The lady at the tattoo shop said this...

[kmatt21]

Hello!

So i think stretching is beautiful and I wanted to start so I went in to a tattoo parlour and spoke to a lady about the process. She told me that what I have to do is buy this plastic/acrylic taper (cost me 5 quid does that sound abou right?)and push it all the way through, put the bands on and leave it to heal. She said that it will hurt and that it might puss and/or bleed a bit. I was like - okay?

Now I dont want to stretch my first hole (i have three regular sized piercings in each ear) I wanted to do my second - but I havnt worn any actual earings in them for a while so the hole was quite tight. The taper went in about a centimeter and i put sweet almond oil around the opening and pushed the taper through until the larger end was in a fastened on the rubber-band like ends.

I feels very sore and ched when i pushed it through, I got up today and there was a little red tinted liquid dried around my ear and a bit of white/yellow. I removed the bands and cleaned that up and the taper stil felt tight but was moveable - the inside of my ear doesnt look red or anything from what i can see so i put 100% coconut oil around the area and massaged my lobe a bit.

Did that woman completely mess me up here? I am reading all the posts but cant quite figure out if ive done something wrong? It is the first-timers starting size but is it not supposed to be pushed all the way through? Also I hve ordered a stainless steel set as I am getting a bit paranoid cause im not sure if it acrylic or plastic - HELP IM SUCH A NOOB! Im sorry for this long message - i scared to find out whether or not ive failed my hopes of a nice size 14?

ARGGGGHHH!!!!

[kmatt21]

Sorry i have another question - are tapers meant to be worn while stretching or waiting for it to heal? (I have slept with the taper in as its the opposite to my pillow side) Or do i have to put in the taper and then follow it with a plug immediately? (NOOB)

[corazon_de_oro]

You definitely got some bad advice. For future reference, piercers/tattoo artists usually don't give the best stretching advice, even if they have stretched ears themselves. You're better off listening to people on here.

Do you have any idea what size the taper is? Honestly, if I were you I would just take it out and start over so you don't end up with a blowout/scar tissue.

And tapers aren't meant to be worn as jewelry, they're just tools for stretching. You should only use them to do the actual stretch and put in a pair of single-flare/no-flare plugs immediately after.

[Ouroboron]

Hnnng. That sounds awful.

What can be said is that the first stretch IS possibly the most painful stretch; however, by no means should your ear holes be weeping pus nor should you be in any pain afterwards.

What I would recommend is to do sea salt soaks and search for a reputable piercing-only salon nearby. When you buy jewelry, they will typically insert the jewelry for you (sterile with surgical scrub/lubricant and a taper) as well as remind you to wait the appropriate time between stretches. I don't recommend putting on your ears what I would consider to be "food oils." In general, oils are only a really good idea for healed lobes (although I've heard the argument that emu oil is okay for healing lobes). Just do the sea salt soaks twice a day for at least 2 weeks and you'll be just fine

*edit: Also! Tapers are for stretching. I'd take them out to heal completely and give them some nice soaks to prevent unwanted scar tissue. When you eventually try again (after an adequate time healing), invest in some titanium or pyrex/glass plugs.

[kmatt21]

Thanks so much you guys!

1.6mm is the size of it - ive taken it out and cleaned it with salt water (is regular salt ok until i get down the shops to buy sea salt?) it looks fine today like no bleeding or anything but but skin around the hole feel a bit solid? Im so aangry at that lady - how unprofessional - she had streched ears aswell though thats why i thought she'd be the one to ask *ugh*

Well - soaking and starting over it is

x

[corazon_de_oro]

Ah, that's not as bad as I thought, I thought you meant it was like 3 or 4mm or something. But still, your ears definitely let you knew they weren't ready for that stretch; it's good that you've taken it out.

Regular salt is fine until you get sea salt, but you'll definitely want sea salt because it doesn't have any additives. Good luck, hope it heals well!

[kmatt21]

Yes ive taken it out and it seems to be healing well - i bought a aloe vera and tea tree rub to put on it and its doing fine

I got my new bits in the post on saturday! Super excited to start - im going to use different piercing hole though and let the other one heal up (from the looks of it i wont be able to put an earing in that one again ).

The third hole on my left has hardly been used and is really tight - am i right in saying that its best to wear an earing in it for a few weeks first? (similar to the ring i was originally pierced with?)

Cheers! x