Friday November 16th, 2007 @ 5:41 PM
Filed under: Ear
I have my ears stretched currently at 5/8ths. I’ve had them at that size appx. a year, and I’ve never had a problem with them. Sometimes, I feel like I wish I had stretched bigger, but it would be a waste to do it since I’ve spent over $400 in plugs and jewelry (yeah, I love my ears). So the question is, could I stretch them to about 1 1/4′ and have them shrink back down to 5/8ths? Is that feasible? It would be just temporary, and mostly to fulfill that dream of having bigger plugs.
The answer to your questions is: Maybe.
Unfortunately, there is no way to know for sure. It’s not unreasonable that they could shrink down to 5/8″ from 1-1/4″, but it’s by no means a for-sure thing. If you decide to stretch that large, you need to be VERY comfortable with the possibility they won’t shrink that small…or be okay with the idea of having them made smaller surgically.
The natural elasticity of your skin, the methods you use for stretching and how healthy your ears remain as you stretch bigger are all factors that will influence how much you would shrink.
+1 / 1 votes 
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Thursday November 15th, 2007 @ 2:06 PM
Filed under: Ear
I’ve been at a 5/8 of a inch for almost three or four years now. My goal is 3/4 i have 11/16 that i’m been trying to get in for over a year now. i’ve mainly had stone/metal/wood plugs in my ears but they don’t seem to be loosening up anymore. I’ve been rubbing e-oil on them, and i even asked a pro piercer. we told me the tape method. I’ve tried it and i put one layer on and the plugs wont fit back into my ears. Any advice would be great.
thanks guys
-mark
You may have simply reached the physical limits of how big you can stretch your ears using more traditional methods. Due to holes initially placed a little too low, and the fact that I have incredibly tight/non-stretchy skin overall, I ran in to this problem when I was at 00ga. After nearly 3 years, I could not stretch to 7/16″ without risk of tearing my ear pretty severely; even though I had a good amount of room on the bottom of my lobe.
If you want to go larger, you may need to consider having your lobes cut. If you are at 5/8″, and 3/4″ is your goal, it’s very likely this could be done using small “relief” cuts, so that no actual tissue would need to be removed. Without seeing your ears there is no way for me to say what the best way to do the cuts would be, obviously. So, if cutting is an option you want to explore, you should find a reputable, experienced piercer that you trust, and speak with them about your options.
0 / 0 votes 
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 1 Comment
Thursday November 15th, 2007 @ 2:05 PM
Filed under: Ear
I have chicken pox 
and my right lobe is really angry because of it. (like itchy, red, a little painful) any sugestions for my poor ear? I’ve been puting jojoba oil on it and it hasn’t done much.
If you have chicken pox on your earlobe I would suggest using whatever treatments you are using for the rest of your body. Rubbing jojoba oil, or other oils for that matter, on your ear won’t likely help, as though oils likely have no properties to help ease the symptoms of chicken pox.
Good luck. And remember…don’t scratch!!!!
0 / 0 votes
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Thursday November 15th, 2007 @ 2:01 PM
Filed under: Nipple
I have a double nipple piercing in my right nipple, with both a vertical and a horizontal piercing. The vertical one is 2 years old, and the horizontal one is about 9 months old. Both seemed to be healed well, until about a month ago my lover bit a little too hard and now both are crusting, my nipple is very sore, and the horizontal one became so swollen I had to change the jewelry to a longer barbell. But something I did notice when I changed the jewelry, and if I move the jewelry a significant amount even now, is I can feel the 2 barbells meeting inside my nipple! Like, the 2 piercing holes have combined or something, so that the 2 pieces of jewelry are sitting directly on top of each other. (I hope this makes sense) Could this be what’s causing all of my issues? And is this something I should be worried about? Thanks for your help!
It’s very possible the bite you experienced damaged/tore the tissue that was between the two barbells. From the picture, it appears as though you don’t have large nipples to begin with, so pinch/tearing of the tissue between the two pieces of jewelry would already be a concern. If that tissue does tear, it is very likely it will cause some pain and irritation. It can also create a larger “pocket” for bacteria, skin cells and fluids to become trapped. If you haven’t experienced any infection at this point, it’s unlikely the rubbing barbells are going to cause you any major issues, but it could be a situation where the piercings never truly become “happy” again because of the friction of the jewelry rubbing.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 2 Comments
Thursday November 15th, 2007 @ 1:59 PM
Alright, this is really embarrassing, but I’m not exactly sure what to search for in engines and querying “yeast” in this AskBME search didn’t do anything, but I really want to know. I’m on antibiotics and I have a fully healed vertical clitoral hood piercing. Whenever I take antibiotics, I developed a mild-to-moderate yeast infection. Usually I don’t treat it as it goes away by itself when I eat a lot of yogurt and whatnot, but this is my first one since getting the piercing. I know that the tissue gets irritated and it has bled minimally before, but now that it’s pierced I’m not sure if it is going to seriously affect it. I keep imagining the skin around the CBR rotting away and I get a sinking feeling whenever I go to check on its condition. I feel like the area covering the CBR is shrinking, but that could be my own paranoia. Do I have anything to worry about? Thanks so much!
A yeast infection should not negatively affect your piercing in the long term. If the yeast infection normally affects the “quality” of the tissue, you will probably still experience that, but it shouldn’t have any long-term effects on your piercing.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 1 Comment
Thursday November 15th, 2007 @ 1:55 PM
Filed under: Ear
I’ve been considering getting my helix piercing dermally punched out to anywhere from a 6 - 0 gauge. I had a question about the jewelry best suited for this sort of thing. I don’t really like O-rings, so I suppose that leaves me with either single or double flared plugs. I was wondering if it would be possible to put double flares in cartilage and be able to take them out without a hassle.
