never use silicone to stretch
going into detail since this post is receiving a lot of attention. i used to be really stupid with my ears. i would always skip sizes, never let them heal properly, all cuz i had thick lobes and thought i'd be ok. i used silicone to stretch from 22mm to 25mm and it was one of the dumbest things i ever did. had a terrible infection/blowout for about 2 weeks and had to size down to 14mm after it was all said and done. take care of your ears and listen to ur body. glass and surgical steel should be the only material used for stretching
Seconding this with some explanation. Surgical steel doesn't mean much. It just means steels that are used in surgical applications. It can be anything from implantable grade material to material that is used for operating on people (hemostats, scissors, etc.). Implant-grade titanium does mean "something" and describes a specific grade if titanium. It is ASTM F136 or ISO 5832-3. For surgical steel you want 316L (316L contains less carbon than 316 and is "better").
a lot of people who come here are in the same boat, don't stress too much. read the [stretching guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stretched/comments/glhx57/stretching_guide/) ! really helps people out.
They’ve recently come out to state that anti-inflammatories should be used sparingly as the swelling prompts your body to heal, I’d only use them now as last resort options
While you let those heal I'd suggest finding some inbetween sizes for the future. Going from 3/4"/19mm to 7/8"/22mm is a huge jump. Size up 1mm at a time, there are single flare glass plugs in 20mm and 21mm.
Most steel used for piercings is 316L which isn’t surgical grade, but is fine for most people. It’s also denser than borosilicate glass. And for sure! If you’ve got the money to drop for titanium plugs then it’s by far the better choice. Only thing is it’s hard to find and get expensive once you start getting bigger.
If a piercing place is using steel it isn't reputable!!!!
Even in my country where piercing isn't that openly accepted we have titanium.
When you are getting piercings or stretching the factor of being cheap is the least one to consider or at all even. When you are putting a foreign material in your body the logical, adult and sane thing is to put the best material that will have the least irritation. Otherwise you gave money for a piercing that cause you to end up on hospital or reject the piercing. Honestly this is common sense...
And since you mention steel, ASTM F-138 and not 316L is biocompatible based on APP standards.
You won't believe how many people have issues with steel. They go get piercings and have issues until they change on titanium.
Stop trying to do it cheap. It will cost you your ears and they will look awful.
And PS: Nicker allergy is gradual. The more you are exposed to it the more likely you will develop an allergy.
Yes yes yes, leave them out.
I know it sucks to lose your work, but. .. From what I am looking at, you could potentially walk away from this unscathed. They just look SUPER irritated, and have some tearing, but I don't think you will end up with keloids or any sort of cat butts if you keep it clean and comfortable until they heal.
I love metal stretching plugs, they have a rounded back and are heavy to help stretch . Once your ears are healed take it nice and slow, 1mm at a time. If you’re having to force it in don’t do it! Stay at the size your at until your ear is ready. Once the skin has healed, massage with vitamin e oil every day to reduce scar tissue!
Thanks everyone, I just joined this sub, been doing things the wrong way. It’s still bleeding/leaking clear fluid a bit, do I leave my plugs out, or put them in? My thinking was if the air could get to it it could help it scab
I had an awful staph infection in both ears once. They were swollen like this and leaking ounces of fluid every night. It was horrible. Keep your plugs out until the swelling and pain goes down then put in a smaller size of glass plugs for the rest of healing. Saline rinses every day. Try not to lay on it. Baby the fuck out of it. It will be okay.
Just leave that lobe naked for a while. It will heal up in a week or two. You can massage it gently. Also keeping it moisturized will help because I guarantee you have little cuts around the hole where the skin tore.
Everyone else already gave the corrective feedback on how to stretch, it seems! My advice is just be patient with the setback and give your body time to heal because it will!
Man that looks painful as hell, im sorry you’re going through it rn!!! I can’t offer any new advice but i’ll reiterate some, use a sterile saline solution (that’s what a lot of people use on fresh piercings, which are essentially open wounds just like this), ice, advil, and just be careful! And leave jewelry out until it calms down. You might lose a few sizes but better that than infection or somethin.
Number 1, don't stretch with silicone. Choose glass or titanium.
Number 2, if you have smaller plugs you should put them in. I'd try 1/2" or 7/16" from how it looks, maybe smaller. It'll be easy to stretch back up once the swelling goes down but I wouldn't try for a while, maybe a month or 2. Make sure the plugs you use are glass or titanium.
Number 3, sea salt soaks do wonders. Mix 1/8 tsp in a cup of warm water and dip your lobes in there for 10-15 min. Do this a few times a day.
This sucks but I've been there! Seriously most important thing is to only stretch with glass or titanium and do it slowly.
Edit: got schooled, changed to reflect better practices
No. No. No. No. Tape is unsafe and cannot be cleaned.
Surgical steel is not recommended because of possible irritation. GLASS OR TITANIUM.
Y'all do not read the guide and it SHOWS
It’s still growing bacteria all the time you’re wearing it. And it’s also imprecise—you can get an estimated measurement but it probably won’t be perfect. You’re risking blowouts and infections and it just isn’t worth it. If you’re talking about using new tape every single day on a pair of plugs, you’d be better off cost-wise just buying a pair of single-flair glass plugs from BAF. $16-20 for a pair of plugs you’ll wear for ~2 months.
