2g to 0g problems

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Tuesday July 29th, 2008 @ 4:09 PM

Filed under: Ear

I’ve had my lobes at 2g for probably 2 years now and my goal size is 0g. I bought one kind of SS taper that allows a plug to rest inside the end of it when stretching and my attempts to stretch with that have resulted in all kinds of pain, even with lubrication, massaging, etc. Don’t worry, I wasn’t stupid enough to force it once it started hurting. Thinking it was the taper, I bought another one that just allows for a plug to be butted up against the end. It looks much smaller than the first, but when I gave it a go I had the same problems. No matter how much I prep my ears for stretching, I’m met with huge resistance (especially with my right lobe) and I have to stop. I’ve heard going from 2g to 0g can be hard, but I’ve been trying this for about a year now and I’m at my wits end. Am I doing something wrong? Would it be better for me to just get my lobes cut?

Thanks!

You and I, my friend, have a little something in common…although I was at 00ga trying to go to 7/16″ when I ran in to the same proverbial wall. Without seeing your ears, I can’t really give you much of a definitive answer. However, it’s likely that you have simply reached the limits of what your ears want to do…at least in their current incarnation.

Some people don’t like to believe it, but each of us has a limit to how far we can stretch…and of course, everyone’s limit is different. How far you can ultimately stretch depends upon your skin’s natural elasticity, the placement of the original piercings, how “nice” you’ve been to your ears as you’ve stretched (i.e., forcing it and getting blow-outs makes stretching harder), the original shape of your lobes etc.

In my case, I believe I had run in to the limits of how far my ears wanted to stretch in the downward direction. My lobes weren’t overly thin on the bottom, but there was far more tissue at the top of hole than the bottom. I believe that when I tried to stretch, there simply wasn’t enough tissue in relation to my natural elasticity to allow the stretch to happen without much pain…and undcubtedly much tearing had I forced it.

My solution ended up being to have my ears cut upwards and slight back. This served to allow them to get larger pretty much only upwards, as well as helping to make the holes more centered on my overall lobe.

I would be surprised if 2ga is simply the largest you will ever be able to go, but it is possible. If you have very small and/or very attached earlobes, you simply not have enough tissue anywhere to make them bigger. It’s more likely that you may need to explore some alternatives to traditional stretching.

My suggestion would be to visit a piercer with a good deal of experience. They should be able to advise you on what is going on and they should be able to offer up some options.

Best of luck.

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