Downsizing for a bit.

Monday October 19th, 2009 @ 3:21 PM

Filed under: Ear

I’ve had my ears at 3/4ths for over a year and decided to downsize for a little while.

I took my plugs out 4 days ago and my ears have stayed swollen/red/secreting clear gunk.

Do you guys have any idea as to why this would happen?

Also, I’ve never had a blowout because I took my time stretching, but the backs of my ears look really blown out from the swelling, is there a way to stop that?

Your ears are probably feeling pretty thankful for the opportunity to get some good blood flow back to the tissue and to plump up.
When I remove my 1-1/8″ lobe jewelry for more than 24 I find my lobes get kind of sore from the increased circulation.

I’m unsure as to why you’d be having fluid secretions, but I’d leave the jewelry out for a while and keep the lobes clean and dry.
If you’d like to make them feel even better, do some massages with some Holey Butt’r or some Jojoba or Vitamin E oil!

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments

Nose jewelry in the earlobea

Sunday October 18th, 2009 @ 3:17 PM

Filed under: Ear

I have three standard lobe piercings in each ear; two sets were gunned and one set was needles. They are the usual 20ga holes you wear regular “fashion” earrings in.

I want to get high-quality jewelry to wear in these holes full-time. I prefer stud-type, not hoops, and I would like it to be a good-quality metal. My absolute ideal would be 20ga titanium labret studs, but such a thing either doesn’t exist or is extremely hard to find. I have found 20ga CBRs, including titanium ones, but I just cannot find anything remotely stud-like.

Would any type of nose jewelry, which is often found in a small size like 20ga, be suitable for ear piercings? I prefer not to size up because I want to be able to wear “fashion” jewelry on special occasions. I’m actually thinking about nose bones - is there any possibility they could be worn securely in earlobes? What do you recommend?

There are several jewelry companies who make tiny-gauge implant grade jewelry for earlobes!
Check out Neometal!

You may also consider stretching your ears up to a 16g - which is still plenty small enough to wear costume jewelry in (many gold butterfly back studs are 16-14g)
at a 16g you’ll have all kinds of options for gemmed labret barbells, cbrs, circular barbells without stretching your ears up too much that costume jewelry would just hang out of.

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments

Itchy Daith

Sunday October 18th, 2009 @ 3:13 PM

Filed under: Ear

YEAH, I GOT IT LIKE 3 DAYS AGO,

info:

-16g SSS- (SOME NUMBER I DONT REMEMBER) cbr

-(im american so they didnt use a catheter needle)

-and FREAKIN’ ITCHY (well off and on, like it randomly decides to get itchy then it goes away then it comes back.

im using a spray-on saline solution to clean it.

- i got a true daith so its kinda hard to see the entry and exit but theres no inflammation or any visible irritation from what i can tell (with two mirrors and a flashlight)

-one little wierd thing:

when i got it i didnt feel any pain. just a little pressure, thats it. (is this a problem? because i hear theyre supposed to actually hurt.)

———————-

3 QUESTIONS:

WHY didnt I FEEL ANY PAIN?

WHYZ IT SO FREAKIN’ ITCHY?

HOW CAN I SOOTH THE ITCH BESIDES MOVING THE CBR AROUND?

Pain is personal to everyone. Chances are you have a higher pain tolerance and this piercing just didn’t cause you a lot of discomfort.

Fresh piercings are often kinda itchy while your piercing begins to heal. With swelling coming up and down it causes changes in the skin - stretching it up and relaxing it - and that can cause a prickly, tingly feeling. The salt in the saline can be a tad drying and lead to some itchiness as well.

Do not move the CBR around. That will irritate the crap out if it. If it itches, give it a little rinse off in warm water.

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 1 Comment

scalpelled lobe issues and questions!

Sunday October 18th, 2009 @ 3:00 PM

Filed under: Ear

Okay well first things first, excuse me for the bad picture quality, I don’t have a camera!

So, I got my ears cut from 3/4 to 1 1/8 about a month ago, and yes we did end up removing a bit of skin that we didn’t plan on removing but as far as I know, that hasn’t done too much damage. I got them cut to redirect, blah blah, I’m sure whoever answers this will know why people get their lobes scalpelled.

