some advise please. noob alert!

[pollywager]

so as a complete noob i did the stupid thing of act first research after.

everyone i know to have stretched their ears said it had hurt, soi presumed that it hurt.

after reading every forum and guide i now know that pain if not the way forward.

i have a very high pain threshold so i think i have done myself a lot more damage that i first thought.

i went from a 20g to a 6g size by size in about 3 weeks, with no pain, not blood no swelling until the 6g, it was tight and hurt a bit when i put it in but nothing to cry over. but now the tapers are getting heavy and through the coarse of the night it got gradually more painful and when i took it out this morning it bled a bit and was a bit sticky but cleaned bathed rinsed lubed and when straight back in, not pain.

the pain has almost gone but its a bit bloody still, shall i size down>

or just keep it clean and bath it regulary, i was hoping to strech upto a 0g

any advise, relative to this topic or any other would be appreciated

regards

georgina

[chevymane]

stretched way to fast...are u actually sleeping with tapers? thats also causing issues with your ears...tapers are for stretching not meant to be jewelry...now that thats out the way if your only going to a 0g and i mean only a 0g id downsize to at least a 10g and stay there for at least a month...if you believe you might go past 0g one day then i say scrap anything you have done so far let your lobes heal back to standard piercing size then start over and take your time

[ast.riske]

I would say you should downsize more than just to 10g, even if you are "only" going to a 0g. You stretched really fast and the bleeding you're seeing now is not just due to wearing tapers as jewelry, but also the speed at which you stretched. Take the tapers out and let your ears heal naked for 1-2 months. Once the bleeding and oozing stop, and you're not having pain, start doing oil massages to break down the scar tissue which happens when you stretch too fast and get tears.

Once you've waited for a month or two, start at an 18g and try jewelry until you find the biggest that will go in WITH NO PRESSURE. This should not be a stretch. It should just be a baseline for your jewelry. Wear that size jewelry for 6 to 8 weeks before stretching.

Once the new stretch has loosened up (generally 1-2 weeks) start doing massages again to maintain healthy lobes and continue to work on any residual scar tissue. After each stretch, wait AT LEAST 6-8 weeks before stretching again.

Stretching is not a race. The faster you go, the more likely you are to have problems. Take it slow and easy and you'll get to your goal with happy, healthy lobes.

I suggest these measure for two reasons: first, I suspect you will want to stretch more once you get to 0g. It's pretty common. Second, regardless of your goal, I would love to hear more happy stretching and recovery stories. This is a way to bring your lobes back to health before you move on and end up with a bigger issue down the road.

Best of luck!

[pollywager]

Damn I knew you were going to say that



On the plus side there was no blood no gunk perfect cleam lobe when I woke up.

I will go and get an 8g or a 10g plug today.

0g is my max, I'm only allowed a 0g at work

Also there's no pain now.

Tanks for your help guys, I will try and upload a pic later.