hiptocode wrote:Consider wearing an earring for the first time in two years your first stretch. Congratulations!
Now proceed as such, sea salt soaks, get yourself some jojoba or emu oil, take care a couple times daily to clean and oil gently. Wait at the very VERY least 3 weeks to stretch up to 16 or 14 gauge at the most.
After two years a few weeks is not long to wait. And as I am sure you have read here and other places: go slow.
Be persistent but careful, pain is not part of the process, and if you have pain you body is telling you to slow down.
Have fun!
hiptocode wrote:Sea salt soaks generally 1-3times a day. Don't start massaging until the soreness is gone.
You can take out or leave in the earrings for the sss, I would still get a jojoba or emu oil. Vitamin E oil is great but very thick and sticky. An oil would be easier to get into the hole and slippery-er for stretching. Although some people swear by the stretching balm/butter.
So after sss put some of your oil (or butter if you decide that works best for you) gently on the lobes and on the earring posts and get it in the hole. You may not want to start with the oil until the pain goes away.theth
Why do you link th backs are bothering you? You can get a different type at a piercing kiosk at the mall.
corazon_de_oro wrote:My gunned piercings that I had from ages 9-13 NEVER healed and were constantly sore. Most earrings are made from pretty crappy metals and you might have an allergy. Like hiptocode said, putting in the earrings was also a stretch so that might be why they're a little sore too.
Don't stretch in three weeks, especially to 16G or 14G. Since you're probably at 20G right now, 18G is the next size. But since your lobes are sore/irritated, you should really wait a couple months before you try to stretch. In the meantime, do sea salt soaks every day (make sure they're no saltier than 1/4 teaspoon salt per one cup water or it'll do more harm than good) and don't do oil massages until your ears stop being sore.
corazon_de_oro wrote:Hmm, are they by any chance the studs they actually use with the gun? Because those usually are a little thicker for some reason.
And for sea salt soaks, the water needs to be hot. I either boil tap water and let it cool or just pour bottled water into a coffee mug and microwave it. It shouldn't burn you, but it should be pretty hot.