I've been hearing a lot of bad talk about dermal punching on ear lobes and I wanted to share my story which has been anything but bad, if fact I am very happy with the results.
I recently got a 6g dermal punch on my left ear lobe and for weeks beforehand I scoured the internet on advice on the different ways to get stretch ears/gauges and I heard a lot of bad opinions on dermal punching and I would like to say I have no complaints. The piercer punched the hole at a smaller gauge then put a taper in to stretch it to a 6g and told me not to take the taper out for a week. The first night my ear was a little sore and there was no blood or swelling. The only scare I had was when I accidentally bumped it and it bled for a bit a few days later but by the morning all was good. The end of the week came and I took out the taper, cleaned the hole and put in a clean screw tunnel which has been in my ear for the past month. I've cleaned around it 2 times a day and I let water wash over it in the shower. I can sleep on it fine with no pain or discomfort. My goal size is 2g and I'm about ready to get my other lobe done soon...at 2g. I don't plan to stretch my ears any bigger than a 2g. All in all I'm very happy with the results of my one ear so far and am looking forward to completing the other side. I honestly believe there is no right way or wrong way to get your ears stretched, just do the research, think and plan it over, find a good piercer and take good care of your freshly pierced hole.I took special care of my piercing, I never played with it or touched it un-necessarily and all is fine.