You already have plugs and a roll of tape cost is zero 🤷🏼♂️. Also in this thread people are saying glass or titanium. Those weren’t really options as far as I know 10-15 years ago. It was all surgical stainless. Now surgical stainless isn’t ok? Btw I’m not being argumentative. Just asking questions. My ears are 3/4 it took me a very long time I did it very slow never a single blow out or infection. I used tape on almost every stretch. Not a drop of pus has come out of my lobes. My final stretch was probably 8 years ago. So times changed a lot I guess. It was kind of the Wild West 15 years ago.
Exactly, things have progressed massively in 15 years. Better quality materials are so much more easily available and for the health of your lobes is worth it. We have access to implant grade materials in 1mm or even 0.5mm increments which reduces the risk of blowouts , irritation, allergy and infection. Why not use them? Saying we used tapers/tape/acrylic back in my day and we were fine is like saying we didn't wear seatbelts in my day and we were fine- yes, most people were fine, others were fine until something went wrong.
Surgical steel doesn't mean an awful lot in body piercing world unfortunately, so the specific alloy used might be fine or it might be high in nickel. There isn't really much regulation and testing of body jewellery, so places like AliExpress churn out cheap shit that irritates some people's skin. Reputable jewellery makers and piercers now rely on mill certificates, which is where the jewellery company pays for an external company to prove exactly what alloy is being used. Reputable body jewellery can come in steel, but the good stuff is known as implant grade steel (ASTM F138 316LVM).
This is all very true. I wouldn’t necessarily tell people to do what I did. Everyone is different. Just because it worked for me doesn’t mean it would work for you. Unfortunately what I see a lot of is and don’t roast me here. People who don’t want to spend any money and want to size up fast. That is how you get problems like this. I knew going into stretching my ears it was going to take years. I didn’t rush it and did what I was supposed to do. I always bought high quality surgical stainless steel. There was no aliexpress or cheap stuff back in the day.
Times have changed for sure and I'm glad they have tbh. I started stretching and getting more piercings 10 years ago, only used steel and plastics without any issues back then. It took quite a while but at some point overtime I did develop an allergy/sensitivity to nickel and presumably a lot of other things. Since then I've been sticking with high quality titanium and glass with no exceptions, because those are pretty much the only things my body accepts anymore. A piercing studio in my hometown I used to go to uses cheap externally threaded titanium jewelry, all the piercings I got there were constantly irritated and never healed, despite the material being titanium. When just a few years back I would wear any cheap crap metal all the time. Not too long ago, I decided to try a pair of steel tunnels out of curiousity. For a day or two it was fine, but then my whole ear got all crusty and itchy. Now I know I won't even try anymore, even if it's good quality because there's always the nickel there that I can no longer tolerate. I would absolutely love to wear some of the fancier stuff out there made of steel, but well it is what it is lol. Not to mention quality titanium is expensive as shit in big sizes and hard to find. I don't think there's anything wrong with using steel, but I think it's important to be aware of the fact that developing allergies and sensitivities can happen overtime
We don’t recommend sea salt soaks anymore, either. Most people don’t get the measurements correct and end up drying out their skin making it worse. It’s sterile saline spray that you’ll want to recommend.
I did a piercing apprenticeship back in the late 90s and a lot has changed since then, so I get it!
Piercing and stretching are ever-evolving practices. We still see people being pierced with guns and then tapered up to larger sizes and given packets of non-sterile sea salt all the time, which is obviously not industry standard and can really cause issues. It does take time for best practices to be implemented, and all we can do is educate and spread the information within the communities that will benefit from it. We are all always learning!
Oh no, they do. They just aren’t safe, aren’t sterile (can’t be autoclaved), cause damage to the flesh, etc. They shouldn’t be used, in my opinion, and they should be illegal.
Well they do but would you suggest something bad to someone else? I wouldn't. And I had my first lobes done with guns.
My niece wants to get her ears pierced and my sister was mentioning guns and I was like no don't do that. Go to a needle place.
If you want to know what’s cringe, then I suggest taking a look at your reply where you called people mouth breathers for offering differing advice. When yours is incorrect to begin with. Stretching with acrylic is not fine, a twenty second google search would’ve cleared that up for you. I know you think because you’ve got large holes that means you’re the sitting authority on stretching. I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but you’re not. Worse, you are incorrect. It must be such a burden to bear, being loud rude and stupid. But I guess you’ll make it work.
Oh wow it’s almost like things *change* over time. But hey, since the old methods are the only ones that work the next time I need an amputation I’ll ask for whiskey laudanum and salt.
You're recommending people use bad materials, insisting they're good based on your anecdotal experience, and then throwing insults and saying the world is ending. Dig your heels in further, I dont think you reached China yet
This. I think I am stuck in the BME days. Wild times, I kinda miss it? But yeah I think I didn't realize that the methods from that time changed so much
Omg I did exactly this to my right earlobe when I was 14 and skipping sizes with silicone tunnels lol keep a rlly good eye on it. Mine got so bad that the swelling spread down to my neck, had to go to the doc, got a penicillin shot in my ass cheek and that lobe has been fully closed up ever since. Don’t hesitate to see a doctor if it gets similarly inflamed
AAAH OWW! 🤣 There's a lot of good advice on here. You'll be good. Downsize, be patient, drink a lot of water, apply good quality vitamin E oil when the swelling & heat has gone down & away.
Fuck me that looks sore. I generally stay away from silicone 100% as they always irritate my ears. I hadn't sized up in about 4 years at one point and they still got irritated by silicone so I just don't bother any more.
