Rant

[Nic]

is my advice that bad lol? =P

[corazon_de_oro]

You give good advice. What I have a problem with is when people stretch badly and tell other people to do the same because "they did and nothing bad happened."

[magalo le matelot]

It's not stretched ''badly'' if its the way your ears heal. There's nothing wrong if you ears can take it.

[corazon_de_oro]

Most people's can't, though... no one's ears are so drastically different from everyone else's that they can stretch every week or something unless they go through a lot of pain (which is really unnecessary when it comes to stretching) and take a lot of risks. Some people do it and are fine but I would never recommend it to anyone else because that's how people end up with blowouts and tears. It's better just to be patient from the start instead of being one of the unlucky people who wreck their ears because their friends said they stretched fast and were fine.

[Hardware]

haha, it's nothing against anyone personally on this site at all. I was just thinking of a 'star rating system' like ebay has, lol!

[leighmarie]

The rating thing could be a good idea. But then again, the rating you gave would be down to personal opinion so not necessarily reliable.

[StrickyCub]

By the feathers of Osiris, some of the photos in that Blowout album linked were absolutely manky!! D:
It makes me greatful that I learnt before it was too late the consequences can be if you're not careful with stretching. I had a small blowout and some discomfort when I got my fiance to put a 4g taper through my ear after thinking it was healed enough after 2 weeks of having a 6g in.
Why did I do it so fast? Well, I went to a body piercing salon and asked one of the qualified piercers there and she said most people only wait a week between stretches, so I believed her because hey, she's qualified right? Wrong >_<

At least it was only my right ear, and after reading up nearly every article I could find online and downsizing back down to 6g, I'm finding a few days later my blowout is healing up slowly and feels a lot better. I'm just hoping it doesn't cause too much permanent damage that will effect my ability to stretch in the future I ordered a bottle of Jojoba oil online to use on my lobes once they're healed, just waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

But yeah seriously, those pictures scare me into being very careful with my stretching.

~Zack

[leighmarie]

Why did I do it so fast? Well, I went to a body piercing salon and asked one of the qualified piercers there and she said most people only wait a week between stretches, so I believed her because hey, she's qualified right? Wrong >_<

Unfortunately I've heard of other piercers who've said that too. :/
I've never really trusted Piercing Studios who offer to stretch piercings. I realise there are some places who will do it properly, but I'd rather still just do it myself tbh, haha

[StrickyCub]

Yeah after learning the stuff I learned online, after having a professional tell me you only have to wait a week between stretches, it really makes me wonder where they get their training and information from. o.O

[corazon_de_oro]

Yeah a lot of piercers know next to nothing about stretching. Doesn't mean they're bad piercers, just that they should leave the stretching advice to someone who knows what they're talking about. I've heard of piercers doing large-gauge piercings (like 8G or so) and then stretching them 8 weeks later! Or stretching someone from a "normal" earring to like a 10G all at once. So yeah, I'd rather just do the research and do it myself. My piercer knows quite a bit about stretching but I'd still rather do it because she can't feel my pain; I can stop and wait a few weeks if it hurts or is too difficult.