Double Flares

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Sunday February 10th, 2008 @ 8:55 PM

Filed under: Ear

I’m going to be stretching my lobes to a 0g in the near future.

What (healed) size is generally conducive to putting in and taking out double flared jewelry relatively easily? I’ve heard it’s tough with smaller sizes, as the flare is basically the next size up … is a 0g too small to be thinking about double flares?

Double-flared jewelry can be worn at almost any size, but is not commonly seen below 6g or so. Flare sizes also vary between different jewelry makers and manufacturers, so there isn’t a uniformed lobe size to “be able” to wear double-flared jewelry.

It is important that your lobes are fully healed and comfortable at whatever given size before attempting to wear jewelry that has two flares. This will save you from stretching a piece into your ear and having your lobe tighten up and lock it in. This would make for an ugly removal.

Measuring the wearing diameter of your lobes before buying new jewelry is a safe bet to avoid acquiring a piece that doesn’t fit properly. You can go to a professional piercer to have this done. Your lobe size can be found by carefully running a taper through your ear until a snug fitting one is found. The taper can then be measured with a caliper to give the specific measurement of your lobe. This measurement can then be applied to any double-flared jewelry by measuring the jewelry flares. The diameter of the widest part of the flare should be very close to your actual lobe size. This will allow a controlled amount of tension on the jewelry to hold it in place without damaging your lobes upon insertion and removal.

In conclusion, yes you can wear double-flared jewelry if your lobes are 0g (8mm). Either buy your own caliper for use during jewelry shopping or have the jewelry retailer measure the jewelry flares for you to ensure that you get the right size.

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