gauging/stretching

Sunday June 29th, 2008 @ 1:15 AM

Filed under: Ear

So recently started stretching my ears and im at a 14 right now. they have been in for about 1 month (as per instruction) and they seem to be completely healed. I can easily change jewelry and there is no pain or any problems. However, i cant get the 12 gauge in w/o lots of pain! Is there a possible reason for this or do i just need to wait longer? (They feel fine though). Please help as i am very impatient!

CAN HAZ SERCH FUNKSHUN 4 STRETCHIN PLZ KTHNXBI!

Remember people before asking your questions, try actually reading/searching through AskBME first to see if a similar/identical question has already been answered.

Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 1 Comment

How to care for ebony jewelry?

Thursday June 26th, 2008 @ 7:05 PM

Filed under: Ear

I have a pair of 00g ebony spirals and have no clue how to clean them. Any help would be great. Thanks

Darren

If you are the only person who has ever warn the jewelry, and you are storing the spirals in a clean place when you aren’t wearing them, there really shouldn’t be a need to actually “clean” them. If they get dust or debris on them, wiping them with a dry (or even mildly damp) cloth should do the trick. If you really feel the need to clean them, most manufacturers of wood jewelry suggest a brief washing with a mild soap and water.

More important than actually “cleaning” them is oiling them to help keep them moisturized and to help reduce the likelihood of cracks forming. There are a variety of different types of oils you can use on organic jewelry. I am personally a fan of jajoba oil…it is also the oil that most of the wood manufacturers I deal with suggest. If you are sensitive/allergic to nuts, you may want to avoid jajoba oil.

If you can avoid submerging your spirals and avoid wearing them in the shower, you will go a long way to prolong the life of the jewelry.

Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | Comments

Ear lobe stretching using Darkside Acrylic Stretching Taper

Wednesday June 25th, 2008 @ 8:30 AM

Filed under: Ear

Hi there,

I have an enquiry regarding a ear lobe stretching taper i found at http://www.bodyjewelleryshop.com/online_store/darkside_acrylic_stretching_taper_9858476.cfm

I really am looking forward to buy this, though not before I know how to use it the correct way. This taper actually stretches several stages at one go, so it’s stretched over 2 or 3 different sessions per taper.

My question is:

How do I stretch my ear lobe using this taper to insert a non-flared tunnel right after?

E.g. the 11-16 mm taper.

Since I could only go 2mm per stretch, I’d be stretching my left lobe from 12mm to 14mm.

Question is, how do I insert my 14mm tunnel - other than the crazy idea of removing the taper from my ear lobe once it slids to the 14mm diameter, and quickly insert the 14mm tunnel into the naked ear lobe?

Wouldn’t the ‘fresh’ 14mm hole close back so fast that it’s impossible to insert the 14mm tunnel in time? Not to mention, the agony and the pain caused by the pressure in doing so.

Also, I have been reading that arcylic taper that they’re no good to be left inside piercing to gradually stretch them. Would this fact be correct or otherwise?

Many thanks in advanced!

I honestly hope you did not already purchase the said piece. If you have, well, I am truly sorry for your botched purchase.

It really grinds my gears Quahog when the following is stated:

“It’s important to only stretch your piercing up one size at a time and to leave at least 2 weeks between each stretch to avoid tearing the flesh. Some jewellery can be left in and gradually pushed along to stretch the piercing over a longer period of time”

As you said the reality is Acrylic is not safe for autoclaving and thus will usually melt when placed in an autoclave. Which means even if you: wipe it down with alcohol, boil it in oil, buy jesus juice and rub it all over it,etc it will not be safe to wear while tissue is healing.

When you simply cram jewelry in your ears and “wait two weeks”, quite often that’s simply not enough time. The result in this is micro-tears that can occur within your fistula. These micro-tears can cause scar tissue build up, blow outs and with a “dirty” (not sterile) item, can lead to a potential infection.

These items were simply taken out of the piercing studios and sold because impatient people simply lack the ability to wait. What was hopefully used responsibly and properly by the actual professionals is now easily obtainable by the uninformed public, to use whatever way they deem to be proper.

In order to PROPERLY increase the size of your lobes, you simply need to be patient and wait. It might take 2 months, 3 months, personally I say wait 6 months up to a year (sometimes even longer); before attempt to go to the next size up (ideal to only go 1mm a a time).

By waiting these, what impatient people call, “long periods” of time, you’re enabling your lobes to become relaxed and healthy. This would increase the elasticity of the lobe tissue and enable you to safely increase the size of your piercings, without damaging the fistula.

