Getting my ears stitched shut...

Welcome! What a way to start, with a picture of my old ears. As you can see, they weren't exactly the nicest of looking things, and due to a lot of trauma, the ears themselves were dead, and un-stretchable, and causing me a lot of self confidence issues, with children, parents and generally anyone thinking they're allowed to make comments. 

So, on Saturday the 5th February, me and my beautiful girlfriend headed down to our appointments, and sat and waited. My girlfriend got branded, and it looked amazing, I am intrigued to get it done myself. Anyway, the procedure took just over an hour, and I can't really say how he did it, but I have included a gallery of pictures. Enjoy.

Stretched Jewellery Lingo... And more advice

So, you maybe sitting there sometimes in amongst a conversation of people who have stretched ears, or one of them has, and he's using language like "tapers", "dead stretching", "teflon tape", "weights". What does it all mean? Well, I wouldn't worry too much, as I am here to help.

Dead Stretching - This is the method of stretching, where you are using jewellery of a bigger size, and putting it straight in to the hole, when you feel it is ready to be stretched. For example, going from 1.6mm to 2mm using a 2mm ring, that would be considered a dead stretch. Or using a 12mm tunnel, to stretch a 10mm hole.

Dead stretching is fine, if you can afford to do so. For me, it's a bit silly, as it's expensive, because you're buying a new pair of jewellery at each size, just to wear for a month or two, and then stretching again. Secondly, the jewellery jumps two sizes, which is a big no-no, as it is too much trauma on the ear to be jumping two sizes at once. Think about it, 2mm hole, 4mm jewellery, that is an expansion of over 100%, so you're increasing it's size by over 100%. Think about it, and be careful when dead stretching, as it leads to problems with impatient peopple.

Double / Single Flared - This is a type of jewellery, more common in steel. I've attached an image below.

This is double flared jewellery, and single flared is the same, but it only has one flare (the lip at the front). When putting in double flared jewellery, please be careful, as obviously, the flare is usually .5mm bigger than the internal diameter, people often get the jewellery stuck in there ear, as the inside measurement, maybe 6mm, but the flare is sometimes as much as 7mm. Never stretch with double flared jewellery, due to the sizing nature.

Tapers - Tapers are cylindrical tubes, solid, made from steel, acrylic, PMA etc. They are the most common form of stretching, and usually go up to 1" in size. Tapers are useful due to their cheap nature, with kits going up to 1" usually at about $15. But be careful when using tapers, as they generally contain 4 sizes in one tube, e.g: 4mm - 8mm. So, the beginning will be 4mm, and the end being 8mm, usually people get a little bit too excited and try and force the whole thing through, so please be careful, and just take it easy, just because it can go all the way through, doesn't mean it should!

Vitamin E Oil - Vitamin E oil, is used by people who want to look after and condition there ears. There are many different forms, all of which are recommended below. If you have dry, sore or thin ears, then massaging vitamin E oil in to them twice a day will develop them in to a much healthier condition.Bio-Oil, 2-Ounce Bottle 100% Pure Emu Oil (2oz)Desert Essence Organic Jojoba Oil, 4-Ounce Bottle
So, hopefully what I've said above will make you a little bit clearer about some of the "lingo" used within the piercing industry. 

So.. You've started stretching..

...Now what? It's quite easy to get complacent when stretching, you get over excited, you want to get those shiny 1/2" plugs in. So what happens when it goes wrong?

This is severe thinning of the ear, maybe rushing it too quick, not looking after it, cold weather etc.

How would you fix this I hear you asking? Well, I would hope that none of you reading my blog are intelligent enough to realise, that maybe the person in this picture could've stopped it before it got this far. An ear doesn't become this thin over night, it's a very gradual process. It'll start with an infection, maybe a small cut on the inside, or a cut which runs along the outside of the ear. Best thing to do, straight away is clean it using salt water, and downsize to a smaller size. Doing this as soon as you notice a cut, infection or anything similar, will increase your chances of maintaining and having nice ears.

This beautiful picture is a blow out. Which happens when an ear is stretched far too quickly. What you're seeing is referred to (and not technically, or professionally) as "the cats ass hole", due to the nature of how it looks. Beautiful no? Blow outs are formed by the tissue inside your ear, forming outside. Generally leaving you with what looks like a wide ear. Sometimes blow outs can be small, sometimes they can be huge (trust me, google Blow Outs Ears). But generally, with a bit of downsizing you can eliminate blow out if you recognise and catch it when it first happens. The best way to avoid it, is don't jump sizes, don't stretch too quick, and if you feel your jewellery is getting itchy, maybe clean it.

So, to sum up, all of these things can be solved by downsizing and cleaning with a salt water solution. Downsizing, should be by a couple of sizes, and done for around a month, or until the infection has cleared up sufficiently.

Please remember, it isn't a race. You'll have your ears for life, lets make them last that long!