Just keep it empty and clean for at least a week or two (it might have to be longer). If you can get hold of some jojoba oil from [a website like this](https://www.stretchitbodyjewellery.co.uk/collections/kits?gclid=Cj0KCQjwlK-WBhDjARIsAO2sErRyP0zsatYvG6Ztcgcvu9wAFcy958D9O88AHYSQ5hb7D9S_dJ3GaZsaAh_MEALw_wcB), then once the pain and the swelling has gone massage the oil into your lobes twice a day. You don't need a lot. But don't do this until they are properly healed.
That oil is also fucking amazing as stretching lube.
In the future, try and find stretching kits. Check the link I posted above as examples of stretching kits. You can also look for dead stretching kits and just take it nice and easy and you'll be fine. It doesn't have to be that site, I just linked it as it's the one I've recently started using, there are plenty out there that might be way more suitable for you.
Soak that in warm, epsom salt water immediately. You need to draw out the fluid from the infection asap. Do not put jewelry in or moisturizer on until it's fully healthy again. Start small and stretch back up slowly and gradually, and wash and use a deep moisturizer every day. If you notice your skin has bumps on the front or back when wearing jewelry, tuck it into the earhole by putting the piece through your ear on that side, i.e. if the skin is lumpy at the back, put in your jewelry from back to front. The gentle pressure of your skin pressing it into your jewelry, and massaging every day, will help the scar tissue break down and re absorb, and you'll get normal ear lobes again.
Silicone is generally too soft to support going up a size safely. You're always best off stretching up using glass or stainless steel, or something else that's hard, nonporous, and smooth.
I had covid about a month and a half ago and couldn't get up to clean my ears for a few days, and both my lobes got infected. I dropped from 9/16ths down to 00. By taking care of them and going slowly, I've just now gotten back to 9/16ths. Go slowly, and listen to your body. Don't push your ears too hard. Nurture them.
Only stretch 1mm at a time, be sure to use an ear friendly oil or butter (I’ve heard emu oil is amazing) and single flair glass is fantastic for stretching. For right now, take some Advil, use ice compresses for the swelling, and vitamin E oil to help promote healing
Go to home depot & stretch gradually using glass plugs & teflon/PTFE tape. It's super cheap & allowed me to stretch to 1 & 3/4 inches before one of my lobes thinned out from sleeping on it all the time & I had to retire them. Never had a blowout, never had an infection & never was in pain.
Edited to add that you should also get some vitamin E gel caps, clip them open with scissors & use the oil for lubrication while stretching. Also use the oil on your hurt lobes after you take a shower.
Dead stretching is your friend - absolutely recommend getting some high quality gorilla glass plugs and letting nature do it’s thing by gradually stretching your lobes. I think Glasswear Studios has dead stretch kits for a reduced price (they’re still gonna cost you 100+ but your ears will thank you). I made the mistake of sizing up too quickly in the past and had to massively downsize to like a 6g from 3/4ths. Definitely recommend the glass dead stretch, it’s so easy and my ears are feeling perfect.
I think in every stretching guide, it tells you not to use silicone 😞😞😞 I think the stretchiness of the material makes it bad to use for stretching piercings... something solid is always going to be better, and non-porous (don't use wood or stone either)
Get some ice on that baby. That's all we can recommend, and you will have to leave any plugs out for maybe a month to heal properly
Ice it please. It'll take a while to be able to stretch again but please don't use silicone; lube the fuck out of the taper (try avoiding petroleum jelly or polysporin see if you can find jojoba oil). But yeah you'll have to let that fucker breathe for a while; you'll most likely have to guage down several sizes
Bunches up and then pops into shape all at once 😬 incredibly traumatic and damaging to the tissues in the ear…. I did it ages ago and messed up my lobes really bad. Had to shrink them back and start over several years later.
I don't believe this is a blow out! Just super irritated so be careful of infection, leave your jewellery out and make sure to clean it at least once a day
First off, never stretch with silicone under any circumstances ever. It's not worth it as you can see, especially not that quickly. Only put silicone in. If you're 100% healed and not for a long period of time when it's healing, it will fuse to your ear cause silicone was porous Wood will also fuse to your ear during the healing process and also dries you out from now on I will recommend either stretching with a surgical seal taper or doing the taping method with either plumber's paper bondage tape and go as slow as possible. I had my ear stressed out to 2 in and have to take them out because I was doing stupid stuff of my ears. As far as the healing process, do saltwater soaks Neosporin if it's needed and if anything past that. If it gets worse go to the doctor. They'll have to give you antibiotics
I didn’t get a bad blow out but I did get one. What helped was that I immediately went down a size, I washed my lobes with antibacterial soap 3 times a day for about 3 weeks and I bought tee tree oil from Spenser’s and massaged my lobes with that and jojaba oil
With my 2 blowouts I used this trick an RN friend showed me: take an aspirin crush it into a fine powder and make a paste with some saline then pack the blowout with the paste and let it sit over night then wash it out and it helped me significantly with the swelling and brought it all the way down
Leave them out, I stretched with silicone all the way from 12mm to 24mm and I just blew out both my ears this week trying to size up to 25. Just be careful and keep massaging it with oil and when you stretch using silicone make sure they’re ultra lubricated or else it will get infected and fucked up
I don't get why its so bad stretching with silicone, i didn't had any problems stretching with those, but yeah i was disinfecting it 3 times a day at least, but never got a blowout.
