by ast.riske » Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:37 pm
Saply, though curt, is right. Skipping sizes is a bad idea. You were right to not continue trying to push the taper through when you were feeling pain. Your shop assistant should not be advising anyone to skip sizes. S/he is playin with people's bodies in an unsafe way.
The small stretches set the foundation for how your larger stretches will go in the future. Start with 16g jewelry. I suspect the stretch will be very easy since your ears have been pierced for so long. I suspect you could probably dead stretch and have no issue. I would recommend you purchase a taper just to ensure the stretch goes 100% smoothly. Once you've been at 16g for 6-8 weeks, and your ears feel ready, go ahead and move up to a 14g.
This is the basic pattern. Stretch, wait, stretch wait. You should stay at each size for a minimum of 6-8 weeks. Some stretches may take longer. Lots of people have a hard time with the 8g to 6g stretch. If it feels like you have to force the stretch, just back the taper out and give it more time. : )
In the end you should end up with happy healthy lobes if you take things slow and careful.
You should also keep a gauge list in mind while you stretch so you don't accidentally skip a size. The numbered gauges go like this:
18g 16g 14g 12g 10g 8g 6g 4g 2g (1g) 0g 00g
Though 1g is generally not listed in standard gauges, it is an important size to help you make the daunting 2mm stretch from 2g to 0g.
As you can see, the shop assistant told you to skip 2 sizes. That's way too big a jump. Also they don't know your body, so they have. I way of knowing what is safe for you. The best thing you can do is what you've already done: listen to your body.
Anyway, I hope this helps and as the slogan goes, keep calm and carry on. ; )
Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster; and if you gaze into the abyss the abyss gazes into you.
-Fredrick Nietzsche
Pericings:
2g Lobes
6g Septum
Want:
Frenulum Linguae
Left inner conch
Right helix