Lobe Stretching

Will

Hey tried finding an old thread on this but no luck, and didnt wanna hijack another thread.

Went into bodyshock today to get my lobes stretched. I just have normal ear rings at the moment. Talked to the new girl behind the counter and agreed on size 6, paddy came out and said that id be better off just getting a dermal punch. I thought he would have used a taper to stretch em.
Basically he said dermal punches are safer, if i decided to taper em itd hurt like f%ck he said and that my lobes would most likely rip.
Just wondering what peoples opinions are on it?
should i go with the dermal punches? bit apprehensive about it

idiotproof

I wouldn't be one to go up against someone like paddy who quite clearly knows his stuff but personally I'd stay away from dermal punches and am wary of tapers, I have 9mm ears both sides, stretched VERY slowly over the past year using PVC tape layer by layer every so often upgrading to new "jewelery" (I'm now using a pencil in my left ear).

Dermal punches seem firstly quite a drastic approach, with taking away that much skin I'd think you'd find it tough to stretch further without having to worry about very thin lobes, and if you did want to size down I doubt you cold go much smaller than what you had punched (anyone with experience here?)

Tapers seem a little too active for stretching, either getting it done by a piercer or having a taper in for a while and working it through every so often. I'm not very familiar with anyone tapering their ears so I don't know much here either but I know how addictive stretching is and if i had a taper in id be pushing at it all the time! Would probably end up ripping it or stressing the skin.

When you go by the PVC tape method you can control the thickness by minute amounts (the thickness of the tape) and what I found is that you forget about stretching it for a while and the skin strengthens. Also when doing this you can much easier record how much you go up by each time i.e. an inch more tape around your jewelery.

I prefer the DIY approach to stretching with tape but it does need attention as you go along whereas going into a piercer and getting him to thunk out some of your lobe is quicker and less hassle. I would put money on you wanting to stretch more, even just a little bit, I'd be worried about this with a dermal punch, but like I said I've no personal experience of it.

It wasn't me!

thing about a dermal punch is you're removing tissue. You can't shrink down past whatever it was punched at. I'd always recommend a taper myself, by tiny amounts, never heard of a piercer disagreeing with that either, but maybe others will shed light on this. It might just have been an anomaly of your lobes that he saw that he thought would make them unsuitable for stretching with a taper, but as a rule I would have thought tapers were the best way to go.

Will

Ah yeah im not sorta giving out or anything just apprehensive that il be taking a chunk out of my ear. He said he could pierce it at a 3 and then taper it to 6, but as i stated earlier he said itd hurt alot.
Think I might ask him to pierce it to a 3, then stretch it myself. I dont fancy taking lumps out of my lobes.
I dont want a quick fix to be honest, and i have the patience to take it slowly. idiotproof thanks for the tips anyone else who has any other advice please let me know

Will

He was very busy today and didnt even inspect my ears. I think he wanted to go home which is fair enough in my opinion.
Yeah removing tissue i dont want to do.
See I wanted to go from nothing to a 6

idiotproof

happy to help, i wanted to have big holes out of my ears real quick so found pvc stretching REAL annoying and slow in the begining but considering I had very small lobes as it was it was the only option. Now they're super strong and never were sore at all. The only problem is that I've passed the "about the size of a cigarette" that I told my GF i was stretching to and I don't want to stop!

It wasn't me!

Wilburt wrote:

See I wanted to go from nothing to a 6

That's not really feasible without causing a lot of trauma. It'll take a while to heal and it may not shrink down again as handily as if you stretched gradually, so gradually is better in my opinion.

Will

Yeah looks like il just start small and not remove chunks thanks guys

amazingemmet

It wasn't me! wrote:

That's not really feasible without causing a lot of trauma.

I went from a 1.6mm to a 6mm on both ears in one session a few years back.

I'd be against punching due to the tissue removal aspect and also it can cause bloodflow problems in the lobes whihc you don't get in cartiledge punching.

Another option is scapelling them in which is a better idea imo for soft tissue plus you can get to 1/2" in one go

Kastro

im up to a 16mm in both ears..
i did the pvc tape and the tapers over the last 2 years..
the only thing i can tell you to do is.. regardless of what you choose,
take your time and let it heal up properly.. i didnt and i "blew out" my right ear.
thats when the skin inside the streaching hasnt fully formed its elasticity and it ripped.. it pushed some of the flesh out the back of my ear and took ages to heal.. its gone down a hell of alot in a year but theres still a small amount of scared tissue there.. it dosent bother me much but if it was on the front of my ear id probably have it scalpeld off.
so just take your time..
get pierced with a 2.4 and go from there.
get small tunnels when you reach 4mm and start using the pvc.

garthv

Yeh i wouldnt suggest going straight from nothing to 6mm or else you'll end up with a blowout like Kastro there.
I got a dermal punch done myself about a year ago, went straight to 4mm. Ive lost my jewellery a few times and havent had a chance to get into town and but a new one so its started to heal. Just looks like a small tiny hole, barely noticeable really. Id suggest going for the dermal punch if you want to go straight for a 6mm

edibility

Wilburt wrote:

See I wanted to go from nothing to a 6

Heh. I did that. I now have no piercings in the lobe of my left ear as it slipped out as I slept, hurt like an utter b1tch for several weeks as it got infected and caused dry skin the whole way down my neck and up my ear. Not a good idea. The two lobe piercings I had have completely closed up and there's a fantastic lump of scar tissue where the stretch was.

