A Guide to Stretching

SxEryn · 17 May 2005

The purpose of this thread is to serve as a guide for people who are interested in stretching or gauging their ears.

Every so often some schmo comes in here thinking they have a cool new method, or a cheaper and easier way to go about this. When in reality, all they are doing is offering crap advice which, if taken, has the ability to seriously do some damage to an misinformed victim.

That is why I wrote this. I’m by no means an expert, but I do have a few years experience under my belt. I’m hoping that people will read this thread first before taking any shady advice. Let’s get started:

The Ten Commandments of Gauging

1. DON’T SKIP GAUGES.

I cannot stress this enough. DO NOT SKIP GAUGES. You will wind up hurting yourself. Gauging ones’ ears is supposed to be a process, not a race. If you follow the steps, your body will thank you. This leads me to the next rule:

2. TAKE YOUR TIME

Let’s put things in prospective now. We’re talking about altering your body in a way that is completely different than piercing. It is your body. You have to live with it until you die. You have your entire life to make your body look like you want it to look.
Would you rather rush things and end up with a terrible result, or take your time and get a beautiful product?

3. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY
4. IF IT HURTS, STOP
5. WHEN IN DOUBT, STOP

These 3 go hand-in-hand. Your mind may not know when it’s time for your next stretch, but your body sure does. Gauging is not supposed to cause immense pain. Gauging is not supposed to produce blood. If you’re experiencing these things you have, or are in danger of acquiring, a blowout. You need to stop immediately. Your body is telling you that it’s just not ready for the next step. Wait a few weeks and try again. Your body will thank you.

6. DON’T BE AFRAID TO DOWNSIZE

So you did something silly like skipping a gauge, or forcing a stretch that you weren’t ready for. Now you feel like your ears are on fire, they are 10 times their size, and bleeding like woah. Don’t worry, we forgive you. If you act quickly, your ears will forgive you too. If you haven’t completely shredded your skin, DOWNSIZE. Go back to the size that you were before you shoved a tree trunk through your earlobes.

7. DON’T BE CHEAP

Quality jewelry is key for happy and healthy stretches. Don’t skimp on bargain bin crap. Many times cheapo jewelry is damaged, the surface of it is uneven or it is not accurately sized (which can lead to over-stretching). Stretching with cheap jewelry is just asking for infections or problems. You get what you pay for.

8. USE JEWELRY THAT IS MEANT FOR STRETCHES

Organic jewelry, (Wood and Glass), Double Flared jewelry, Acrylic plugs, crescents, spirals or talons are not meant for gauging.
Wood is too porous for new stretches, and will increase the chance of infection.

Crescents and talons increase gauge too quickly. The taper on this sort of jewelry is too steep, and the jewelry length is too short. This can lead to you to not realize that you are stretching too quickly. Stretching your lobes is meant to be done in a consistent, fluid motion. Crescents or talons promote a little-by-little method, which can lead to under/over stretching.

Double Flared jewelry is meant to be worn in healed lobes only. If you stretch with double flared jewelry you are skipping gauges, you are also breaking rule #1.

What do paper clips, toothpicks, earphone jacks, chopsticks, pen caps, sharpie markers, pens, pencils, Chapstick, and your toy poodle have in common? THEY ARE NOT MEANT TO BE PUT IN YOUR BODY. Hearing someone used these things, or recommends them for stretches infuriates me to no end. If you use household items to gauge your ears you must have no common sense at all. They are breeding grounds for bacteria, and you have no idea what size you are putting in there. You may have heard a story or two about how someone saved some money and went this route. It may have worked for him. That doesn’t make him less of an idiot. Next rule?

9. DON’T LISTEN TO IDIOTS

Again, just because someone got away with using perverse methods to cheaply and quickly stretch doesn’t mean you will. They got lucky, this doesn’t mean you will. It’s obvious when someone is talking out of their keister. Use common sense, and be safe about stretching. Your body will thank you.