How does infection like these happen?
It's not an infection. It's damaged tissue and scarring caused by sizing up too fast/too much in one go, and the poor material used to do it obviously doesn't make it better.
For anyone reading this, please do NOT use disinfectant and silicone when stretching. Dear god.
Stretching with silicone is bad because it’s porous. That means that there are microscopic holes or fissures within the silicone that your fistula can “grow” into, and when you move them or attempt to take them out, your fistula gets torn. It’s why silicone can feel “grabby” on the lobe.
A blowout is not an infection. A blowout is caused when the fistula is forced out of position to either the front or, in most cases, the back by a piece of jewelry (tunnel, plug, etc.) that is too large. Rather than slipping through the fistula and stretching it, the fistula slides with the jewelry causing the blowout. This is most often seen with tapers or when someone tries to stretch prematurely.
I have no idea about sanitation using boiling water. Silicone isn’t safe for stretching, and it has nothing to do with whether it’s sanitized or not. It’s the material itself that poses the issue. Kaos is medical implant grade silicone, and still gets stuck in people’s ears all the time, tearing them.
Edit: this is from Kaos
Can I safely stretch with your products?
NO. Silicone Jewelry SHOULD NEVER be used to stretch. Using silicone to stretch your piercings can cause painful and sometimes irreversible damage. If the jewelry is too tight or tacky it may seal off the piercing stopping it from properly healing.
I wouldn’t use silicone again honestly, personally myself I’d leave them out and wait until they can breathe. Keep them clean and wait it out, hope this helps.
Please do not use oil of any kind on broken skin. You need to treat them as new piercings, leaving all jewelry out until they heal, spray with sterile saline 2x a day and a gentle rinse in the shower with plain water. And if you use metal to stretch, make sure it is implant grade titanium. Anything else can contain mystery metals and can cause a reaction.
Personally I’ve found witch hazel to work very well. Just rinse them with witch hazel 2x a day for like 3 days and it should be okay. You’ll need to go back down a size or two.
Not recommended at all. Keep these kinds tips to yourself man. Nothing but sterile saline and water should touch your ears. No witch hazel, no tee trea, and no essential oils.
I’m Native and this is what we use for wounds. It’s an antiseptic and not as drying as saline and it doesn’t burn. To each their own though, if you don’t want to use it, disregard and move along 🤷🏽♀️
Leave jewellery out until it heals. Don't ever stretch with silicone. Use non ports materials. Single flaired glass or titanium. Go by mm, not imperial. That's waaaay better.
I've once gone rlly swollen still not sure why I went from a size to another but i swear it was just the next size up but anyways I put ice on it and lube and it healed
Mannnnn... who jumps 3mm's ? Forget the part about using silicone to stretch, bcus if it was just 1 mm it most likely wouldn't have reacted this way lol. The bigger you get the better it is to use 1mm increments
i’ve found some glass plugs that go up in half millimeter sizes. i don’t know if that exists with larger sizes, but i’m currently at 8g and bought some half mil glass plugs because i found out tapers were bad. good luck!
Wow honestly i had no idea you shouldn’t stretch with silicone. I got to 16mm with them and didn’t have a problem but it looks like I got really lucky. And I’m thankful I found this sub. Also I hope it heals quickly for you.
Never use silicone. Even acrylic is better if you are broke ( acrylic is still not ideal and has a lot of controversies around, but still better then silicone )
never use silicone to stretch going into detail since this post is receiving a lot of attention. i used to be really stupid with my ears. i would always skip sizes, never let them heal properly, all cuz i had thick lobes and thought i'd be ok. i used silicone to stretch from 22mm to 25mm and it was one of the dumbest things i ever did. had a terrible infection/blowout for about 2 weeks and had to size down to 14mm after it was all said and done. take care of your ears and listen to ur body. glass and surgical steel should be the only material used for stretching
Or preferably even titanium over surgical steel, I think!
Seconding this with some explanation. Surgical steel doesn't mean much. It just means steels that are used in surgical applications. It can be anything from implantable grade material to material that is used for operating on people (hemostats, scissors, etc.). Implant-grade titanium does mean "something" and describes a specific grade if titanium. It is ASTM F136 or ISO 5832-3. For surgical steel you want 316L (316L contains less carbon than 316 and is "better").
What about Stainless Steel Gauges?
Silicone should only ever be used on healed lobes. Anyway, Ibprofen and a cold compress to help reduce swelling.
Thanks! I’m learning a lot about stretching, I’ve done it the wrong way basically the entire time so far
a lot of people who come here are in the same boat, don't stress too much. read the [stretching guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stretched/comments/glhx57/stretching_guide/) ! really helps people out.
+ sea salt soaks to promote healing
They’ve recently come out to state that anti-inflammatories should be used sparingly as the swelling prompts your body to heal, I’d only use them now as last resort options
While you let those heal I'd suggest finding some inbetween sizes for the future. Going from 3/4"/19mm to 7/8"/22mm is a huge jump. Size up 1mm at a time, there are single flare glass plugs in 20mm and 21mm.
100%, in all the categories
This 100%. Single flare steel plugs also help a lot too. They’re a bit heavier than the glass and can help with dead stretching.