Will

Just back from bodyshock now decided for size 3,paddy pierced em. didnt go for dermal punches. Cost me €90 though, he didnt have any standard jewellery for my size so bought a pair of ones from the display. Thought it was a bit steep myself (had to go home and get more dosh)

Very happy with the result though and the advice here from you guys calmed my nerves a bit. Off to clean my lobes now as theres a bit of dried blood.

Will

Hey just after noticing what looks like a littleblood balloon at the back of my ear lob, right beside the piercing. Not sure if its a blowout or just a keloid. Got my bro to take a pic of it, not the best but i cant do it meself
Its just to the left of it, not very noticeable in the pic

edit: my bro just took offense, so this better calm his nerves!

evilbreadmaker

yo

Aard

€90 for that (I assume you mean 3mm?) is very expensive imo; I got mine pierced at 3mm and it only cost €25.

Anyway, I wouldn't start to worry about any blood things until the initial healing time is done. If you really think something is wrong though, just go back to your piercer and have him check it out.

Will

evilbreadmaker: hey dave

yeah things sort of went from bad to worse, came in off nights there this morning, woke up at 3. checked the back of my ear and skin had formed over! Long story short went to try push it through, wasnt happening so went to paddy, and he sorted it

sarahn11

im on 4mm at the min, i got them pierced in metalmorphasis, she started with a 2.4,then a 3.2 now a 4mm, she says now i can go up by 1mm incraments every 6-8 weeks. she uses a taper with plenty of lube to fit my new jewlery. is that ok?? im planning to go to about a size 8....although when i started i only wanted a size 4.....so who knows!!

Will

Yeah i wanna go up in size already and they aint even healed properly
I am only new to stretching but they say youve to wait till they heal completely before stretching again or else youl get a blowout.Also the longer you wait the better it is for your lobes.
Someone will hopefully post who is a bit more familiar with it than me

!_Brian_!

I'm assuming Paddy only suggested dermal punching because you wanted to go from nothing to 6 mill straight away.

To be honest, I prefer to take time and taper em up. If you do it properly and take your time theres no real risks and its a lot easier on your ears than having a 6 mill chunk taken out from the word go!

Tapers are the way I use anyhoo.

Will

Yeah he only suggested it cos i wanted to go to 6mm, that and he said itd be "more fun!"

Is there any method of stretching that doesnt require me to fork money out to a body piercer?

el rabitos

Wilburt wrote:

Yeah he only suggested it cos i wanted to go to 6mm, that and he said itd be "more fun!"

Is there any method of stretching that doesnt require me to fork money out to a body piercer?

get a taper and do it yourself

or

do nothing and have annoyingly stretchable skin like mine

Alter-Ego

Em...Could somebody explain what the pvc tape is used for?

j0e

http://www.bodyamusement.co.uk/stretching.html

dont know how to do direct link

idiotproof

Wilburt: My stretched ears have cost me the price of my original barbells and a set of i think 4mm tunnels and whatever jewelery i end up on, €50? and some pvc tape.

Alter-Ego: You add the tape in increasingly more layers week by week to your barbells so each time they get a tiny bit bigger, no stress on the skin no tapers to buy, just be careful with the tape you get cheaper tape isnt as supple so its not as great as taping on such tiny things as barbells and you can have a reaction to the tape but ive never known of anyone, just that its possible

Will

Ah ok cool thanks for the info guys. wait till my lobes heal better then see what il do!

ugliest

in snakebite they have a good policy where you trade in your old jewellery against your new stuff+it really cuts down on price, i assume other places do too but i'm not gonna say things without facts.

problems with dermal punches:
1. you gotta have a fairly substantial ear lobe ;
2. the expense;
3. the blood (lots,expect to have it trickling down your neck+the aftermath, crusty blood, infections etc.)
4. (kinda goes without saying but anyway) they heal annoyingly fast.
my friend had one+it fell out in his sleep, think it was an 8 or 10+it healed+now he's left with an annoying keloid on his ear he'll either have to get scalpelled or punched again

pros:

1. you get stretched very quickly;
2. the blood (bring someone squimish for fun);
3. you'll be able to regail people with tales of the whole adventure (the sound of hearing it *pop* through, the look on everyones faces, the feel of the air whistling through your ear, etc..)
4. you can keep the squishy bit of flesh they cut out of you .

-i got my ear scalpelled, not nearly as dramatic, little blood, no fun story, no spectacle.
alas i have small ears so i think 9 is big enough, don't want to look weird.

