Earstretching.net

First and foremost, I'm a complete noobie to ear stretching. So, I apologise in advance for my lack of knowledge! If I use the incorrect terms, please let me know, haha.

Anyway, what I'm looking for is a "guide," so to speak. I'd like to begin stretching my ears, but I'm completely lost on where to begin. My ears are currently at what I think is a 20g. I had my ears pierced at Claire's when I was six years old, so whatever the "average" piercing size is for a little tyke at Claire's is what I have right now.

I'd like to stretch to a 2g or a 0g. I've heard that after a 0, it's impossible to downsize unless you have your ears stitched up. I'm assuming this is true, but is it once you hit a 0, or once you go beyond that? I'm 17, a senior in high school, so I've got my Uni years ahead of me. But, as soon as I graduate from Uni, I'd really like to downsize back to the way my ears are now. I understand a lot of people disagree with this ... I'm sure a lot of you will say "there's no point if you're going to get rid of them, you stupid kid." I'm sorry, but I'm not into getting my ears stretched for a "lifestyle." I don't mean to sound like a brainwashed kid, but I suppose I am in the respect that I want to have my ears stretched because I find it attractive ... nothing more. And considering the field of work I'd like to go into in about 5 - 6 years, plugs aren't really going to help me become a psychiatrist! Sorry, haha, rant over. :')

Anyway! Like I said, I want somewhat of a guide. By that I mean, what should my "plan" be to go from where I am at now up until a 0? What size should I go to first? How should I stretch my ear? What should I buy? How should I take care of my ears? What will the heal time be for each size? Etc. Just simple things like that!

I'm in no rush at all, I want my stretching to be a rather relaxed process. I'm not going to have my ears "punched," or whatever it's called. I'm really fine with waiting the recommended heal time between each stretch.

So .. where to first?! Thanks!

from personal experience, the stretching from a normal piercing to 0 g is easy, as long as you take your time and listen to your body. the best way in the smaller sizes is tapering, not dead stretching which is just taking the next size jewelry and forcing it through. after each stretch you should wait a minimum of 1 to 1 1/2 month before you decide to stretch again. when stretching make sure to clean your ears daily, i would leave my jewelry in for about a week after the stretch and then take them out daily to clean the jewelry and the hole itself. sea salt soaks are great for the lobes. if you take your time and dont push your ears to their limits by going to fast and you stop at a 0 you can easily heal back to at least 14g which look like a normal piercing. from experience i was stretched to 3/4 and i took mine out for 2 months to let them heal and thicken so i could go bigger easier and they healed back to a 6g in 2 months so as long as you go slow and stretch, not rip your ears bigger you will be fine. you should never feel pain just like a pressure of it stretching, and you should never see blood, if you see blood you arent stretching you are ripping your ears, and you will form scar tissue and it will be a lot harder to heal to shrink down or to stretch up. so just take you time and keep em clean

^ Actually, there's no guarantee your ears will close up at any size. If you stay below a 2G or so they probably will, but everyone's different and there's no way to tell you whether they will or not. That being said, 2G-0G is not going to leave you with a huge gaping hole or anything and you could probably still wear normal earrings through them. Also, if you're a woman and you have long hair, small stretches aren't going to keep you from any job unless they ban all jewelry. The untrained eye can't tell small plugs from regular earrings; I have 00G lobes and most people don't even know they're stretched.

Anyway, if you're at 20G now you'll need to start at 18G. If you wear a lot of heavy earrings your ears might have stretched a little on their own so you could try 16G. Get some captive bead rings or internally-threaded labrets for these sizes since you probably won't be finding any tapers that small. I know the other person warned against dead-stretching but there's nothing wrong with it as long as your ears are ready and you're not forcing anything. I dead-stretched my last four sizes or so.

After you get your larger jewelry, you'll need some type of lube. You can use jojoba oil, vitamin E oil, emu oil, etc. Coat your ear and the new jewelry with the oil and slide it in after a hot shower (stretching after a shower makes it easier because your skin is loosened up and relaxed). If you experience any pain or if it won't go through unless you force it, stop and wait longer. Massage your ears daily with the oil to loosen them up. Go up one size at a time every 6-8 weeks or however long it takes your ears to be stretched with no pain. I can't stress it enough: stretching should NEVER hurt.

You'll probably start finding tapers at about 14G. Bodyartforms.com has a really good selection of plugs and tapers as well as some cheap taper/plug sets. Remember that the tapers are not meant to be worn as jewelry, they are simply tools to stretch your ear to accommodate the plug. For each size you'll need one taper and a pair of single-flare or no-flare plugs; as soon as you use the taper, follow it with the plug right up against it.

Since stretching should never create any type of open wounds if you're doing it correctly, there's not a whole lot of aftercare involved. Some people like to do sea salt soaks and treat their stretches like new piercings but I have never seen the need; I prefer just leaving them alone for a few days and then cleaning my plugs in the shower with regular soap/body wash/whatever.