Stretching the earlobe is an esoteric practice that appeals to a growing number of piercing enthusiasts – especially those who fall in the teenage age group. Apart from highlighting the rad and edgy side of its wearers is also thought to add a significant depth of beauty, exquisiteness and mysticism. Whether you’re a full-fledged earlobe stretching fan or just one curious body enthusiast, the good thing is that it easy to get your ears stretched, all you have to do is follow this steps;
Get the normative piercing done first
The first step in getting your piercing stretched is to get an actual piercing. If you’ve never had one (piercing) before, now’s the time to make things work in your favor by getting a large gauge piercing. The larger the already preconfigured piercing the easier it is to stretch. Make sure to use a piercing needle as against using a piercing gun as needles leave less scar tissue, are easier to heal and more importantly, take a little less stress to stretch than those made with piercing guns.
Then, consider the following
How old is the piercing? You should never stretch a healing piercing. The ideal practice is to wait until your piercing is properly healed even if it takes one year before you can commence stretching.
- How high are you willing to go? High in terms of stretching diameter. You’ll need to consider what fits you best, your taste of piercing jewelry (plugs) and how acceptable these will be in your home and workplace environment.
- Next, find out if you’re allergic to any materials involved in the stretching process from plugs to tapers and even normative body jewelry.
- Finally, make a mental note of your threshold point – the point at which the consequences of the stretching procedure become permanent, and you have to wear them for life.
Time to Stretch
If you’ve considered the following and are still ready to stretch then let’s get down to business.
- First off, get plugs and tapers that fit each gauge between your current ear stretch and your goal. The best plugs are made of glass or surgical grade piercing steel. These are easy to disinfect and non-porous. Whatever you do avoid acrylic plugs notorious for the threat they pose to stretches since they harbor harmful bacteria
- Procure a moisturizer or balm of the sorts. Ideally, this should have vitamin E. Tea tree, jojoba, rosemary, lavender oils, and almond are also preferred but not essential.
- If you’re going the long haul and aiming for end spectrum stretches it’s an excellent idea to get bondage tape or PTFE to increase your specified gauge.
Once all is set, it’s now time to begin inserting those plugs and tapers one after the other, progressing from smaller to larger over time. Patience is key here. It takes time to get your ears stretched to the right gauge healthily. Any shortcuts to this would most likely end in pain or dissatisfying results.
- Before each procedure wash your hands thoroughly. If your tapers arrive unsterilized, do well to give them a soak in a disinfectant solution.
- Remove your existing body jewelry, apply lubrication to the exposed hole and then proceed to tape it. Be cautious here, if there’s any resistance, chill off a bit before continuing. If your ears swell up, also allow it some time for the inflammation to reduce.
- Re-wash your hands and continue taper application once the coast is clear, again this is a delicate process. If you notice any pain of the sort, pause allow your ear to rest before continuing.
- Continue like this until you get all the needed taper in, then allow it to rest in place for some hours. After a while, advisably one night, push the taper out and with disinfected hands insert a sterilized plug.
Congratulations you just successfully performed your first stretch!