Anyways my left lobe, the one in the picture, ended up a little overcut so my artist put in a suture that night.

Well, since about the first week after I had them cut, both have developed blowouts. I talked to my artist about it and he says it’s from the thicker part of my ear getting stretched and sort of turned inside out and will go away once I start up doing massages again. I believe him and trust him but just want to make sure that makes sense to you guys! Do you agree that it will go away with time and massages?

Also, as you can see in the picture there is a white spot in the top of my lobe. I’m scared it’s cartilage! My piercer hasn’t really given me a straight answer as to what it is but says it will go away.. I can hardly see it when I take my plugs out for cleaning, and it doesn’t seem any more sensitive than the rest of the still open area of my lobe. What do you think it could be?

And my third concern, the stuff that I believe is lymph that’s coming from them smells so god damn awful. Literally I took my plugs out and cleaned them (the plugs, not my lobes) 25 minutes ago and they smelled already RIGHT away. I’m not really sure if the lymph and dead cells and all that good stuff that always comes from piercings is always this stinky or if I’m only noticing it because it’s in a larger concentration so close to my nose? and it isn’t like normal plug funk buildup but has the same smell. Is this normal for cut lobes?

I’ve been on a strictly sea salt soaks only aftercare routine, other than taking out the plugs and cleaning those(the plugs, NOT my ears) with dye free and fragrance f

oooh…that ear does not look very happy.
If the piercer who cut your lobes just cut a slit straight up, or back without removing any tissue - they did it wrong.
You need to remove a tiny piece (especially with as large a jump as 11/16 - 1-1/18″!!)
If that’s the way it was done (just cut straight up or back in a single slice) then it’s highly likely that you’d have large pieces of tissue blowouts. Those will have to be removed as well.

There’s a very good chance that that white bit is exposed cartilage. If it is, you’ll probably want to have a professional (not the guy you saw initially) to have that patched up. That will cause you serious discomfort. I have no idea how a single suture to close up a length of cut would work… I have a bad taste in my mouth about all of this.

As for the smell - pretty normal with large healing wounds. Make sure you’re keeping the area very clean and keeping your hands off it.

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 1 Comment

Stretching second lobe piercing

Sunday October 18th, 2009 @ 2:50 PM

Filed under: Ear

Hello

Sorry if this question has already been answered somewhere else, I have tried looking for advice but cant seem to find much.

Basically I have my lobes pierced twice (gunned in my early teens, yuck). I have kept my first set unstretched so I can wear normal earrings in them for girlie days and the like, and am stretching the second set.

I was wondering if there is any specific advice about stretching the second hole, with it not being in so much flesh? Im currently only at 8g, not intending to go massive, but was after an idea of things I should look out for so as not to damage the lobe irrepairably? Im assuming the higher up the lobe, the more likely the chance of thinning is. How large is it relatively safe to go? Or maybe how thick should the lobe flesh be round the piercing to be in good condition?

Any advice would be great, thanks for your help.

This is very hard to answer without seeing how much tissue your lobes actually have.
You should be able to stretch your lobes just fine in any area as long as you’re not running into issues with the jewelry rubbing on the cartilage or the lobe thinning out the bottom or pinching off the other piercing.

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments

Ear Stretching

Sunday October 18th, 2009 @ 2:46 PM

Filed under: Ear

My ears are stretched to 1 1/4″ and i want to go bigger but my lobes are getting pretty thin. is there anything to make my lobes thicker so i can stretch them more?

If possible, be sure to sleep with your jewelry out. This will give your lobes a few hours to plump back up with some circulation.
Daily Holey Butt’r or Vitamin E oil massages will help to encourage blood flow to the area, keep them moisturized and supple and therefore retain the elasticity.

Depending on where you’re living it’s important to note that removing your jewelry this time of year when you’re outside in the chilly weather is imperative. Your earlobes at that size have a significantly reduced bloodflow and they’ll get cold and be at a huge risk of frostbite - even if the rest of you isn’t that cold.

