Saturday September 6th, 2008 @ 9:35 AM
Filed under: Ear
Hey there 
I have finally started the process of slowly stretching my ear. I am now up to an 8ga and have decided that for now I will limit how far I will ultimately go to a 4ga to give me good odds of it being reversable later.
The trouble is now that I have actually started, a 4ga looks tiny! So now I’m looking at another approach. I want to know how successful silicone skin coloured plugs, claw ended diamond plugs, etc… have been for most? I mean, what are some common problems people face in terms of how others judge them and any tips/tricks for avoiding these problems, whether that be through covering it up or whatever.
Any advice is muchly appreciated
Thanks
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
Common problems that people face in terms of how others judge them, is simply that, people will judge you. They’ll judge you based on what Body Modifications you have. They’ll judge you for the clothes you wear. They’ll judge you for the music you listen to. They’ll judge you on every single thing they could possibly judge you on. You cannot avoid peoples judgment, because for those who judge, there’s always something for them to judge on you.
One thing I learned early on, is coming to grips with that. That no matter what I do, someone will always judge me. So the best thing to do is just “suck it up” and either ignore the judgments or laugh it off due to their judgmental ignorance.
Now if you’re talking in regards to: “I don’t want to lose my job” type of judgment and you’re looking to be minimalistic in the jewelry you wear in your lobes. One hard part will be to find jewelry that is the EXACT color tone of your skin type. Some people have had success with the solid silicone plugs, and some no matter how hard they try, it will still be visible. I even know of some people who’ve obtained certain jewelry and with the use of makeup and a lot of time, have been able to somehow blend their skin color tone onto the jewelry,etc…
Ultimately though, and I don’t mean this in a harsh way, when it comes to other people judging you based on your physical appearance…You just need to suck it up and deal with it…The sooner people realize that, the sooner they won’t simply be bothered by people staring, or making rude/inappropriate comments,etc.
Heck I get stared/commented at DAILY for my scarification sleeve, my tattoos, and how I dress/look,etc. This even occured BEFORE I even started modifying my body, back when I used to experiment with my clothing (ie: fishnet shirts, polk-a-dot tights, tattered and torn army combat pants,etc,etc,etc)… The best thing to do is grow a thick skin and don’t let their ignorance phase you. The only people you should care about, in terms of their opinions are…Yourself (most important individual’s opinion is your own)…Then very close family and very close friends…And even then the best thing to do is take their comments/opinions and simply analyze them and compare and contrast them against your own. Then self-assess them all and see if any of them are correct/right (your opinions, and the others)…But ultimately you should just follow your gut instincts on your opinions and your opinions alone.
Also stretch ear lobes are becoming quite a norm these days, at least in pretty much every mid-sized town/city,etc. The concept of judging somebody harshly because they have stretched lobes is very outdated and circa many years ago, back when it wasn’t that common. Sure its not on every single person, but a large number of individuals have stretched lobes of some form or another.
+19 / 21 votes 
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 13 Comments
Friday August 22nd, 2008 @ 8:04 AM
Filed under: Ear
I have 9 ear piercings, 4 lobes, and 5 slightly above the lobe, but not quite to the helix. the 3 higher piercings on my left ear have a small red area around the jewelry that is very slightly swollen. I have been doing sea salt soaks daily that have made them less noticeable, but they are still very much there. What else should/can I do?
You haven’t mentioned how old the piercings are. If they are irritated, it doesn’t matter what you put on them. The only way for the symptoms of irritation to subside is to nail the cause of the irritation and remove that from the equation. Ask yourself these questions.. do you sleep on that side? What type of jewellery do you have in there? Is it good quality jewellery? Is the jewellery fitted properly, for example, if they are healing is there enough room to accomodate potential swelling? If they are healing do you avoid getting hair products in the piercings? Were they pierced at the correct angle? Is there anything you may have done differently, any stressful events that may have occured roundabouts the time you first noticed they weren’t happy?
A bit of detective work should reveal the root cause of the irritation. Deal with the irritation and the symptoms should subside.
+5 / 5 votes 
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Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | Comments
Thursday August 21st, 2008 @ 1:39 AM
Filed under: Ear
Hi there.