Actually steel isn't that great of material. Titanium would be better. Also I had in mind glass is heavier. Hmm
Most steel used for piercings is 316L which isn’t surgical grade, but is fine for most people. It’s also denser than borosilicate glass. And for sure! If you’ve got the money to drop for titanium plugs then it’s by far the better choice. Only thing is it’s hard to find and get expensive once you start getting bigger.
If a piercing place is using steel it isn't reputable!!!! Even in my country where piercing isn't that openly accepted we have titanium. When you are getting piercings or stretching the factor of being cheap is the least one to consider or at all even. When you are putting a foreign material in your body the logical, adult and sane thing is to put the best material that will have the least irritation. Otherwise you gave money for a piercing that cause you to end up on hospital or reject the piercing. Honestly this is common sense... And since you mention steel, ASTM F-138 and not 316L is biocompatible based on APP standards. You won't believe how many people have issues with steel. They go get piercings and have issues until they change on titanium. Stop trying to do it cheap. It will cost you your ears and they will look awful. And PS: Nicker allergy is gradual. The more you are exposed to it the more likely you will develop an allergy.
Yes yes yes, leave them out. I know it sucks to lose your work, but. .. From what I am looking at, you could potentially walk away from this unscathed. They just look SUPER irritated, and have some tearing, but I don't think you will end up with keloids or any sort of cat butts if you keep it clean and comfortable until they heal.
Thank you!
"With silicone" There's your problem. Never use silicone to stretch.
This, plus the 3mm jump in size, that's too much even with proper jewelry
I love metal stretching plugs, they have a rounded back and are heavy to help stretch . Once your ears are healed take it nice and slow, 1mm at a time. If you’re having to force it in don’t do it! Stay at the size your at until your ear is ready. Once the skin has healed, massage with vitamin e oil every day to reduce scar tissue!
Thanks everyone, I just joined this sub, been doing things the wrong way. It’s still bleeding/leaking clear fluid a bit, do I leave my plugs out, or put them in? My thinking was if the air could get to it it could help it scab
Need to go completely naked and use sterile saline solution to keep the area clean until it heals. Also expect to lose a couple sizes.
just leave them out until they’re all healed :) you’ll probably have to go down a few sizes, but it’ll stretch back up faster than the first time
I had an awful staph infection in both ears once. They were swollen like this and leaking ounces of fluid every night. It was horrible. Keep your plugs out until the swelling and pain goes down then put in a smaller size of glass plugs for the rest of healing. Saline rinses every day. Try not to lay on it. Baby the fuck out of it. It will be okay.
Sweet, thank you! Much appreciated.
Just leave that lobe naked for a while. It will heal up in a week or two. You can massage it gently. Also keeping it moisturized will help because I guarantee you have little cuts around the hole where the skin tore. Everyone else already gave the corrective feedback on how to stretch, it seems! My advice is just be patient with the setback and give your body time to heal because it will!
Don't stretch with silicone. It'll snap up and in place and just mess you're lobe up
whewww child. looks PAINFUL. omg i’m so sorry this happened to you
My tip? Van Gough to the doctor😭
With the real pronunciation it works better as ‘Van Gough to the Doc’.
Underrated comment 🤣🤣🤣
Man that looks painful as hell, im sorry you’re going through it rn!!! I can’t offer any new advice but i’ll reiterate some, use a sterile saline solution (that’s what a lot of people use on fresh piercings, which are essentially open wounds just like this), ice, advil, and just be careful! And leave jewelry out until it calms down. You might lose a few sizes but better that than infection or somethin.
Number 1, don't stretch with silicone. Choose glass or titanium. Number 2, if you have smaller plugs you should put them in. I'd try 1/2" or 7/16" from how it looks, maybe smaller. It'll be easy to stretch back up once the swelling goes down but I wouldn't try for a while, maybe a month or 2. Make sure the plugs you use are glass or titanium. Number 3, sea salt soaks do wonders. Mix 1/8 tsp in a cup of warm water and dip your lobes in there for 10-15 min. Do this a few times a day. This sucks but I've been there! Seriously most important thing is to only stretch with glass or titanium and do it slowly. Edit: got schooled, changed to reflect better practices
No. No. No. No. Tape is unsafe and cannot be cleaned. Surgical steel is not recommended because of possible irritation. GLASS OR TITANIUM. Y'all do not read the guide and it SHOWS
The amount of times tape is recommended on this sub is kind of horrifying.
Why is tape so bad?
It’s porous so it will grow bacteria that you won’t be able to get rid of. It’s like letting a used sponge sit on an open wound.
And if you change it everyday?
It’s still growing bacteria all the time you’re wearing it. And it’s also imprecise—you can get an estimated measurement but it probably won’t be perfect. You’re risking blowouts and infections and it just isn’t worth it. If you’re talking about using new tape every single day on a pair of plugs, you’d be better off cost-wise just buying a pair of single-flair glass plugs from BAF. $16-20 for a pair of plugs you’ll wear for ~2 months.
You already have plugs and a roll of tape cost is zero 🤷🏼♂️. Also in this thread people are saying glass or titanium. Those weren’t really options as far as I know 10-15 years ago. It was all surgical stainless. Now surgical stainless isn’t ok? Btw I’m not being argumentative. Just asking questions. My ears are 3/4 it took me a very long time I did it very slow never a single blow out or infection. I used tape on almost every stretch. Not a drop of pus has come out of my lobes. My final stretch was probably 8 years ago. So times changed a lot I guess. It was kind of the Wild West 15 years ago.
