I want to gauge my ears, where do i start?

Question

I haven't worn earing since forever but my holes haven't closed, so i decided to put them to use and start gauging them. Right now I'm wearing normal posts but I don't know what size they are and I'm just using them to start off. Where do I start and what do i use? How do I put the larger gauges in? Should i use those things that make the holes bigger themselves (i think they're called a taper or something)?

Answer 1

hello =)

i currently am on the road to stretching my ears as well. (only to a 12 gauge though which is small only 2mm wide)

but yes you are right abotu the tapers.
there are risks with gauging your ears.if you stretch to get to the 0g the skin has drastically changed and wont go down to normal. also peopel do strtech their ears to a 2g and their ears have returned to normal.

this is an expensive ting to do! i have to warn you. you will need to buy tapers for the best results and its not good for force jewelry through. you will need to wait one months in between stretches. when you go up a size it creates small tear. you will also need to clean your ears again as well to prevent infections.

here is a link you can read about stretching.
http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Stretching

risks
http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Piercing_Blow-out
http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Uneven_Stretching


but its best to wait one month in between stretches. you can also go to a pierce shop where they can go up 2 sizes at a time. rather than 2 sizes in 2 months at home

but since your ears are pierced with a normal post your ears are most liekly at a 18g right now. so next would to be 16 then 14,12,10,8,6,4,2,0,00 and so on.

here is a site i just bought all of my supplies from!
i did buy tapers for my ears even though it is still a small size and only go up in small incriments. its still a good idea to use tapers. Also if you look in my profile I asked a question about stretchign my ears a few days ago and most peopel said to do it after you get out of the shower


http://www.steelnavel.com/body-jewelry/style/tools-tapers-needles/tools-tapers-needles.html

i dont know how big you want to go but if you want to go to a large gause i would buy the kit at the bottom of the site

http://www.steelnavel.com/body-jewelry/style/plugs-antennas/plugs-antennas.html
(plugs)

http://www.steelnavel.com/body-jewelry/style/claws-horns-jugulars-omegas-spirals-talons/claws-horns-jugulars-omegas-spirals-talons.html
(claws horns and talons)

http://www.steelnavel.com/body-jewelry/style/rings/round/round.html
(captive bead rings)


good luck! and dont rush it. do it slowly so you dont have a piercing blow out


also there is no gaurantee if the holes will shrink down tot he normal siz but ive heard alot of people going up toi a 2g and having them go back to normal. so the bigger the guage th emore of a risk you are taking for them not to be normal again. and it costs thousands to have them repaird to lok normal again!

Answer 2

I have 6 cartilage peircings, the jewelry is the most expensive part. To gauge, most of my friends have used the smallest gauge and when used to that gone up one or two if they are brave enough. The whole process can take a while, healing in between the different sizes and preventing infections. Keep in mind that the smaller the number, the bigger the hole will be. Basic posts are 20's or 22's. I have an 18 that in comparison to a stud from my lobes it looks a lot bigger than it actually is. The next step up in moderation would be an 18 or 16, from there 14 or 12, so on. All gauge numbers are even, don't let anyone fool you. Lobes set around a 6 on average, varies by person but the normal range is 4 to 8 for the lobes to not shrink back down once the ring is taken out. Have fun with the ear rings, go for colorful things, floating balls, glow in the dark, anything! Good luck, it might hurt as you get to the single digit numbers.

Answer 3

Please tell me you have not done anything these folks have said yet? To start off, if you want to skip the whole process you can get a dermal punch. I don't sugest this because healing time is long, bloody, and painful. Scarring is lifelong.

So lets start off with what you need to do. Ear lobes can heal within months. So your posts are anywhere from a 22ga to a 18 ga. This is not going to be your starting point because you don't know exact ga. So go into your local piercing parlor and ask for a plain set of 18ga horseshoes in surgical steel. Horeshoes are easier to remove and put in because your only going to have them for a few months anyway. Next you will need to pick up some KY jelly. It is PH balanced and water based it will help the piercing slide in without grabbing dirt along with it like sticky neosporin will. After a nice shower, wash your hands again, take the jewelry out of the package, open the jewelry for insertion, and squeeze a nice glob of KY on the part of the jewelry which is going to enter your ear first. Do not force, relax, and breathe. Now wipe the excess KY off and that's it! Wash daily turing the horseshoe while washing with soap. Not body wash, soap. Wait two months and move up one gauge. Repeat this until you get to where you want to be. Slow and steady will give you much better results. If anytime you decide you don't want gauged ears, this meathod will insure that your earlobes stay intact enough to heal back to a "normal" size. Good luck!

Answer 4

You probably tore your ear lobe a little. It tore because you skipped a size, you can not skip sizes! Also you need to wait a month between stretches. You need to downsize to an 8 or 10, do sea salt soaks 2-3 times a day (never use alochol or peroxide), and massage your ear with vitamin E, emu, or jojoba oil. The oil massage will help decrease the amount of scar tissue your ear builds up, skipping sizes makes a lot more scar tissue then stretching correctly does, and the more scar tissue you havethe harder it is to stretch. Also any bleeding and extreme pain is not normal, a healthy stretch doesn't bleed.

Answer 5

You've received a lot of great info, but keep in mind that you should always check with a professional before you do anything like this yourself. If your holes are too low, it'll just rip the skin and you're gonna have a really ugly scar. I always had mine stretched at a professional piercer (I paid for jewelry and like $10 on top plus tip). I just felt safer having someone who knew what they were doing help me.

Also. You can get pretty big before they won't go back to a normal size. If you get tired of them, use Preperation H. :) A fun little tip to help the healing process speed up. I went from a 2 back to the normal 18 in no time at all this way.

Answer 6

before u do anything u need to do LOTS more reaserch