After much thought and discussion with a piercer, I chose a snug as the least problematic of piercings I was considering having, so that’s what I ended up with. The piercer went out of his way to calm me (though I already have an industrial and was aware of the pain issue and possible long healing time) and explain to me about the piercing. He also showed me the barbell he was going to use and talked with me until I was ready. Anyway, that was six weeks ago now. It’s been painful and itchy, but I didn’t really see any problems with it until today. This morning I woke up and realized my head (not ear) was itching and when I lifted a hand to check it, I had crusties on my scalp and in my hair. Naturally I checked my ear next and it seems as if the curve of the barbell was too sharp (?), because there’s a raised, scabbed and crusty spot on the back of my ear just about the center of the snug. My question is whether I should try and keep it clean and leave it alone and hope for the best for the skin or if I should just remove it and try again another time with a straight(er?) barbell? At the moment it doesn’t hurt especially, but I’m worried about overall/future damage to my ear. Any advice?
I’ll personally question the theory behind a snug piercing being the least problematic of piercings to choose from… I would say it’s one of the most prone to having problems piercing you could pick…
I’m concerned that you have a scabby raised part on the BACK of your ear. This leads to me think that you didn’t the right anatomy to accommodate a very anatomy-dependent piercing such as this and that your piercer may have pierced in a way that’s causing the barbell to expose itself out of the back of your ear.
I usually use a straight barbell for snug piercings (Which is why I’m so choosy as to who can actually wear a snug piercing with minimal potential issues.) Some people have a very pronounced fold of cartilage there, others don’t and a snug piercing will basically become a cartilage “surface” piercing and end in disaster.
Without seeing the piercing it is hard to say for sure, but it sounds as if you may want to remove the piercing.
+5 / 7 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 2 Comments
Thursday August 21st, 2008 @ 1:34 AM
Filed under: Ear
Alright so right now I’m stretched to 3/4′ and I have wrapped tape around my plugs. I didn’t wrap much, just twice around, they were kinda tight going in and now one of my ears are super sore and the other is fine, just wondering if this is normal or a bad thing?
And if there is anything I can do to help, because this is very uncomfortable and I know if I take it out now it’s gonna be super super sore.
“Super Sore” is not a good way to describe earlobes!
Even a couple wraps can be too much for some lobes. Your best bet would be to downsize the jewelry to the size you were last - or maybe even the size under that until you feel less pressure on the lobe.
Treat it like a new piercing - wash it with warm water twice a day, don’t touch it, etc and give it lots of time before you attempt to wrap it again.
+7 / 7 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 10 Comments
Friday August 15th, 2008 @ 7:30 AM
Filed under: Ear
I currently have my ears stretched to 7/8″. I have had them stretched to this size since about March 08. Previous to that I was stretched to 1″ but decided to downsize. I want to leave my plugs out at night but I was wondering if its going to cause me a lot of problems with getting them back in in the morning. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.
It shouldn’t cause you any problems at all. In fact, it’s a good thing as it will allow your ears to ‘rest’ a little and help with circulation. It’s also alot more comfortable sleeping sans plugs! You can always use something like Holey Butt’r or vitamin E oil to ease them back in if they feel a little tight and dry, or pop them in after a hot shower or bath.
+10 / 10 votes
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Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | 1 Comment
Thursday August 14th, 2008 @ 1:04 AM
Filed under: Ear
Hello! I’ve had my ears stretched at a 0g for years. Recently I bought some wood tunnels on a trip to Seattle almost a month ago. I had worn them just about every day since I got them with no issues, taking them out only for showering. Yesterday morning I took them out to shower and rushed out of the house for work without them… as the day went on they became very swollen, red, itchy, hard, and warm to the touch. Though my ears hardly look anything like the picture above, they are still very swollen, itchy, and starting to peal this morning.
I was unaware of allergies and dangers of wood body jewelry, and was not informed by the seller; most likely because I did not purchase these from a Tattoo / Piercing shop. Is there a way to tell what kind of wood they are made out of just by looking at them?
Is there anything I can do to help reduce the swelling and dryness. Any Oils? or if sea salt soaks would be appropriate. Any information would be great.
Thanks!
If you had an allergy to the wood you’ve been wearing for the last month, I’d think you’d have seen it very quickly.
Wood jewelry must be maintained regularly to keep your lobes happy about wearing it. Regular oiling is a must to keep the jewelry hydrated.
