Earstretching.net

Hello Everybody! I am new to this forum, so if this is an odd place to post this topic please forgive me.

I started stretching my ears in the summer, and just went up a size close to two weeks or so ago to 2g. My concern is that my ears are acting really sketchy. I used acrylic tapers for a few days and my ears did not like them at all. About 2 and a half days with the tapers in i bought button-style stone plugs. My ears are getting really dry and im having a hard time taking out my plugs when i want to give them a wash, i almost have to push them from the back to get out of my ear. This first happened the other day and i thought it was just from there being a lot of gunk around the plugs/in my holes, but the same thing happened tonight. Also, i just gave them a sea salt water wash and rubbed them with tea tree oil, and about ten minutes later one of my lobes completely got dry around the holes.
Should i be concerned? Or is normal for them to be taking this long to heal up, even if it is a little bit.
i waited about 3 months before upsizing. my lobes dont necessarily hurt but i am still worried lol.

Any thoughts, suggestions and feedback would be greatly appreciated! thanks guys! And sorry for the super long post, i just wanted to be specific

one more thing. my lobes are pretty thick and contract really fast, so i only take out my plugs for about 10 minutes a day when i wash my ears. is that okay?

Get yourself some plugs/tunnels in glass, steel or titanium.
Stone is one of the materials you shouldn't wear in a fresh stretch because of it's porous surface, it can get "stuck" to your skin and cause damage.

Also don't use tea tree oil, it's very harsh and can be causing your ears to dry out too. Try using either jojoba oil, vitamin E oil, emu oil or bio oil.

Yes, only taking your jewellery out for 10 minutes a day for a wash is just fine, you can always start taking them out for longer periods as you get more comfortable with it. However if your ears aren't fully healed yet, I would suggest not taking the jewellery out at all for another 2-3 weeks.