naked overnight.

[just-tom]

Firstly I'm new here so hi. I've been stretching for a little over 12 month and currently at 12mm ( almost 1/2 inch I think ) but never leave my tunnel out for any length of time, just 10 mins or so while I clean my ear. Anyway down to the point how long should my lobe be healed before I can leave it out overnight without any shrinkage?

[Doomba]

I believe I read somewhere that the larger you go, the healthier it is for your lobes if you leave your jewelry out for a longer period of time (even while healing), like 14g - 12g you leave your jewelry out for 10 minutes at most. At your size, I'm not really sure. I think it really depends on how quick your ears shrink back, how long they take to heal, etc. my friend left his plugs out overnight at 2g and they shrunk back a few sizes lol. He was pretty upset, but then again 2g is too small to leave plugs out overnight in general. I'm not sure if a half inch can get away with it, but I doubt it.

Edit: And yeah, his ears were healed for quite awhile. But even so, I don't think you can leave your plugs out overnight even with healed ears at "smaller" sizes... Maybe you can and I'm just going crazy because it's 6am. Yay for jumbled info.

[ast.riske]

After a couple of weeks at a new size, I start leaving my plugs out for longer and longer periods of time. I usually start with just the time I'm in the shower and work my way up to a couple of hours or so. Once I get to a point where my ears don't shrink noticibly I start leaving them out overnight. When I start I only do every other night, but eventually I get to a point where I can leave them out nightly. Mind you, everyone is different, so this may work for you or it may not.

I have found that leaving my plugs out, even at a much smaller size, my ears feel healthier and thicker. I don't experience the redness I have seen in some others' lobes and in general, my lobes just seem heartier. They really don't get angry or sore and stretching seems to go easier.

Hopefully this helps. : )

Btw, happy new year.

[just-tom]

Cheers for the replies. I've only been at 12mm for a week and took my plug out for the first time this morning for 10 mins while I cleaned and massaged n the plug went in easily after. I'm quite lucky with my lobe It's very elasticy and never gets sore or dry but I try my best to take good care of it so will try leaving jewellery out a little each night see how I get on. Happy New year!!!