10. IF YOU’RE UNSURE ABOUT ANYTHING, ASK US

You have a wonderful, friendly community right here at your fingertips. Don’t be shy. The only stupid question is one that is not asked.

Exhibit A: Your handy-dandy size chart. Use it.

Gauge/Inch..............Millimeters....................Difference(mm)

8g.................................3.2
5/32’’...........................3.9..........................................0.7
6g..................................4.1.........................................0.2
3/16’’...........................4.7..........................................0.6
4g.................................5.1..........................................0.4
7/32’’...........................5.5..........................................0.4
¼’’................................6.3..........................................0.8
2g.................................6.5..........................................0.2
5/16’’...........................7.9..........................................1.4
0g.................................8.2..........................................0.3
00g...............................9.2..........................................1.1
3/8’’.............................9.5..........................................0.3
7/16’’..........................11.1.........................................1.6
½’’...............................12.7..................... ...................1.6
9/16’’..........................14.2.........................................1.5
5/8’’............................15.8.........................................1.6
11’16...........................17.4.........................................1.6
¾’’...............................19.0.........................................1.6
13/16’’........................20.6.........................................1.6
7/8’’............................22.2.........................................1.6
1’’................................25.4.........................................3.2

If you’re familiar with jewelry sizing, you’ll see some sizes on this chart that aren’t very common. I decided I would throw in the half sizes under 0g just for reference purposes.
I’ve also thrown in a third column, which is the millimeter difference between gauges. This is how much (in millimeters), the gauge increases between your current and next size. The bigger this number: the bigger the stretch.

A standard size earring will range from 16g to 12g depending on what you were pierced with. Gauge sizes increase by increments of 2. The larger the gauge size gets, the smaller the gauge number gets.
Example: If you want to stretch and are currently wearing a 12g earring, your next stretch will be a 10g.

Frequently Asked Questions

“How do you know when it’s time for your next stretch?”

This is where listening to your body becomes important. Some people go by the general rule of “Wait a month or two”. It’s important to understand that everyone’s body is different. Time can vary depending on how the previous stretch went, (if there was any scar tissue development for any reason), your individual healing time, as well as other factors.
It’s safe to stretch again if you are completely healed from your previous stretch. This means you should have no pain. You shouldn’t be sore, red, or swollen whatsoever. You also shouldn’t be experiencing any sort of discharge. Is the jewelry still tight in your skin? It’s good to wait until your jewelry is loose and has some room to move around. Healing from a stretch can take anywhere from a month to a couple. It’s important to wait until you are fully healed to try stretching again.

“How do you use a taper?”

Firstly, it’s important to buy the right size taper. If you are currently wearing a 10g, you need to buy an 8g taper. If you are currently wearing a 2g, you need to purchase a 0g taper. Tapers are meant to be used in a consistent, fluid motion. They are not meant to be used for an all day stretch-a-thon.
Wait until you are ready to stretch, lube up your ear and the taper and insert it. As you are sliding the taper through, you should take notice of how smoothly it is going in. You should not need to force the taper through. You should not be bleeding. You should not be tearing your skin. If this is happening, abort the mission.
As you reach the end of the taper, you need to line up the proper sized jewelry with the end of the taper. (If the taper is an 8g, your jewelry should be an 8g). As the taper begins exiting your earlobe, you should be inserting the jewelry at the same time. Again, this is to be done in 1 constant motion. Tapers are not meant to be worn as jewelry. They are for stretching purposes only.

"What should I use for lube?"

Lubricant is absolutely necessary when inserting a taper or tight jewelry to ensure minimal trauma to your ears. Lube will make sure things go nice and smoothly. Any water based lubricant, (KY), emu oil, tea tree oil, anti-microbial soap is fine. Many people also find that doing their stretches in a nice hot shower works wonders.

"How do you treat a fresh stretch?"

