Earstretching.net

So i'm brand new to this site, but not so much to stretching. I started stretching when I was in 9th grade, moving from a "standard 18G" to about a 00. For whatever reason I removed the 00's and left my lobes untouched for about 6 years. Now in my twenties, I've come back around to stretching and found myself stretching much bigger than I thought I ever would. My lobes never "shrunk" past a 0G in that 6 year period so I continued right where I left off. I was moving up 1 size per week (0-00-7/16-1/2 etc.) which I guess is considered too quickly, without ever running into any problems, aside from resistance and pain that subsided within days. But recently I moved up from a 5/8 to a 3/4 using a silicone tunnel, which was no more difficult or painful than any other of the sizes. After a few minutes or so I found the pain actually increasing to where it was almost unbearable and within 12 hours or so I decided to take them completley out. There were no tears or blowouts, just some minor bleeding and inflammation. My question is this: Could the silicone jewlery have had anything to do with it? Could it have been the fast size jumping finally catching up with me? It just seems strange. Ive since stretched back to a 5/8 and will probably attempt it again. Any thoughts?

Yeah the silicon was a really bad idea, especially going from 5/8 to 3/4 cause its a rather big jump (considering a 5/8 tunnel can fit inside a 3/4). The silicon tunnels are best used for the size you are at.

My thoughts are that you should let your ears chill for a bit and let them heal up. The best way to stretch at the point you are at is to use Teflon tape. Wrap a layer of Teflon tape around your 5/8 plug, you can typically wrap another layer every 3 days (but don't force it and listen to your ears). Its much easier and safer than using a taper.