What other kinds of jewelry could you recommend?
Double flare plugs can be worn in cartilage piercings, although they can be pretty difficult to get in and out, given the flare. They are probably also not a great option to be used in an initial piercing, as getting them in will mean additional stretching. Also, double flare plugs are typically made shorter than single-flare plugs, because there doesn’t need to be room for an o-ring. If the plug is too short for the amount of swelling you experience, you will find yourself in an uncomfortable, and not-great-for-healing, situation.
If you really can’t stand the idea of o-rings, you might want to try and get pierced with a “flesh tunnel”. These are eyelets that look like double flared plugs, but one of the “flares” screws onto the hollow-tube part of the jewelry. Again, the length of the jewelry could be an issue. Also, finding a good-quality flesh tunnel can sometimes be challenging as well.
0 / 0 votes
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Thursday November 15th, 2007 @ 1:48 PM
Filed under: Ear
I recently got pierced in my ear twice for an industrial piercing. I noticed the two barbells are slightly of-axis, there is a slight difference in direction of the two piercings, I’ll say about 5 degrees.
How will this be a problem, when I insert the industrial barbell? Will this simply bend my ear and stay that way, or will the holes migrate a little by the tension?
Once they piercings are healed, it is possible that the slight difference in angles won’t affect the end product. However, it might. You may need to have the bar for the industrial custom-bent to accommodate the slight shift in angles of the piercing. Unfortunately, you won’t really know until you actually try it. If the piercings are off, I would suggest waiting at least 4 months, although 6 months is likely better, before trying to put one bar in the piercings. That also assumes the piercings are healing well at that point. If they are still red, sore and/or swollen at that point, putting once piece of jewelry into them probably isn’t your best option at that point.
I personally prefer to do industrials with one bar initial to avoid any potential shift in the angles of the piercings that can sometimes occur when you put in two separate pieces of jewelry. That may not be what’s going on here, as the piercings may have simply been done slightly off to begin with.
+1 / 1 votes
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Thursday November 15th, 2007 @ 1:45 PM
Filed under: Ear
I had my lobes pierced just about three weeks ago (at 10g with an immediate strech up to 8ga) in an experience vastly different than any I’d had before. Keeping piercings above the neck has never been my forte (metal allergies, lost o rings and severe discomfort), but these piercings were never sore. I got crusties for about a week, and minor crusties at that.
As of this writing, they are loose around my plugs, skin all the way around and feel like normal earlobes. Is it possible they’ve healed this quickly?
I suppose that it’s possible they have healed, but it’s not likely. It also depend upon how you choose to judge the “degree” of healing. At three weeks your piercings won’t be able to stand the type of abuse (i.e., accidentally snagging the jewelry hard) that piercing that are months or years old will be able to stand. I would hesitate to call them “healed” at three weeks, but it possible you may not need to be quite as diligent about your aftercare routine at this point.
In general, listen to your body. It will generally do a very good job of letting you know what is okay and what isn’t.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 1 Comment
Thursday November 15th, 2007 @ 1:43 PM
I am seriously considering a tongue splitting using the scalping method and the only worry i have is how it affects speech. I realize that while it is healing my speech will be affected but i am wondering how badly it affects speech fully healed.
Thanks
Jacob
The degree to which tongue splitting affects speech varies from person-to-person. Most people who have their tongue split end up having no noticeable difference in their speech once things have healed and they have adjusted to the split. Some people experience a small difference in their speech, but even the it’s often so slight that only they, or people that know them really well, will even notice.
+1 / 1 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 2 Comments
Thursday November 15th, 2007 @ 1:38 PM
Filed under: Nipple
Hey there, hoping that you could help with my problem here…
I had my nipples pierced in Toronto March 2006, so it’s been over a year.
I have a bubble/abscess(i dont know what to call it) , that are filled with a tiny bit of yellow/white almost sticky fluid, &sometimes a bit of blood. on the inner side of where the barbell exits my nipple. My right nipple has been tender for a while after tearing it slightly in the summer. The ‘bubble’ then pops and drains, forms a scab and tries to heal. (this had happened many times, still no luck in healing). I am cleaning them with an unscented soap in the shower, and doing sea salt soaks once a week.
I think I am starting to feel the middle of my nipple thinning out across the barbell, but am unsure. I just moved and haven’t found a reputable piercer to go get it looked at. It’s a disappointment to have them not being able to heal totally. Advice PLEASE? Thanks. 
The bubble you have is a sign of irritation. Having a piercing tear is an obvious form of trauma that can cause fluids and discharged cells to gather at the edge of the piercing. Simple pressure from sleeping, bras and/or tight-fitting shirts can also cause enough irritation to cause the build up. Basically what needs to happen is that your piercings need some TLC and some time to recover.
I would suggest you stop cleaning with the soap. If you are a relatively healthy person and your personal hygiene is good, there is no real need for the soap. In most cases, the soap will end up being more of an irritant than anything, and will simply cause your body to have a harder time healing. Increasing the frequency of your salt soaks to once a day is probably a good idea. One of the biggest things is to be extra careful with the piercings; try to move them as little as possible and obviously try to avoid any direct abuse or trauma.
+1 / 1 votes
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