Upsizing with silicone?

[Autumn]

My left ear is at 22mm, and I massage it with Bio-Oil twice a day and upsize when I feel I'm ready (generally every 3-4 weeks lately, I used to wait a few months when I was 2mm - 12mm but that's because it didn't feel ready)

Now I stretch with silicone tunnels, but I've read around that this isn't recommended. Can somebody please explain the reason behind these warnings? I haven't experienced a blowout, and I recently went from 20mm down to 16mm to thicken my lobe.

[deviantxy]

While I am new to stretching I do know the nature of silicone. Your skin can stick to the silicone due to its porous nature, and an airtight seal can be created, trapping in an infection and causing it to spread internally without you really even knowing about it. Silicone also expands and contracts in temperature changes which can potentially cause a blow out in a new stretch. This is not to say you can't sometimes have good results with silicone but it does have risks that you may never notice until its too late.

[mylifeasapigeon]

I've also tried stretching with silicone in the past and decided not to anymore, because of what deviantxy said, and because silicone tunnels pop when you unfold them. When they open up it can tear the inside of your ear from stretching too quickly. Combine that with its natural risk of infection, and it's generally a bad idea.

[mouse2cat]

This is what I've read about silicone from a Kaos employee. Stretching with silicone could easily put you at risk for infection.

"This tackiness can cause small tears in the weak tissue on the inside of the stretched lobe, and may also pick up particulate contaminants (ie: allergens) on its tacky surface. These tears and/or debris then cause irritation. In general, when you stretch a piercing (by any method) you tend to tear or damage the tissue, either due to pressure or friction caused by the stretch. Normally, this goes away within a few hours or days. But, if the jewelry is too tight or tacky, it can effectively seal off the piercing, and it can't drain. The plasma builds up, and the bacteria (usually there is a certain amount of bacteria already residing in the piercing) run amuck."