The short version is: One of my ears is less flexible than my other. the double flares are really difficult to take out/put in, and i'm worried about causing more scar tissue and making it even worse.
heres the long story:
My ears were stretched over a period of a few months (from 18g-0g), and were pierced at an 18g for nine years before I stretched them. I had them pierced the first time when I was really young and they got infected, so I removed them and there's (not an awful lot) but a decent amount of scar tissue in my right ear.
I didn't have too hard a time stretching them, but my left ear is absolutely the more flexible of the two (as I stretched it was always at least two sizes ahead because I went as quickly as my ears let me; I know, I know not the best idea). I had a blow out probably twice within the time it took to reach a zero, in my right ear both times.
When I reached a zero and moved from acrylic tapers to acrylic single flared plugs, both my ears were extremely irritated (as well as my neck behind my lobe) from --as fas as I can tell-- some weird alergic reaction to either the materials the O-rings were made of, or whatever they were cleaned in. I cleaned them before I put them on the plugs, but some odd, chemical-ish, tire-rubber sort of smell remained, and so i resolved to push through a double flare.
I had no problem with these until I moved to a steel eyelet (double flared). I've been wearing these for probably three weeks, and they're good, but my right ear keeps giving me issues. I can very easily remove my left eyelet, but the right is really tight. When I removed it last, to give my ears a break, it bled and became swollen.
Any ideas what to do about this scar tissue so that it doesn't tighten up to the point where I'm making it worse each time i decide to change my plugs?