definitely be something to take into consideration.
A Few More Things To Mention:
Shrinkage
People are always going on about how long term ear stretching is which isn't entirely false, but you'd be surprised how quickly they shrink if you decided to leave them out for a day or two. Avoid leaving your plugs or tunnels out for a long time unless you wanna be going up and down a size on a regular basis.
Regrets
My ears have been stretched for about six years now and I have wanted them every second. That isn't the case with everyone and although you could have your lobes stitched up if you end up regretting stretching them be sure to take into consideration all the pros and cons before making this kind of commitment.
Collection Opportunities
There's a ridiculous variety in materials and designs out there that I'm still shocked by after all these years. Enjoy falling down that rabbit hole of addiction.
Maintenance
You have to make the effort to clean and oil them on a daily basis in order to maintain healthy ear lobes.
I believe that concludes my info dump for the day.
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