corazon_de_oro wrote:Ideally, it shouldn't hurt if you wait for your ears to loosen up between sizes. A lot of people think of stretching as creating a wound in your ear, waiting for it to heal, and creating another wound. However, the best way to think of it is slightly increasing the size, leaving it until it's truly ready for the next size, and increasing it again. There should never be any tearing or bleeding if you're waiting the right amount of time between sizes, so it should never be too painful. Some will say that it's not supposed to hurt at all, but I've felt a slight sting with the stretches I've done so far. To sum it up, the more patient you are the less it hurts.
Agreed!
The most I ever have is a slight burning or tingling sensation, but never any pain. And your lobes should never, ever rip or bleed.
I generally wait about 2 months between sizes and I find that makes the process pretty straightfoward. I never have to go through trying to force a taper through my ear, most of the time it will slide straight through as if there were no size difference at all.