Treat a fresh stretch like a brand new piercing. You will notice some redness or soreness, you might notice some swelling. You might notice crusties (dried lymph). To a degree, this is normal. If you experience any severe pain, swelling, puss or blood: downsize immediately.
If your stretch went well, however, the best thing to do for it is to leave it alone. Your body is capable of cleaning itself; this is why you have an immune system. Do not touch your new stretch unless you are cleaning any lymph off of your skin. Do not twist, turn, play or pull on your jewelry. If you need to touch your new stretch for any reason, make sure your hands are remarkably clean.

"What is a fistula?"

A ‘Fisula’ is the tube of skin that surrounds the jewelry as it rests in your ear. Treat it nicely, it is meant to stay inside of your body.

“What is a blowout?”

A ‘blowout’ occurs when you have forced the fistula through the back end of your piercing. This happens when you skip gauges or when you don’t give yourself adequate time to heal between stretches. Blowouts usually occur immediately, but can show up later if the piercing is traumatized somehow.

“What should I do if I have a blowout?”

Downsize immediately! When you downsize you are allowing the fistula to reabsorb into the skin. Treat the blowout as a new stretch and baby the hell out of it. You may want to gently rub the tissue with emu oil, or vitamin E to prevent any scar tissue from developing.
If you don’t do anything about your blowout and decide to live with it, your ears won’t heal properly. Your fistula will make it’s new home on the backside of your earlobe, and will be a big ol’ lump of scar tissue. This scar tissue has little to no elastic qualities, so further stretching will be very difficult or impossible. This scar tissue, if severe enough, can be tied off and removed surgically.
In a nutshell, blowouts are something you don’t want to deal with.

“Is it possible to stretch cartilage?”

It is possible, but it’s risky. Anything under a 10g would be possible for stretching, but anything over that should be dermal punched. Stretching cartilage on the larger scale should be left to professionals.

“What is a ‘Dead Stretch’?

A dead stretch is when you gauge your ears without using a taper, using the jewelry you intend to wear. This is a method that works for some, but not many, and if recommended at all, should only be done for smaller sizes. Using jewelry with rounded off edges, such as a CBR, is preferred for dead stretches.

"What is the Tape Method?"

The tape method is an alternate way to gradually stretch your earlobes. It is accomplished by using Teflon tape, a white plumbers tape that doesn’t use adhesive. This is used by wrapping your jewelry with the tape a little at a time. This method works to skip tapering, but but you eventually need to buy jewelry at a larger size to begin adding tape to it again.

“I’ve seen people stretch using multiple objects in one hole…”

Stop right there. Don’t ever do this. Again, only use properly sized jewelry intended for stretching. Using multiple pieces of jewelry in one hole for stretching purposes can result in under/over stretching. You will have no idea what size you are currently at, which will make it near impossible to choose proper-fitting jewelry in the future.

Ok guys, have I missed anything? If you notice a section that needs tweaking or more elaboration, let me know. I want this to be a useful guide for people to read and get correct information. Post your suggestions and I’ll edit them into the original post. Very Happy

mimmoo9 · 25 Jan 2005

BRAVO and WELL SAID, eryn!

EvilKitty · 29 Jul 2005

You have a lot of free time on your hands.... i'm kidding, i'm kidding!!!! That's awesome!! Dancing

Funkadelica · Moderator

I am speechless. (OK, not really.) That was awesome. The ears of many are sure to thank you.

SxEryn · 17 May 2005

Thanks for the kudos Smile

. If there's anything that any of you think is missing or I haven't explained clearly enough, please let me know.

And about having too much free time...you're exactly right. In an 8 hour work day I do about 45 minutes of actual work. Ahh the joys of office life. Sad

chuckmo · 10 May 2005

Great post SxEryn!!! Very Happy

Nev · 20 Nov 2005

Good post!
I wish I could have read that before I gauged my ears...

Funkadelica · Moderator

I kept meaning to sticky this, because it's such a great post. I finally did.

I locked it to keep the original intent of the thread intact, since things tend to get hijacked like mad around here.