Point of no return?
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Tuesday April 29th, 2008 @ 8:40 PM
Filed under: Ear
I have heard there is a “point of no return” with ear lobe stretching, where the hole will never return to a “normal” 16 or 18g size. At what gauge of jewelry is this “point of no return?”
Thanks!
-L
There’s no solid answer- “it depends” is the best I can do.
I’ve seen people at 1.5″ who’ve shrunk down to nothing, and people who’re at 1″ stay at 00g permanently. It depends on a variety of factors and as such there’s no definite answer.
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7 Responses to “Point of no return?”
My husband got “lost” his stretched ears when he tried to stretch from 2g to a 0g pair of bamboo tunnels (I know, I know, porous organics for stretching or any other non-healed state is a huge no-no…he knew better too). He’s always been able to leave the jewelry out for a week without trouble. He stopped wearing any jewelry in his lobes about three years ago and can still pop a 6g-8g (depending on jewelry type and flare) in either lobe. Mine are at 00g now and if I leave my jewelry out for a week they’ll shrink all the way to 2g or 4g. So it does go both ways.
Stephanie on April 30th, 2008 at 5:10 amThis is true. My ears are at 1 1/4″ and I have downsized several times. Letting my ears rest naked for several months brings my ears down to a loose 3/4″, that’s it.
Our bodies are very fickle and individual things.
Kaylee on April 30th, 2008 at 12:19 pmI would think that massaging the lobes with jojoba or emu oil regularly would speed things up a bit.
Quinnie on May 23rd, 2008 at 5:10 amI stretched my ears very safely, I got my ears pierced for the first time at age 19 and I let them heal for the suggested 8 weeks. I then started to stretch them by putting a 16 gauge in and letting it heal for 2 weeks, then I went up each size til I hit a 0 gauge. I wore my 0 gauges proudly for about 8 months. I noticed when I spoke to my managers at work (petsmart) about me moving up in the field they always seemed uneasy or almost amused at the suggestion. Then again, none of the current manager have even seen my resume since the only two who have no longer work there. I told myself I’m tired of working on the bottom and tired of people not taking me seriously as a business man, so I decided to ‘downgauge’ my ears. I still did this the smart way, taking my 0’s out and putting in 4’s, letting it heal then putting in 10’s, letting it heal then putting in 16s. I had the 16’s in for about 2 months and when I decided to take them out all together last night, I noticed my ears have only went down to about a 12 or 14. It doesn’t appear as if they will return to a smaller size anytime soon.
People’s bodies can react different ways, just keep in mind the longer you have a stretched ear the harder it will be to ‘downsize’, and the bigger you stretch it the harder still.
Austin B on June 18th, 2008 at 11:01 amI downsized from a 7/16 and when I decided to re stretch I had to start at a 16 again, now I’m currently and a 1/2″ and stretching. My fiance was at 2 3/4″ and completely downsized to a 12g. So it honestly does depend on the person.
steve on October 12th, 2009 at 10:42 ami have mine at a 6 going to a 0 i might have went to fast but i had my ear pierced for 4 years then i stretched to 14 in minutes left it in for 2 months then started stretching i stretched to a 6 in 3 days but i tried numerous times to do it once i had it at a 6 for 10 days and it grew up in a night so i dunno trying to avoid a blowout haha
josh p on October 31st, 2009 at 10:11 pmSlightly off topic, but here’s my recent experience with a large gauge non-lobe piercing:
I had a 0g lorum scalpeled about a year ago. It was slightly too shallow at one end and never toughened to my satisfaction, even with very light teflon jewelry, so I finally gave up on it about 6-8 weeks ago and removed it completely.
Two nights ago I thought I’d see if the fistula had indeed closed, so I tried sliding a 14g barbell through, which fit with plenty of room to spare. I stepped it up to an 8g cbb and it was still a little loose. I couldn’t get 6g jewelry all the way through, but if I had a taper on hand it would have been a breeze.
I’m wearing 8g jewelry for the moment, but should I decide to ditch the piercing altogether, I highly doubt the fistula will completely close by itself - the diameter only dropped by about half in well over a month. Eliminating the hole completely will probably require severing the thinnest part of the skin at the very least.
Anyway, estimates can be made, but interpersonal variation is huge. A friend was able to reinsert 14g jewelry into her tongue piercing effortlessly after leaving it out for 8 years - your mileage *will* vary. There certainly is a point of no return, but you probably won’t know until you’ve passed it…
redeye on November 3rd, 2009 at 4:26 amLeave a Comment