Why your lobes became swollen and red after not wearing jewelry for the day may just simply be a result of them being able to breathe and have some circulation pumping to them.
In the meantime, you should keep your earlobes clean and moisturized - I like jojoba oil, personally. Try wearing a more biocompatible material like implant grade steel, titanium or glass and see if that makes them feel better.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Tuesday August 12th, 2008 @ 2:01 PM
Filed under: Ear
Hi there
Quick question. I have my ears stretched to 16mm and am wearing standard surgical steel tunnels. What I would like to know is what is the best way to stop them from smelling. I clean them daily using a mild soap, and soak the tunnels, yet after about 5 minutes they begin to smell funky. My ears are perfectly healthy, never had a blow out and it has taken me 3 years to get to the size I am at.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks.
Levon Gravett
Other than what you are doing the only way to stop that funky smell totally is to switch to wearing organics. I do believe I have answered a similar question to this before so a quick search should bring up ‘the science bit’!
+6 / 6 votes
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Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | 3 Comments
Tuesday August 12th, 2008 @ 2:35 AM
Filed under: Ear
Hi.
I’m curious if it is safe to wrap electric tape around a pair tapers I have. I’m currently at 00 and I can not find any tapers or plugs for 7/16 anywhere and when I do find them, they’re too expensive. I told a friend about my problem and he suggested using electric tape and wrapping it around my plug/tapers to make them bigger so I could stretch. Is that safe to do?
I hope this question wasn’t already asked. I searched on here and couldn’t find what I was looking for.
Thank you.
You’re better off using teflon tape than electrical tape. Teflon tape is super thin and it’s self-adhesive so it’s not going to cut up your lobes and have glue come in contact with them (which is VERY irritating)
Just a wrap or two every several days works well for a lot of people.
+7 / 7 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 5 Comments
Saturday August 9th, 2008 @ 5:38 PM
Filed under: Ear
First of all, thanks for such an amazing website!! It helps a lot!
Well, I got my navel piercing ten years ago and now it’s almost a month that I had my right ear helix pierced. (Which I had been waiting for so long, everything has iths moment) As I’m quite spiritual so was the meaning. I went to my acupuncturist to help me choosing the point to be pierced. I believe acupuncture and piercing MUST come together. The point is, when I look at it in the mirror, I think it may have migrated just a little bit, like a milimeter or two from the original placement. Though, it’s very difficult to ensure. The question is, how can I know if a migration actually happened, or maybe it’s just me worrying too much? I’ve had my hair tight all the time, even when I sleep, I mean very careful. Just two or three people touched it accidentally, and not so hard. Is it possible anyway? Care: ph neutral soap everyday and and antibacterial pomade sometimes. It’s just that I really want it to be perfect because it means A LOT. Thank you very much!!!!
Migration of any piercing is possible. It’s much more likely with some piercings than others, but it does happen. In the case of a helix, it’s possible that jewelry that isn’t fitting quite right (in the case of a ring anyway) could cause migration. It’s possible that pressure from sleeping on it could cause migration.
Being able to tell if the piercing has migrated can really only happen visually. With migration, there is usually a “line” that is visible starting where the piercing was and obviously ended where the piercing is now. If it’s only moved a slight amount, you may not be able to see a line.
While migration is possible, mostly likely it hasn’t moved, and you may be worrying a little too much.
+3 / 3 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 2 Comments
Thursday August 7th, 2008 @ 6:03 AM
Filed under: Ear
Hey, i was wondering if it was possible to have both an expanded outer conch and a diagonal industrial bar on the same ear?
If so, would i have to wait until the conch had been fully healed before getting the industrial done?
Finally, is 8/10mm an adviseable size to stretch the outer conch to?
This is all a matter of your anatomy of your ear and its ability to house both pieces of jewelry. Visit a professional who has experience in both matters and discuss it, heck even talk to multiple piercers in person (ie: visit a variety of shops and ask thoughts/opinions,etc)
Depending on the size of your outer conch area should dictate what ideal size you can comfortably go to and if you were planning to go to an 8mm or 10mm outer conch, perhaps see if its possible to biopsy punch it at that size instead of stretching. So as to reduce the amount of pressure you apply to your cartilage.
Personally if I had a client capable of housing both piercing types. I’d want to start with the outer conch first and let it heal, before attempting the vertical industrial.
+5 / 7 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 1 Comment
