really desperate for help here.

[stafny]

hi. i'm new here and i've got a bit of a problem. it's really been annoying and upsetting me.
i got my ears pierced december 23rd of last year. i waited the two months i needed for them to heal, probably even a week or two more.
i've always only stretched up one size at a time, no skipping whatsoever. and i've always cleaned my jewelry, washed my hands before stretching, used lube, stretched in the shower, etc. everything i've needed to do for safe stretching. and stretching has always gone smoothly for me until i got to a 10g. my first attempt at stretching to a 10 went horribly. my right lobe took it well, but the left one became very swollen and burned as the day progressed. so i decided to take it out and see what was wrong. when i took it out, the hole oozed pus and blood. i kept it out for the night and cleaned it out thoroughly in the morning and went down to an 18g. i took plenty of time off of stretching to let it heal before going back up, not skipping any sizes as usual. getting to a 10g the second time was a lot easier. but when it came to stretching to an 8g, the left lobe couldn't handle it yet again, so i sized down to a 10g. i've tried to get the left lobe to an 8g four times now. obviously waiting in between each stretch for my lobe to heal. i also had an incident with my girlfriend (accidentally) headbutting me in my left ear while at an 8g, which forced me to go down to a 10g once again. i had been at an 10g in my left lobe for about a month since that incident, and the pain was gone. but the hole itself on the backside of my lobe looked slightly purple and had what looked to be a bruise right next to the hole. but i thought it would be okay to stretch back up to the 8g since the pain was gone. stretching didn't hurt at all, and i had been at an 8g in my left lobe for about 4 days. but my left lobe started to act up again, from what i assume is me being a restless sleeper and the taper catching onto my pillow in the middle of the night. last night, i had to remove the taper because i felt blood on my earlobe. i've decided i'm done trying to fix this and i'm going to let the lobe heal, close up and i'm going to wait to get it repierced.

my problem now is that the hole itself is really torn up. from the front, the lobe looks totally fine. but the back of the lobe is purple. the hole itself bleeds, and today the bruise next to the hole started to bleed as well. the taper has only been out for a day. i'm not sure if my ear is rejecting anything that goes into it, or if the piercing migrated or what. but i'd really like some help if anybody can figure it out.

i generally use acrylic tapers to stretch.

thanks! if i need to clarify on anything, just tell me. i hope somebody can tell me what's going on.

[bradykay90]

Bro how long r u waiting n between stretches. Ive use acyrlic on all my stretches and i will keep using it. Anyways back to u. The bruising is normal when u stretch fast it will go away also everybody has 1 ear that is harder to stretch i found it help full to do e-oil massages on the harder to stretch ear at least 2 times a week and i havent had any problem with it being hard to stretch. Id suggest waitn a lil bit longer to stretch up or u can start taping.j just take ur time with it if the taper goes more then half way its said to be safe to stretch i dnt go by that... im sure other people will post "lindsay" lol

[corazon_de_oro]

Two months is barely enough time for piercings to even get through the initial healing process. When a piercing first heals, it's only healed enough to change to other jewelry of the same size. Stretching is different. You really need to wait about six months after a new piercing to begin stretching. Your problems most likely started from the piercings not being strong enough to stretch in the first place. Also, did you have them pierced with a gun by any chance? That can cause extra trauma and increase the healing time/create scar tissue.

How long have you waited between sizes? Have you been wearing acrylic or other materials that could aggravate your ears? Have you been wearing tapers?

I think the best thing for you to do would be to go back to your original size, or at least down a few sizes, and wait, wait, wait. Wait until your ears are healed to the point that they feel like they've always been pierced. Then, wait until you can move up to the next size with no pain or resistance. Repeat.

[stafny]

oops.. i guess i misunderstood the hole "2 months" thing. haha. yeah, i got them pierced with a gun.

i had friends tell me to wait at least 2 weeks between stretches. and i did that with my first few stretches, up until the 10g and when i had to first size down. then i started waiting at least 5 weeks+ before stretching because i was scared of hurting my ears or having the same problems again. i started with using some kind of metal circulars when i stretched to an 18g, 16g, 14g, and 12g. then i started using acrylic tapers because i hated the circulars. but i'm noticing i had less problems with with the material the circulars were made out of.

so do you think i should go back down to the normal piercing instead of letting it close up and then repiercing it later?

