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[styggian_nights]

I am writing this to post to Facebook later. It is not complete yet, but I'm getting too tired now to finish it. I'm going to post it because I am worried about my older niece trying something like this (she already got an industrial and tragus piercings inspired by me, though unknowingly by me at the time). I know I have an influence on them, so I

Comments

[lowenmensch]

That was interesting. I'll probably never stretch my lobes (my ears don't like regular post earrings none too much) but I do like to look. And I only recently learned about the autoclaving thing, and have been spreading the word since.

[styggian_nights]

It's possible that you could safely stretch to a slightly larger gauge, like maybe 10g, and be able to wear single flared glass or stone jewelry and still pass as "normal" sized earlobes. It might be that you're allergic or sensitive to the nickel or other crappy metals used in cheap jewelry like what you find at Walmart or Hot Topic but that surgical stainless steel, niobium, titanium etc would be fine. And glass is inert and next to impossible to have a reaction to it

[lowenmensch]

You know, your story really makes me want to consider stretching now. You are right, only stainless steel seems to not irritate my ears. Most of the time. I also think I damaged my years when they were pierced with a gun (yeah, I know, that's bad, but I was in 5th grade, and it's what there was at the time and place) and from 22 years of cramming all kinds of earrings into them, regardless of whether or not they have been hypo-allergenic, clean, or whether or not my ears were bleeding. So there's some scar tissue. Now I only wear hypo allergenic posts and hooks(my fave pair my husband made, so I KNOW they are nickel-free!) But I see more and more stretched lobes I like, and my co-worker was hired with stretched lobes of a wider gauge than yours are,. My only concerns are that my ears will end up reacting after all, and that whole "permanent" factor. My current boss is cool with the 00 gauge lobes, but I the odds are I won't be doing that job until I retire at 65!

[styggian_nights]

Oh hey, I got my lobes gunned at a trendy jewelry store when I was 10 or 11. I turned white as a sheet, but somehow managed not to rot my lobes off. The aftercare given at those stores isn't healthy, though. It causes too much trauma in addition to the actual piercing gun itself. I got my second lobes gunned years ago, and eventually took them out, and even had a third lobe piercing (you can see the scar from it in the photo I posted earlier). Both second piercings closed up, and I had my seconds redone (with a gun) a couple years ago.

Most people did, we didn't know any better. You can use Emu oil rubs on your lobes to help break down scar tissue, even if you don't want to stretch, it can improve earlobe health anyway. If you do want to try anything, I can give you advice, and there's a lot of lj comms with good advice as well.

[light_ftw]

While I'm not much into any of that, and the thought I'd do mods on myself kind of freaks me out, I found your post informative and interesting.

It's also nice to know someone's educating and/or caring for well-being of fellows interested in that kind of thing.

[styggian_nights]

Hah, yes, when I started out, it really did take some psyching up to alter my body. I don't think I could ever pierce myself, and I did a lot of reading before stretching before I felt comfortable with it.