Remember to stretch VERY slowly and avoid tears and blowouts!

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments

Just a random idea about my industrial.

Monday August 10th, 2009 @ 7:06 PM

Filed under: Ear

I was cooking they other day, when I thought of this random idea. I’m just wondering if this would work/be a plausible thing to do.

If I made a sea-salt soak and then put it on the stove to boil, and then let the steam hit my ear, would this have any positive effect?

Absolutely! I was talking with another piercer about his ear cartilage aftercare suggestions and he told me he has his clients “steam” their cartilage piercings and that he finds great success with it.

It makes sense as any physical trauma to cartilage can irritate the piercing and cause hypertrophic scar tissue and uncomfortable swelling.
A good steaming would help promote circulation to the ear and to the piercing and aid in the healing.

…careful not to scald yourself, of course.

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 4 Comments

Mall Piercings NNNOOOOO

Monday August 10th, 2009 @ 6:54 PM

Filed under: Ear

Please talk my friend out of taking her 4 year old child to the mall to get her ears pierced. PLEASE!

Piercings guns are grossly outdated and inappropriate for body piercing of any sort. They cause a significant amount of trauma to the tissue as the “gun” just fires a blunt piece of jewelry through the tissue. The jewelry is rarely of implant grade materials (meant to be in the body for long periods of time) and don’t allow for inflammation of any sort on the majority of people. (think “One Size Fits All”)

Besides all that, most piercing guns cannot be sterilized at all. Though the jewelry is usually pre-sterilized, the staff handing the equipment are usually not trained at all in any cross contamination prevention and aseptic techniques. The risk of exposure to disease and infection is enormous.

Having a piercing done with a reuseable piercing gun is a great way to scar oneself pretty badly and put oneself at risk of contracting disease. Don’t to do it.

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments

Small gauges vs. silicone plugs

Monday August 10th, 2009 @ 2:46 PM

Filed under: Ear

Soo, I just bought these 8g silicone plugs theyre double flaired. Ive been trying to get them in my ears for about a week now and They just wont go through. Any helpful ideas/tips on how to get them in? Ive tried searching the internet and everyone says how ‘easy and painless!’ it is.. but they all had larger Peircings.

Im starting to think that buying these were a bad idea for such a small gauge. :/ Help?

Those wee silicone tunnels are a bugger to get in.
Make sure your ears are AT the size you’re trying to get in. They’re not the best things to stretch with and can cause you a bunch of greif.

I’ve found that using little hemostats to pinch down one side of the flares and poke them into the piercing is about the only way to get them in easily.
Make sure you’re using a nice lubricant to get them in too.

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 1 Comment

Messed Up Industrials

Thursday June 4th, 2009 @ 3:02 PM

Filed under: Ear

I got an industrial piercing in each of my ears over 2 monthes ago, but they still don’t seam healed. i followed the piercers instructions and washed them every day with anti-bacterial soap, and bactine. and did this for about the first month or so. when i realized they werent making any progress in healing, i decided to cut back on the cleaning. They have had big lumps on the entry and exit holes of all 4 holes for pretty much this whole time. these aren’t quite as bad on the left ear, but are very noticable on the right. i’m not sure why they aren’t healing. they don’t really hurt unless pressure is applied. but they still get extremely crusty, and one hole is very scabby. im not sure if they’re keloids or hypertrophic scarring or what they are. is there anything i can do to help get rid of this unsightly lumps? or am i doomed to ugly industrials?

(P.S. my girlfriend got an oribital in each ear less than a month ago and they never once swelled up or got weird lumps or anything!)

If you have read much on BME you would realize hardly any reputable piercers recommend soap and none of them recommend bactine. So the first thing to do is cutting out all that nonsense and using the gentler Sea Salt Soak approach (easily searched). Chances are this piercer also used crummy jewelry and more than likely didn’t quite get the angles right either. In all likelihood, these piercings are probably lost causes, but if you want to try and salvage them, immediately switch aftercare routines and seek out a more educated piercer to check them out in person.

Posted by Sean Philips | Permalink | Comments