Also know that if you were planning to ignore all this and stretch it anyways using something that ends at 16mm would not help your cause whatsoever. Because as soon as you insert and then remove the taper to pass the 14mm one through, you’re going to have difficulties. If you NEED to stretch it and cannot wait because you’re impatient then what you’re looking for is a taper that ends at 14mm, nothing larger. That way the jewelry is the same size as the taper and insertion should most likely be a lot easier that way.

Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 2 Comments

Can’t get plug through after stretching

Tuesday June 24th, 2008 @ 10:26 PM

Filed under: Ear

After being at a 4g for about 3 1/2 months, I attempted to stretch my right ear to a 2g. The taper went through no problem, but I was only able to get the plug about halfway through. The back of my ear just doesn’t want to cooperate, and I’m not sure why. I gave up after a few attempts, didn’t want to irritate my ear too much. After waiting about a month, I tried again with the same results.

My ears have never really been that loose (my left ear wouldn’t take the taper at all), but Ive never had any issues stretching before now(no pain, blow outs, blood etc) and have no idea why my ear will take the taper but not the plug.

Is there anything I could do to get this plug in my right ear? After reading an older question, I saw “surprised to find out that you sleep on that side more often and/or use the phone on that side more often. Those sorts of things cause additional irritation, which can cause scar tissue build-up.” I sleep on my right ear, is it possible that scar tissue build could be the problem?

Thanks for any help you can give

There are a few things to keep in mind:

As you stretch, it is very common for stretches to become more challenging. It’s also very common for people to need to wait longer between stretches. While 3-1/2 months, or even 2 months, may have been long enough between your last stretch, it may not be long enough this time. There are a variety of factors that can contribute to this, but why it happens isn’t all that important. Listening to your body and not tearing your ear is really the important thing.

Another very real possibility is that the jewelry you are trying to insert is actually a bit bigger (even a fraction of an inch) than the taper you are stretching with. If that is the case, it’s very easy for the jewelry to get hung up on the tissue even if the taper goes in just fine. You may want to try and find a different piece of jewelry to put in immediately after the stretch.

It’s also possible that you simply don’t have a good angle for the insertion. As an experienced piercer, there are still times where inserting jewelry behind a stretching taper can be challenging. Trying to do it on yourself, especially if you have a piece of jewelry that is a bit too large, can be nearly impossible.

Most people do have one ear that stretches more easily than the other. I think all the theories behind why it happens are really just that…theories. They may in fact be right….or the very least, very well-educated guesses, but I don’t think anyone really knows for sure.

Best of luck. Just remember to not force it.

Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 1 Comment

Strange Smell

Thursday June 19th, 2008 @ 7:26 PM

Filed under: Ear

I have had 00g lobes for about 8 months and there is still a white substance gathering around the jewelry and it smellsreally bad. What can I do to stop this?

This is easily remedied - remove your jewellery and clean the lobe and the jewellery. It’s that simple.

The funk is trapped normal excretia that oxidises on contact with the air and gives you that lovely smell when you move your jewellery. Good old-fashioned soap and water on a regular basis will keep this under control. Another option is to switch to organics like wood. The porous material will absorb the sebum so it doesn’t become trapped and go rancid.

Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | 2 Comments

Blow out.

Tuesday June 17th, 2008 @ 3:08 AM

Filed under: Ear

Which oil is that you use to massage the blow out, so that it may retract into the body?

And is reducing the size to 3mm enough?

There’s many oils that work for people, all depending on their body and how it reacts to the oil. You can try Neem oil, Jojoba Oil, even Emu Oil has been known to help people.

Essentially with blow outs you will want to completely remove the jewelry and massage the lobes with one of said oils to use. From there you will need to wait for the blow out to be re-absorbed into the lobe and then put whatever jewelry fits comfortably and easily into the piercing. Then wait 1-2 years before actively attempting to stretch that piercing to a larger gauge size.

Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 1 Comment

Lobe Stretching

Monday June 16th, 2008 @ 11:44 AM

Filed under: Ear

ok i had gauged my ears to 5/8 inch the right ear does fine and the left i dono whats wrong with it but it didnt wanna go so after hours of messing with it i finally got it and this wee lil piece of skin came out of my ear not like a blow out or anything but like just a piece of skin and this white stuff would come out of my lobe like around the plug so i switched from wood to opals and it cleared up and was fine but when i took out my plugs i noticed a purple mark inside the lobe so i thought maybe it was just a bit of bruising or something and went up to 3/4s inch didnt have to use a taper or anything just a bit of vitamin E oil and they went right in and now the lobe is doing the same thing again… is there any way to like get that to go away?