[corazon_de_oro]

It's up to you... if you wanted to take them out completely you could have them pierced by a professional in a real piercing studio with needles at a larger gauge. I got pierced at 10G and I'm really glad I did; it saves a lot of time with the tiny sizes, so even though you have to wait six months it's really not bad since you can already wear plugs and such.
Next time you stretch, instead of wearing tapers try getting a pair of single-flare or no-flare plugs in a material like glass or titanium (or steel if you're not allergic to nickel). It's also best to leave about 6-8 weeks between each size, or until you can stretch without any pain.

[bradykay90]

It's up to you... if you wanted to take them out completely you could have them pierced by a professional in a real piercing studio with needles at a larger gauge. I got pierced at 10G and I'm really glad I did; it saves a lot of time with the tiny sizes, so even though you have to wait six months it's really not bad since you can already wear plugs and such.
Next time you stretch, instead of wearing tapers try getting a pair of single-flare or no-flare plugs in a material like glass or titanium (or steel if you're not allergic to nickel). It's also best to leave about 6-8 weeks between each size, or until you can stretch without any pain.

THANKS FOR COVERING ME ive been super busy lol

[stafny]

okay, so, i sized down to a 20g the other day, the swelling has gone down a lot, and it looks like the "bruise" that was next to the piercing has faded quite a bit. i'm going to wait a while to let it completely heal before trying any stretching in this lobe again. i don't want to have to deal with anymore problems at such small sizes.

i'm going to hope that this problem was caused by maybe an allergic reaction to the tapers i used. and perhaps the accidents that had happened to the lobe itself. i'll make sure to wait much longer between future stretches. just to keep it safe.

is there anything else i can do to help make stretching easier and less difficult? i tried to stretch up to a 6g in my right lobe the other day, but it really did not want to take the taper. it went about half way, but then started to get stuck. so i didn't force it. i do not believe waiting longer is a problem, considering this lobe has been at an 8g for a couple of months now.

[ViolentJayne]

2 months for the 8ga to6 ga stretch is not that long of a wait , I think the standard for most people is closer to 4 months for that particular stretch . see 20 ga - 8ga is small increments just a fraction of a mm each . 8ga to 6ga is the first full MM stretch and in certain jewelry is actually a 1.2 mm stretch . Its the first big stretch . Then from 6 ga 4 ga 2ga is full mm stretches as well . Then after 2 is where it gets tricky the increments start going up and is can get confusing ( id advise viewing a ga to mm conversion chart it really helps - just google there are tons out there ) . 2 ga to 0 ga is a 2mm stretch . thats why its recommended to tape up after 2 oooooor get a 1 ga plug and wear for at least 3-4 months .....

any way stop sleeping in the tapers too , it causes trauma you dont need - tapers are a tool to guide in a single or no flare plug

they are to long to sleep in and get knocked around . Plus the conical shape can cause your ear hole to heal conically as well especially if you are wearing the tapers in half way . what will happen is the front of the hole is healed to say 8 ga but the back of the hole ( nearer to the point of the taper ) is healing at like 10 ga or somewhere between 10 and 8 ga - so when you try to insert the 8ga plug a few days later it actually traumatizes the back of the lobe thats why your lobe looks worse on back ...

id go back down to at least 14 and wait it out about 6-8 months to let your ear recoup and allow your skin to build new collagen - which is what makes stretching possible

good luck in the future

[Trill850]

my advice is listen to your PIERCER and your ears when it comes to a timeframe i was told to wait two months after my fresh piercing and it worked fine for me, and people saying to wait 6-8 weeks between stretches that may be their bodys timeframe but i have been able to stretch every 2-3 weeks with no problems

[corazon_de_oro]

Honestly, you should rarely listen to piercers' stretching advice. Most piercers, even if they're good at piercing, really give horrible stretching advice. I've heard of piercers stretching people from a standard earring to 2G, telling people that blood/swelling is normal, etc. If you stretched after two months with no pain or resistance and have been stretching every 2-3 weeks, you have been very lucky because that cannot be expected. The healing time of a piercer and the time it takes to be ready to stretch are two totally different things. When a piercing heals you can change to jewelry of the same size, but it needs much longer to be ready to stretch.