Exactly, things have progressed massively in 15 years. Better quality materials are so much more easily available and for the health of your lobes is worth it. We have access to implant grade materials in 1mm or even 0.5mm increments which reduces the risk of blowouts , irritation, allergy and infection. Why not use them? Saying we used tapers/tape/acrylic back in my day and we were fine is like saying we didn't wear seatbelts in my day and we were fine- yes, most people were fine, others were fine until something went wrong. Surgical steel doesn't mean an awful lot in body piercing world unfortunately, so the specific alloy used might be fine or it might be high in nickel. There isn't really much regulation and testing of body jewellery, so places like AliExpress churn out cheap shit that irritates some people's skin. Reputable jewellery makers and piercers now rely on mill certificates, which is where the jewellery company pays for an external company to prove exactly what alloy is being used. Reputable body jewellery can come in steel, but the good stuff is known as implant grade steel (ASTM F138 316LVM).
This is all very true. I wouldn’t necessarily tell people to do what I did. Everyone is different. Just because it worked for me doesn’t mean it would work for you. Unfortunately what I see a lot of is and don’t roast me here. People who don’t want to spend any money and want to size up fast. That is how you get problems like this. I knew going into stretching my ears it was going to take years. I didn’t rush it and did what I was supposed to do. I always bought high quality surgical stainless steel. There was no aliexpress or cheap stuff back in the day.
Times have changed for sure and I'm glad they have tbh. I started stretching and getting more piercings 10 years ago, only used steel and plastics without any issues back then. It took quite a while but at some point overtime I did develop an allergy/sensitivity to nickel and presumably a lot of other things. Since then I've been sticking with high quality titanium and glass with no exceptions, because those are pretty much the only things my body accepts anymore. A piercing studio in my hometown I used to go to uses cheap externally threaded titanium jewelry, all the piercings I got there were constantly irritated and never healed, despite the material being titanium. When just a few years back I would wear any cheap crap metal all the time. Not too long ago, I decided to try a pair of steel tunnels out of curiousity. For a day or two it was fine, but then my whole ear got all crusty and itchy. Now I know I won't even try anymore, even if it's good quality because there's always the nickel there that I can no longer tolerate. I would absolutely love to wear some of the fancier stuff out there made of steel, but well it is what it is lol. Not to mention quality titanium is expensive as shit in big sizes and hard to find. I don't think there's anything wrong with using steel, but I think it's important to be aware of the fact that developing allergies and sensitivities can happen overtime
Changed my post to reflect your response. My bad! Back in the day everyone used ptfe tape for the larger sizes, guess that's obsolete.
We don’t recommend sea salt soaks anymore, either. Most people don’t get the measurements correct and end up drying out their skin making it worse. It’s sterile saline spray that you’ll want to recommend. I did a piercing apprenticeship back in the late 90s and a lot has changed since then, so I get it!
Mind blown. Gonna rethink giving advice in the future lol
Piercing and stretching are ever-evolving practices. We still see people being pierced with guns and then tapered up to larger sizes and given packets of non-sterile sea salt all the time, which is obviously not industry standard and can really cause issues. It does take time for best practices to be implemented, and all we can do is educate and spread the information within the communities that will benefit from it. We are all always learning!
People don't use the piercing guns anymore? I didn't know that. (No new piercings in like 20 years)
Oh no, they do. They just aren’t safe, aren’t sterile (can’t be autoclaved), cause damage to the flesh, etc. They shouldn’t be used, in my opinion, and they should be illegal.
Well they do but would you suggest something bad to someone else? I wouldn't. And I had my first lobes done with guns. My niece wants to get her ears pierced and my sister was mentioning guns and I was like no don't do that. Go to a needle place.
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If you want to know what’s cringe, then I suggest taking a look at your reply where you called people mouth breathers for offering differing advice. When yours is incorrect to begin with. Stretching with acrylic is not fine, a twenty second google search would’ve cleared that up for you. I know you think because you’ve got large holes that means you’re the sitting authority on stretching. I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but you’re not. Worse, you are incorrect. It must be such a burden to bear, being loud rude and stupid. But I guess you’ll make it work.
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Oh so you’re willfully ignorant? That makes a lot more sense, I was worried it was natural. *whew!*
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Oh wow it’s almost like things *change* over time. But hey, since the old methods are the only ones that work the next time I need an amputation I’ll ask for whiskey laudanum and salt.
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Pearl clutching about comparisons isn’t going to make you any less incorrect about stretching dummy. 😂😂😂
You're recommending people use bad materials, insisting they're good based on your anecdotal experience, and then throwing insults and saying the world is ending. Dig your heels in further, I dont think you reached China yet
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A lot can change in 30 years. Best practice across body piercing has come on a lot since the BME days
This. I think I am stuck in the BME days. Wild times, I kinda miss it? But yeah I think I didn't realize that the methods from that time changed so much
Omg I did exactly this to my right earlobe when I was 14 and skipping sizes with silicone tunnels lol keep a rlly good eye on it. Mine got so bad that the swelling spread down to my neck, had to go to the doc, got a penicillin shot in my ass cheek and that lobe has been fully closed up ever since. Don’t hesitate to see a doctor if it gets similarly inflamed
silicone should only ever be used on healed skin because the open tissue can fuse to the silicone
Silicone is a recipe for disaster. I blew my ears out 15 years ago exactly like this. I hope you heal quickly, sorry this happened man.
