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Ear stretching advice.

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:14 pm
by aaronnbro
Hey guys.
So im pretty new to the whole stretching thing, I had my ears pierced 2 weeks ago at 8g and then my piercer put a 6g steel tunnel in there.
I haven't had any problems, there's a bit of like dried blood but no pain, is this bad or what? Thats my first question.

My second question, when i decide to stretch up to a 4g, im going to use a taper, the tapers i have bought are acrylic, and i know they aren't the best for your ears, but will the cause lasting damage, or will my ear maybe get stuck to them like they do with silicone (or so i have heard) I dont want to use acrylic if they definately will cause damage.
I will clean daily with these acrylic tapers, so if an infection did start i would probably be able to kill it before it really starts to hurt. What is your advice on that?
Thankyou guys (:

Re: Ear stretching advice.

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:59 pm
by corazon_de_oro
Dried blood two weeks after a piercing is normal. Soon you'll start seeing lymph, the dried crusty stuff around your piercing. Instead of "cleaning" to kill an infection, your aftercare should be focused on healing. Infections are actually really rare. The best way to care for a piercing is to soak it in a solution of no more than 1/4 teaspoon sea salt per one cup water for 5-10 minutes once or twice a day. Never touch, move, or twist the jewelry for any reason.
It's going to be quite a while before you can do your first stretch; you should wait about 6 months after an initial piercing to stretch it for the first time. Stretching should never be painful or cause any type of open wound.

Doing the actual stretch with an acrylic taper is fine, but you will definitely want to get a pair of single-flare or no-flare plugs in a material like glass, titanium, or at least steel. Tapers shouldn't be worn long-term because they move around too much and put pressure on certain points of your lobes.

Re: Ear stretching advice.

Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:33 am
by aaronnbro
Thankyou so much.
This has helped a lot (: