Starting to stretch

[MissBloodlust]

Hey,
I'm about to start stretching my ears, and just had a couple of questions.

So I'm going to stretch with 3mm surgical steel tapers. I've read a whole bunch of info regarding the stretch itself, however some are saying take out the taper when going to bed O.o surely if you've just started stetching taking it out will lead to the hole closing?!!

Secondly when it comes to cleaning, I have some provon and also jojaba and vit e oil to massage after cleaning...do I take the taper all the way out or just move the taper up/down to clean

Would really appreciate your guys help
Thanx

[ericawinship]

Leave th taper in when you're sleeping because yes, the hole will close. And don't takeout the taper while cleaning your holes unless your stretch s fully healed and you can easily put the taper back in after cleaning.

[MissBloodlust]

Ah ok, awesome...thanks for answering

Ooo sorry 1 other thing, well 2...
After I used the provon soap to clean my ear do I then have to give it a salt bath before massaging the oil in?

Which oil would u suggest I use, the Vit E or the Jojoba?or maybe rotate them?
I don't wan't my ears to thin, and I read that the Vit E oil helps prevent that.

Thanx

[ericawinship]

You actually don't need you use a salt bath unless you have keloid (salt dries out your ear and you actually want to keep it moisturized. And I'd advise using jojoba oil over vitamin e oil because believe it or not, there is vitamin e in jojoba. I hope I answered everything you want to know for now if not don't be afriad to ask. happy stretching!

[MissBloodlust]

Ah ok. Yea thanx for the advice, really appreciate it

[bubblesweet]

Hey , well I just stretched my ears tonight 18g I think to a 12g .. , and there was no bleeding or anything and I didn’t use the lube everyone was saying to use i used ” extra virgin olive oil ” cause the lady at the shop where I bought my tapers said to do that. Well I’m extremely afraid that I won’t be able to move them at all in the morning to clean them cause right now there swollen and I can slightly turn them .. but I haven’t cleaned them yet so there’s still oil in them , I was wondering if that’s bad ? Plus i actually don’t know if I’m even turning them .. I’m slightly freaking out right now .. Should I just like soak them in the ” saline ” that everyone keeps talking about .. and try and move them around , or what ?

[corazon_de_oro]

You skipped a couple of sizes, so you should really think about downsizing and starting with 16G instead of 12G. If you're not going to, I'd recommend treating your ears like a fresh piercing (sea salt soaks once or twice a day for 5-10 minutes). Also, DON'T try to move the jewelry around... it'll just irritate them a lot more.

[leighmarie]

You also shouldn't be using tapers as jewellery anyway, they're too easy caught and can damage your lobes. You should get some proper plugs or tunnels.

[Boffey]

Id go to 2mm or maybe even 1.6mm as your first stretch. And tapers are not too uncomfortable untill around 8-10mm

[corazon_de_oro]

Why don't people get that skipping smaller sizes is worse than skipping bigger sizes? If you go from 18G to 12G that's making the hole twice as big as it was to start with. Yeah the hole is tiny but it still can't handle such a big increase in size!
And tapers may not be "uncomfortable" before that size but they still put pressure on your ears because they move around. That's how a lot of people get blowouts.