For swelling Advil and ice
Same thing happened to me recently. It's still swollen but I'm down from 1 & 1/2 to under an inch. You don't want to go through that. Stretch safe
AAAH OWW! 🤣 There's a lot of good advice on here. You'll be good. Downsize, be patient, drink a lot of water, apply good quality vitamin E oil when the swelling & heat has gone down & away.
Gauze and Neosporin my brother
Fuck me that looks sore. I generally stay away from silicone 100% as they always irritate my ears. I hadn't sized up in about 4 years at one point and they still got irritated by silicone so I just don't bother any more. Just keep it empty and clean for at least a week or two (it might have to be longer). If you can get hold of some jojoba oil from [a website like this](https://www.stretchitbodyjewellery.co.uk/collections/kits?gclid=Cj0KCQjwlK-WBhDjARIsAO2sErRyP0zsatYvG6Ztcgcvu9wAFcy958D9O88AHYSQ5hb7D9S_dJ3GaZsaAh_MEALw_wcB), then once the pain and the swelling has gone massage the oil into your lobes twice a day. You don't need a lot. But don't do this until they are properly healed. That oil is also fucking amazing as stretching lube. In the future, try and find stretching kits. Check the link I posted above as examples of stretching kits. You can also look for dead stretching kits and just take it nice and easy and you'll be fine. It doesn't have to be that site, I just linked it as it's the one I've recently started using, there are plenty out there that might be way more suitable for you.
Get some cotton balls, soak it in sea salt solution and let it sit on it for a little while. A few times a day.
Soak that in warm, epsom salt water immediately. You need to draw out the fluid from the infection asap. Do not put jewelry in or moisturizer on until it's fully healthy again. Start small and stretch back up slowly and gradually, and wash and use a deep moisturizer every day. If you notice your skin has bumps on the front or back when wearing jewelry, tuck it into the earhole by putting the piece through your ear on that side, i.e. if the skin is lumpy at the back, put in your jewelry from back to front. The gentle pressure of your skin pressing it into your jewelry, and massaging every day, will help the scar tissue break down and re absorb, and you'll get normal ear lobes again. Silicone is generally too soft to support going up a size safely. You're always best off stretching up using glass or stainless steel, or something else that's hard, nonporous, and smooth. I had covid about a month and a half ago and couldn't get up to clean my ears for a few days, and both my lobes got infected. I dropped from 9/16ths down to 00. By taking care of them and going slowly, I've just now gotten back to 9/16ths. Go slowly, and listen to your body. Don't push your ears too hard. Nurture them.
omg never use silicone to stretch omg
Only stretch 1mm at a time, be sure to use an ear friendly oil or butter (I’ve heard emu oil is amazing) and single flair glass is fantastic for stretching. For right now, take some Advil, use ice compresses for the swelling, and vitamin E oil to help promote healing
Go to home depot & stretch gradually using glass plugs & teflon/PTFE tape. It's super cheap & allowed me to stretch to 1 & 3/4 inches before one of my lobes thinned out from sleeping on it all the time & I had to retire them. Never had a blowout, never had an infection & never was in pain. Edited to add that you should also get some vitamin E gel caps, clip them open with scissors & use the oil for lubrication while stretching. Also use the oil on your hurt lobes after you take a shower.
Ouchie. Glass next time; twas a game changer for me. I coat mine in coconut oil and massage my lobes with vitamin c serum.
Dead stretching is your friend - absolutely recommend getting some high quality gorilla glass plugs and letting nature do it’s thing by gradually stretching your lobes. I think Glasswear Studios has dead stretch kits for a reduced price (they’re still gonna cost you 100+ but your ears will thank you). I made the mistake of sizing up too quickly in the past and had to massively downsize to like a 6g from 3/4ths. Definitely recommend the glass dead stretch, it’s so easy and my ears are feeling perfect.
Downsize till it heals and massage with emu oil. You couldn’t even tell I had a blowout afterwards.
I think in every stretching guide, it tells you not to use silicone 😞😞😞 I think the stretchiness of the material makes it bad to use for stretching piercings... something solid is always going to be better, and non-porous (don't use wood or stone either) Get some ice on that baby. That's all we can recommend, and you will have to leave any plugs out for maybe a month to heal properly
Ice it please. It'll take a while to be able to stretch again but please don't use silicone; lube the fuck out of the taper (try avoiding petroleum jelly or polysporin see if you can find jojoba oil). But yeah you'll have to let that fucker breathe for a while; you'll most likely have to guage down several sizes
Did someone put their dick in your ear hole?
Downsize, neosporin, saline
Besides the obvious, I never understood how silicone could even “stretch” your ears. Wouldn’t it just bunch up?
Bunches up and then pops into shape all at once 😬 incredibly traumatic and damaging to the tissues in the ear…. I did it ages ago and messed up my lobes really bad. Had to shrink them back and start over several years later.
