mixed info.

[GraveOrchid]

I just took my first step into the whole stretching art. I stretched to a 14g yesterday afternoon and everything went fine. Slight sting/pinch - nothing terrible. Anyways, my concern lies in proper aftercare. There is so much mixed info out there that I am somewhat at a loss as to what to methods to employ. This morning, after my shower, I removed the tapers (there was a little blood, very little) and I washed both my ears and the tapers with dial soap. Washed the soap off dried and put a thin coating of holey butt'r on my tapers before reinserting the because it's a natural antiseptic. My questions are:

Is this a reliable way to clean my ears? Morning and night?

And

Is it okay to remove the tapers to clean? Some websites have said dont do it and others have said to do that. So, I'm confused.

[corazon_de_oro]

Honestly, stretches really don't need strict aftercare. If you stretch properly it shouldn't cause any open wounds that need healing.

If you DO find yourself with a torn/irritated lobe, don't use the Dial soap. It will dry them out and kill healthy cells. The best way to heal an angry piercing is with sea salt soaks. Mix no more than 1/4 teaspoon sea salt per one cup hot water, soak for 5-10 minutes once a day. Or you can just leave them alone and rinse them in the shower. Stay away from soap, alcohol, peroxide, cleaning solutions, Bactine... basically anything with chemicals. Leave the Holey Butt'r until your ears are healed; it's not an antiseptic, it's meant to promote soft, healthy lobes and break down scar tissue. Oils, Holey Butt'r, and things like that aren't meant for unhealed lobes.

For the first week or so after stretching your ears, you shouldn't remove your jewelry for cleaning. After they're nice and settled, the best thing to do is just take your jewelry out in the shower and wash it with soap and water to remove any dead skin cells that form a smelly, cheese-like substance (gross, I know). Also, you really shouldn't be wearing tapers as jewelry. It's not the worst thing you can do at smaller sizes but once you get to bigger sizes they're just too long to be wearing and can put uneven pressure on your lobes/move around too much and cause irritation.

It also helps to return to your previous size if you experience any bleeding, pain, or irritation. Stretching should never be painful or cause any type of wounds; if it does you're going too fast.

[GraveOrchid]

All right, thank you! Finally, a straightforward answer. I'll leave them be and resort to salt soaks. All this mixed info left me scratching my head, and frankly a little a worried. Luckily the stretching kit I bought came with flared tunnels for when I hit 10g, so I won't be wearing tapers after I hit that. I think removing them this morning to wash everything made them bleed. My ears didn't bleed when I inserted them, it went over well. And they're not sore to the touch now either.

One more question. I saw something about turning the jewelry to keep the lobe from healing into it. Would you advise against that?

[ast.riske]

I would recommend you not turn your jewelry as it will irritate your lobes. Also, did I read you are wearing your tapers? Though you're at a small size, I strongly recommend you get rings or plugs to wear. The tapers may be part of what's causing the bleeding. They can get caught and pulled at night, which can cause tearing.

[GraveOrchid]

All right, gotcha. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I'll invest in finding some jewelry. I don't want anything going wrong while I sleep.

[Nic]

if ur ears were bleeding you more then likely tore the inside sumwhere, in the future u should downsize at least a size or two so that scar tissue doesnt build. Cuz once u scar ur fistulas (insides of ur ears) stretching gets alot more tricky and the odds of reopening the cuts is alot higher. Just shower with em in, then after a couple weeks u can take them out to clean them regularly for periods of time an massage ur lobes =)

[corazon_de_oro]

One more question. I saw something about turning the jewelry to keep the lobe from healing into it. Would you advise against that?

Yes, the turning jewelry thing is a myth and it'll irritate your ears. Piercings and stretches prefer to be left alone.