Try stretching properly from the get-go. Prevention is better than cure and let’s face it, knarly, chewed-up stretched lobes do not look attractive. There is a wealth of information on the internet and on BME on how to stretch correctly. Also organics are not meant to be used in fresh stretches due to their porous nature and ability to harbour bacteria, which can become an issue if you damage your lobe during the process. As in your case.

By rushing the process and damaging your lobes all you will gain is a thinned out lobe with a poor blood supply and a build up of scar tissue. It will look unsightly, hinder any future stretching and could even lead to necrosis and subsequent splitting. Not nice, eh?

For immediate treatment, remove the jewellery and wait until your earlobes have calmed down before commencing stretching at a size whereby the jewellery pops in comfortably and massage your vitamin E oil into the lobe to soften it and stimulate the blood supply in the meantime. Whilst you are waiting for your lobes to rectify themselves, do a little research so that you might stretch safely next time.

Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | 6 Comments

Unhappy Lobe Piercing

Friday June 13th, 2008 @ 12:23 PM

Filed under: Ear

A little over a month ago I added a third hole to my right ear lobe. I did it myself, as the only piercers available in my small town are downright unhygenic hacks or the mall boths with piercing guns. This is the third ear lobe piercing I have done myself and also the first one to give me any problems.

A few days ago what looked like a classic blood blister formed on the front edge of the hole and that part of my ear lobe seemed slightly swollen. After keeping it clean as usual and waiting it out for a bit, my obsessive compulsive side took over and I experimentally applied a bit of pressure. A bit of blood came out, as well as some pus, so naturally my initial reaction was “Oh shit, I’ve popped a boil!”

Since then I’ve kept it clean and largely left it alone.

Now heres the thing thats concerning me: this evening I noticed that my lymph node on the right side of my neck was pretty swollen and hurt a bit. However, I also got the first Gardasil shot in my upper right arm today, so I have absolutely no idea if it’s a normal side affect of the shot, or perhaps an allergy, or if an infection has spread throughout my ear.

Any recomendations would be appreciated- Should I retire this piercing, wait it out or consult a doctor? Hopefully I’m worrying too much, but you never know…

If your month old piercing is encapsulating blood and pus and your glands are swollen it would seem a common sense option to err on the side of caution and visit a doctor to see if they would advise antibiotic treatment.

Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | Comments

Conch piercing

Sunday June 8th, 2008 @ 5:23 AM

Filed under: Ear, Surface/Unusual

I’ve had my conch pierced for about 5 weeks now. Everything was great for the first few weeks, until the day I accidentally hit it once, then a few days later a friend of mine gave it a good knock.

I’ve noticed that there’s a little bit of tissue around the entrance hole, but there’s still never been any pain or discomfort. Do you think a jewelry change when it’s 6-8 weeks old would help?

Personally I’d much rather use a Labret Stud or Barbell for jewelry when doing a Conch Piercing, I find them to be less problematic then CBR’s.

What I’d suggest doing first though before changing jewelry is to do hot salt water compresses or even chamomile tea bag compresses to try and help sooth the area. If the problems persist after about a week or so, I’d then suggest switching over to a pre-sterilized implant grade steel (or titanium) internally threaded labret stud or barbell.

But first try the hot salt water (or chamomile tea) compresses.

Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 4 Comments

Angry Lobe?

Friday June 6th, 2008 @ 7:46 PM

Filed under: Ear

First i would like to say that I know this would be easier if I had a pic I could show you… but my cam isn’t working..

Last night my 00g was really sore so i took out the double flare titanium tube i had in it and imedietly after it was out my lobe got verry sore and a little red.. the hole has almost completly closed now… I would say its maybe a 10g now, and its only been a little over 12 hours. its now overly red or sore anymore, but the hole is still shrunk.

How can i save it? do you think there could be an infection causing it?

Oh and so you know I havent done any stretching lately, its been about 2 years since i reached 00g and i had it to 0g for about 3 years before that.

Thanks for your time..

Stretched lobes can be temperamental at times. Sometimes changes in the weather, being a little run-down or even getting a hair caught can cause a stretched piercing to flare up. Sometimes they get pissy for no obvious reason. You did right to take out the jewellery. I would keep the jewellery out until it is back to being all nice and healthy and then stretch up again from whatever size jewellery your rested lobe will accomodate comfortably. In the meantime, do twice daily seasalt soaks - especially if it is weeping and once the lobe is dry, try massaging it every other day with something like Holey Butt’r (my personal favourite - I should get commission!!) and you will be back up to your normal size in no time. Be patient. Don’t rush. Don’t hurt it. Give it the baby treatment.

Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | 1 Comment