..i may continue stretching my septum though

meh, i'll drop in on monday

Will

So did ya stretch it more?
Anyone here with big lobes find it hard to get/stay in a job?
My work dont mind so much cos im housed away in a control room and not interacting with customers face to face, and theyre still only 3mm
However I'l be leaving soon, in time il be back to another job but interview will be worrying me cos i intend to stretch em more... most likely in the I.T industry.
Might head into snakebite then exchange me jewellery and go up a size, good idea. :cool:

j0e

My lobes are 8mm, never had a problem at the interview, but was told I would have to remove them when i was at work, which I do when the boss is in.

Will

Cool but if you dont mind me asking do you deal with customers alot or are you behind the scenes?

Anyone know an easy way to put back on an O-ring, for the back of my jewellery. Wanted to see how my lobe looked "naked", now cant get it back in. Is it just a case of practice? cos ive got the whole night to do it!

Aard

O-rings ... *shudders*

For earlobes they're a doddle, it just gets nasty when you've got a 6mm one to put in your septum. Especially if you miss, and then start to panic thinking it's gone up your nose. *grr*

Er, yes it's just practice!

As for the job thing, I had mine at 6mm when I was working and nobody seemed to mind. Sure, you get some questions from the more, um, "uncultured" people, but no hassle. And even if they tell you to take them out it's not like they'll close up anytime soon.

Will

Yeah eventually got it in there an hour ago. Ear is a bit red but itl calm down by the morning. Wont be taking it off anytime soon
Yeah if im qualified for the job or whatnot im sure theyl just ask me to take em out

martin19282

I stretched up too fast last time.. can be quite painful.
also wouldnt ever use acrylic again.. gonna go for the natural stuff matey.. bone horn or wood. check out this ear stretching shophttp://www.arka-shop.co.uk some nice stuff innit

Will

Only delivers within UK so its irrelevant. Some nice things there though. People can have bad reactions to organics though, saw on Modblog some nasty reaction to wooden plugs. The persons lobes were all red and mangled, looked very badly infected. Id be very cautious what id put in me lobes

pkumohideeile

i like your lobs whatever way they turn out wilby

amazingemmet

Awww wilby your lobes are so cute:P

Will

hmmm but will they employ me!
I have a sneaking suspicion that pkumohideeile is someone i know very few people call me wilby. Or maybe its just a randomer.

amazingemmet: im glad you think so

martin19282

Wilburt wrote:

Only delivers within UK so its irrelevant. Some nice things there though. People can have bad reactions to organics though, saw on Modblog some nasty reaction to wooden plugs. The persons lobes were all red and mangled, looked very badly infected. Id be very cautious what id put in me lobes

Whatever you got in you gotta keep em clean.
So many people just leave plugs in for weeks without washing the ear.. asking for trouble.

The tribals have been using organics for thousands of years.... bone horn wood..

j0e

Wilburt wrote:

Cool but if you dont mind me asking do you deal with customers alot or are you behind the scenes?

well I work in a hospital as a domestic assisant (cooker cleaner :P) so its a hygiene thing,

as for what some ppl mentioned on the whole organic jelwery, u really want to make sure the piercing is completely healed, b4 u stretch or change jelwery but once healed nothing beats the organics less cleaning needed and smell a good bit better, metal on the other hand needs a lot of cleaning and does tend to smell, But bottom line give ure ears time, let them heal and they should NEVER bleed when stretching.
hf with ure lobes

Will

Yeah ive been keepin em clean and bootyful dont worry. Some people say the posters here are a bit narky! i think the above disproves this claim

thomascullen

I bought a piercing needle online & a ring. I first pierced it at 1.2 then after 5 weeks used a taper to get to 3mm. I have had the plug for about a week now. how long do you recon I should wait until i go to 4?

Arawn

thomascullen wrote: »

I bought a piercing needle online & a ring. I first pierced it at 1.2 then after 5 weeks used a taper to get to 3mm. I have had the plug for about a week now. how long do you recon I should wait until i go to 4?

Star Lord

thomascullen wrote: »

I bought a piercing needle online & a ring. I first pierced it at 1.2 then after 5 weeks used a taper to get to 3mm. I have had the plug for about a week now. how long do you recon I should wait until i go to 4?

Will's advice in THIS thread is about as good as you will get anywhere. Heed it, or mess up your ears.

ironictoaster

Right so, I had my ears stretched to 6mm for over a year. I had to take them out for a couple of months ago for work. Now that I am finished with that job, I am trying to put them back in.

I got one of the tunnels back in after a bit of elbow grease, but my the left ear tunnel is flat out refusing to go back in. My ear is infected now.

What's the best way of restretching my ear? Do I have to start back from scratch?

Aard

I'd imagine a 3mm would fit in no problem. Leave that in for a few days/weeks until you're comfortable, then do a 4mm, then 5mm, then 6mm. Never try to force something in. I've found with lobes that after a while the jewellery will start to wiggle around and sometimes even fall out -- they'll let you know when you're ready to go up a size.