Earstretching.net

is my placement too low for stretching? i'm at 12g, and i only one to go to about 7/16 at the largest. probably no bigger than a 00g, though. i'm really trying to avoid having to have them repierced.

the placement is a little low. i would recommend letting them close and getting repierced since ur only at 12g if u want nice thick lobes. if u dont want to do that i would recommend you stretch them VERY slowly GOOD LUCK

Thanks for the response!
And would you happen to know how long I need to let the lobes heal before I get them redone?

How long have they been pierced? If it's been a long time they might not close, unfortunately.

I think it would be possible for you to go to 00G or 7/16" as long as you stretch very slowly and do oil massages (emu oil can help keep lobes thick). But they do look pretty low.

I've had them pierced since I was nine. So it's been a pretty long time. I actually went a period of several years where I didn't wear earrings at all and they still didn't close so I don't think that's an option. I do plan on waiting a few months at the minimum between stretches and I'll definitely be doing the oil massages so I hope you're right, corazon! Thank you guys for the responses, I appreciate it!

It might be worth going to a piercer (make sure it's an experienced, reputable one) and seeing if there's anything they could do. I'm thinking maybe they could do another piercing going into the existing hole right above it, so that way it would at least be slightly higher. I'm no piercer though so I can't say for sure if that would work, but sometimes a good piercer can get creative and figure something out.

I may do that. I would really like them to be a bit higher if possible.

If it's not too late to reply to this topic (meaning, if you haven't done anything), go get dermal punched. I had my shit dermal punched at 4g and now am stretched to 25mm. One was punched slightly lower than the other ear, but makes no difference at higher sizes due to the stretching.

Why on Earth would you recommend dermal punching, which removes tissue, over large gauge piercing, which does not? Dermal punching should really be reserved for cartilage.

From my experience, I say this because it doesn't make shit of a difference at larger sizes. If anything, my lobes right now feel thicker than when they were at 4g. After all, the rule is not to stretch but to grow the tissue.

I was punched at 4g, and I bet you that my lobes are thicker than most who were needled and are at 1 inch like me. The point is that if you've got messed up placement, punching it out would solve that problem and would avoid the waiting and scar tissue. This depends on the person, but there's really nothing wrong with it. My piercer told me it's fine to do with my ears, and I just went with it. No regrets. We're not talking about a big punch that removes half of your ear. Smaller-gauge punches that are proportional to your ear's size don't do any harm. While I agree they are for cartilage, it's not true that they can't be used to correct placement or skip sizes presuming the first needle attempt wasn't so low as to be at the ear edge.

Now now, this may be my experience and not apply to others, but I'm utterly complacent with the whole process that I went through.

Just another side of the coin: some like punches on the lobe, some don't. I personally prefer the punch over the needle.