No piercings at all, best way to start?

[yohansays]

Hey I've recently come to the decision stretching my ears and I was wondering about the best way to start!
As the title states, I've no piercings in either ear, and I understand that I can either get a regular piercing and start tapering, or I can get it pierced to a 8 or 6ga straight away.
I plan on getting it to a 2 or maybe a 0 (maybe even larger, who knows!) and was wondering about which the quickest route would be?
I read somewhere that although piercing straight to a 8/6 gives you a head start, the whole process is actually alot slower as the healing process is much longer. Is this true?
If I get a regular piercing and start from there, how long would I have to wait before I can start to taper?
Also, do the 8-6ga piercing hurt? O.o
And finally, if there are any brits on this forum, how much can I expect to pay?
Thanks!

[corazon_de_oro]

Basically whatever you want to do is fine as long as you don't have it done with a gun!
I got pierced with 10G needles when I decided I wanted to stretch my ears. They healed in about two and a half to three months (I'm a slow healer), and I started stretching after six months. You should wait six months after ANY size piercing to start stretching because it's really important that the holes not only heal fully but also get strong enough to stretch. Larger-gauge piercings usually don't take much longer to heal than "normal" ones and you really don't have to wait any longer to start stretching. I would definitely recommend getting pierced at 10G-6G if you want to stretch your ears. It'll also help deter you from stretching too early as you'll already be able to wear plugs and other nice jewelry. =) And it wasn't that painful for me, just felt like really really hard pinches! More of a pressure type pain than a stinging one, if that makes sense. And they bled a lot, but only right after I got pierced.

[yohansays]

Ah thanks for the reply~:)
Another question though, I heard that if you get a 6g piercing, it won't revert back to "normal" piercing size as the original hole was too big, is this true?
Also if I get it pierced to a 8or6 straight away, am I open to any type of jewellery? I'm just wondering as for me the main attraction to stretching were wooden plugs.

[corazon_de_oro]

They probably are less likely to shrink if you get pierced at 8G-6G, but even if you stretch to that size there's no guarantee they'll go down to a "normal" size. When my ears were at 10G the holes looked pretty tiny, though; even at 8G-6G they weren't very noticeable.
You can wear any type of jewelry once they're healed... I stuck to glass single-flare plugs while healing but after that I changed them to hanging designs, acrylics, etc. Wood plugs would probably be okay 2-3 months in, but I'd stay away from double flares.

[Tom]

I just saw my friends lobes the other day. He previously had 4g's and they closed up nicely, however, there are small slits in his ear from where his plugs used to be. Everyone's body heals different.

[Hardware]

I had my navel pierced with a 6G needle, it hurt pretty bad and it did take a long time to heal. I know the navel and ear are TOTALLY different things but for earlobes I would advise 10 or 8 gauge, just my personal preference. The 8 to 6 stretch is pretty intense, so definitely no stretching until your piercings are completely healed (3-6 months) and Sea salt soaks will be the best as far as aftercare.
After they are healed I would advise massaging your earlobes with Vitamin E oil, this will make stretching easier as it will break down the scar tissue in your earlobes.
As far as what kind of jewelry to choose, I would go with either stainless steel or glass, stay away from the wood for now. You are going to want something non-porous in your ears while they are healing. Things like wood and plastic can easily harbor bacteria and that's nothing you want to deal with when you are trying to heal fresh piercings. I totally 2nd staying away from double flares as well, it takes some time for your ears to calm down and relax. So stick with something simple like captive bead rings or single flare plugs for a while.

[Jess06]

I was just in the same situation! I just got mine done last Friday. I went straight to a 10 and it wasnt that bad at all. I am a huge wuss so I wanted to start smaller, however, now that its done I wish I would have done a 6 or 8. It hasnt even been a week and my ears are doing great And I have found that I cannot find any decent 10g jewelry!

[corazon_de_oro]

I had a lot of nice jewelry at 10G! Look through this stuff on Body Art Forms and surely you'll find something you like. =) http://www.bodyartforms.com/products.as ... &dwzPage=1

[Jess06]

Thanks! I have been looking every where!