Point of no return?
«« hypertrophic scarring Piercing career »»
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.
Posted by Shawn Porter | Permalink | Leave a comment | Trackback
Rate This Post
4 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 amLeave a Comment