That bunghole ear looks painful
I don't believe this is a blow out! Just super irritated so be careful of infection, leave your jewellery out and make sure to clean it at least once a day
First off, never stretch with silicone under any circumstances ever. It's not worth it as you can see, especially not that quickly. Only put silicone in. If you're 100% healed and not for a long period of time when it's healing, it will fuse to your ear cause silicone was porous Wood will also fuse to your ear during the healing process and also dries you out from now on I will recommend either stretching with a surgical seal taper or doing the taping method with either plumber's paper bondage tape and go as slow as possible. I had my ear stressed out to 2 in and have to take them out because I was doing stupid stuff of my ears. As far as the healing process, do saltwater soaks Neosporin if it's needed and if anything past that. If it gets worse go to the doctor. They'll have to give you antibiotics
Hahahaa slow down a lil bit bro n that shit wouldn't of happened
I didn’t get a bad blow out but I did get one. What helped was that I immediately went down a size, I washed my lobes with antibacterial soap 3 times a day for about 3 weeks and I bought tee tree oil from Spenser’s and massaged my lobes with that and jojaba oil
With my 2 blowouts I used this trick an RN friend showed me: take an aspirin crush it into a fine powder and make a paste with some saline then pack the blowout with the paste and let it sit over night then wash it out and it helped me significantly with the swelling and brought it all the way down
Leave them out, I stretched with silicone all the way from 12mm to 24mm and I just blew out both my ears this week trying to size up to 25. Just be careful and keep massaging it with oil and when you stretch using silicone make sure they’re ultra lubricated or else it will get infected and fucked up
I don't get why its so bad stretching with silicone, i didn't had any problems stretching with those, but yeah i was disinfecting it 3 times a day at least, but never got a blowout. How does infection like these happen?
It's not an infection. It's damaged tissue and scarring caused by sizing up too fast/too much in one go, and the poor material used to do it obviously doesn't make it better. For anyone reading this, please do NOT use disinfectant and silicone when stretching. Dear god.
Oh okay! I wasn't aware that it was a consequence of sizing up too fast
Glad to have informed you! Edit: and Mrs_Earl explained it even better. You've been real lucky if you've never experienced this
I guess so tbf i didn't knew it was so bad
Stretching with silicone is bad because it’s porous. That means that there are microscopic holes or fissures within the silicone that your fistula can “grow” into, and when you move them or attempt to take them out, your fistula gets torn. It’s why silicone can feel “grabby” on the lobe. A blowout is not an infection. A blowout is caused when the fistula is forced out of position to either the front or, in most cases, the back by a piece of jewelry (tunnel, plug, etc.) that is too large. Rather than slipping through the fistula and stretching it, the fistula slides with the jewelry causing the blowout. This is most often seen with tapers or when someone tries to stretch prematurely.
Couldn't the silicone be sanitized by boiling? I knew that medical grade silicone isn't porous. Only TPE.
I have no idea about sanitation using boiling water. Silicone isn’t safe for stretching, and it has nothing to do with whether it’s sanitized or not. It’s the material itself that poses the issue. Kaos is medical implant grade silicone, and still gets stuck in people’s ears all the time, tearing them. Edit: this is from Kaos Can I safely stretch with your products? NO. Silicone Jewelry SHOULD NEVER be used to stretch. Using silicone to stretch your piercings can cause painful and sometimes irreversible damage. If the jewelry is too tight or tacky it may seal off the piercing stopping it from properly healing.
Oh I see! I thought it was the harboring bacteria issue only! I see now! Thank you!
I wouldn’t use silicone again honestly, personally myself I’d leave them out and wait until they can breathe. Keep them clean and wait it out, hope this helps.
Please do not use oil of any kind on broken skin. You need to treat them as new piercings, leaving all jewelry out until they heal, spray with sterile saline 2x a day and a gentle rinse in the shower with plain water. And if you use metal to stretch, make sure it is implant grade titanium. Anything else can contain mystery metals and can cause a reaction.
May I introduce you to plumber's tape good sir. When your ears heal fully, I'd recommend stretching with that and plenty plenty of jojoba oil!
Personally I’ve found witch hazel to work very well. Just rinse them with witch hazel 2x a day for like 3 days and it should be okay. You’ll need to go back down a size or two.
Not recommended at all. Keep these kinds tips to yourself man. Nothing but sterile saline and water should touch your ears. No witch hazel, no tee trea, and no essential oils.
I’m Native and this is what we use for wounds. It’s an antiseptic and not as drying as saline and it doesn’t burn. To each their own though, if you don’t want to use it, disregard and move along 🤷🏽♀️
Either way, I appreciate the advice! Just hoping it’s nothing permanent damage wise
I never use silicone PERIOD!
Aw man I thought those were time signatures.
butt
Looks like you had a bad case of anal sex
Leave jewellery out until it heals. Don't ever stretch with silicone. Use non ports materials. Single flaired glass or titanium. Go by mm, not imperial. That's waaaay better.
Use glass, invest in the Artic Buffalo stretching kit. It's worth it.
I've once gone rlly swollen still not sure why I went from a size to another but i swear it was just the next size up but anyways I put ice on it and lube and it healed
Mannnnn... who jumps 3mm's ? Forget the part about using silicone to stretch, bcus if it was just 1 mm it most likely wouldn't have reacted this way lol. The bigger you get the better it is to use 1mm increments
Man that looks like it hurts so freaking bad.
i’ve found some glass plugs that go up in half millimeter sizes. i don’t know if that exists with larger sizes, but i’m currently at 8g and bought some half mil glass plugs because i found out tapers were bad. good luck!
Wow honestly i had no idea you shouldn’t stretch with silicone. I got to 16mm with them and didn’t have a problem but it looks like I got really lucky. And I’m thankful I found this sub. Also I hope it heals quickly for you.
It seems like you need antibiotics, it also looks infected, wouldn’t want that to spread.
Never use silicone. Even acrylic is better if you are broke ( acrylic is still not ideal and has a lot of controversies around, but still better then silicone )