I began stretching my ears a little under a year ago. I had normal piercing sized ears and slid a 14g through them without a problem. I waited about two weeks then tapered to 12g. Wore my 12g for about a month and then tapered to 10g. Another month went by and I tapered to 8g. I've had my 8g in for about 4 months, mainly because I was so busy.
Anywho - last night I tapered up to a 6g and it burned a little more than usual, and I couldn't get the jewelry in. Instead of forcing it I decided to let the tapers stay in for the night and let my little lobes calm down. After about an hour the burning went away (which is normal for me), and they just felt the normal amount of tender.
So around noon today, I decided to give the jewelry another go. There's a little lip on the back end of it where the O ring goes by the way. Well, I got a little further than last night, and they went through, but got caught on the damn o-ring lip. I decided again, instead of forcing it to go ahead and put the tapers back in. I cleaned my ear before doing so and noticed a little fleck of blood. I kept cleaning and no more blood came out, but I inspected the plug that I was trying to put in and saw a liiiiittle bit of skin film on it. I slid the taper back in, making sure to clean the ear. It slid in without pain or problem.
My questions are :
1. Is it ok to wear my tapers for a week or so in order for my ears to become accustomed to the 6g, and then try and put jewlery in.
2. Should I be concerned that there was a little blood - as I know that there's not supposed to be any when you stretch.
and..
3. Should I go ahead and throw the plugs out with the lip for the o-ring and try to find some plugs that are completely smooth?
Sorry that the post is so long, I just wanted to make sure I covered all my bases.
Thanks!