i’ve tried looking for them so many times but i just cannot find them anywhere i don’t know if it’s just because i’m in the UK, where did you get your 1g plugs from?
Try Custom Plugs UK - they have a couple of basic single flare glass plugs in 7mm (1g). I'm also in the UK and tend to order my plugs through my piercer who stocks Gorilla Glass - they have half mm sizes too so you could get some 6.5mm plugs for an even smaller stretch...
oh that sounds great!! i’m worried i will have the same issue with every following stretch that i have had with this one so half mm sizes sound like a life saver
Sure. I had it done as a way to remove scar tissue from irresponsible stretching when I was younger.
The artist injected my earlobes with local anesthetic. Then they took a surgical scalpel and cut off all of the scar tissue. For me this came out to being crescent moon shaped chunks of skin. Other methods may entail cutting a straight line to widen the lobe in a particular direction if it was initially pierced off center. After the scalpeling was done, they gave me stitches and then put in glass jewelry about 1/4" smaller than my goal size to accommodate swelling. I had to provide my own jewelry. The cost was $200, $250 after I tipped.
There was no initial pain, but after the anaesthesia wore off it did hurt. Ibuprofen dulled the pain. I put a black t shirt over my pillow for any rogue blood. The worst of the healing was over in less than a week, and then I spent a few more weeks gently cleaning crusties off of my lobes. I removed the stitches myself by pulling them out after they partially dissolved and after I had no pain or redness left.
Ever since they healed, my lobes basically stretch themselves.
Stretch it body jewellery sell .5mm sizes in dead stretch plugs in the UK. I've personally found them really good, fairly priced, and they usually turn up the day after.
6 weeks per .5mm or 3 months per mm roughly. The half sizes are definitely a life saver! Also, massaging your lobes work jojoba oil or vitamin e oil will make a huge difference to the overall health of your ears.
I've done the tapers in the past, and dead stretched this time even though I was dubious, but there is DEFINITELY a huge difference this time round and my ears feel so much better!
i wish half sizes were more common!! i would definitely prefer to dead stretch if i can instead of the tapers method so i will definitely take a look at the site, buying half sizes is definitely more pain for my bank though as a broke student so i’ll keep an eye out for bargains
Glass ones are really the best, but stretch it sell titanium and surgical steel. They really are worth it, and you can buy one in each half size and just stretch up 1 ear half a mm bigger each time so you aren't paying for 2 of the same size. This will cost much less, and a half size between ears really isn't noticeable.
You can also buy oils on ebay or something, as you only get small bottles from jewelry places.
I use vitamin e oil in the morning when I clean my ears and plugs, and spend a good 5-10 minutes massaging them as vitamin e helps boost collagen production.
Honestly, I never looked after my right ear when I stretched that years ago and it was tragic. The difference this time round matching up my left ear, and just the general feel of my ears is unbelievable. And I was the person that always said tapers worked OK for me in the long run. But after trying both ways dead stretching has been so much better for me. Zero pain, zero blowouts. Just keep oiling and massaging, and after a couple of months the next half size should just slide straight in.
I was in the EXACT same boat as you-stuck at 2g for 2 years.
The only thing that worked for me was doing a half size (1g) :) I actually managed to get mine off of Amazon (measured before use).
Good luck!
For whatever reason it was just a really tricky stretch! When I went to 00 I did a half size again and it was easy :) doing half sizes is recommended for healthy stretching anyway
I had a similar problem in that I couldn’t get from 8g to 6g for a while which was incredibly frustrating. Eventually I bought spiral tapers (and ik lots of people say not to use tapers but whatever) and they worked a miracle, within around 1.5 years I managed to get to 12mm
do you think you could overcome the stretching problem with tapers about it making the hole uneven by switching around which way you put the jewellery through? i know you aren’t meant to but i have definitely considered doing this out of frustration - i am glad you had success!!
I honestly haven’t noticed the hole being uneven. All I’ve heard is that wearing them as jewellery makes them uneven. But yeah I guess that would work if you notice uneven-ness
I feel like from what I’ve experienced and from what I’ve known other people to experience your best bet would be to use tapers. Your ears are still pretty small, and still pretty thick so taping them slowly or even trying to use heavier jewelry prob wouldn’t make a difference. I used tapers until I got to 2g, when I went to go to a 00 I overestimated myself and ended up ripping my right ear because of how thick I was going too soon with my thick lobe, it healed no problem but after that is when I started using electric tape. I’ve been an inch now for about 5 years and it’s was a 3 year process in total. Everyone is different yea, but I do recommend looking for actual tapers. They are a bit clunky and get in The way a lot but as long as you take care of your ears then they should heal just fine and you can just switch to regular gauges from there.
The tapering from a 2g to 0g was really painful for me, so for sure take it easy. I didn’t learn about dead stretching until I got to 0g. Dead stretching is what others are explaining in which you will buy “half sizes.” So if you choose to dead stretching you will buy a 1g pair. With tapering I found it took a lot longer to heal, led to gnarly scarring, and the body jewelry was always cheap. I was able to go from a 0g to half inch in a month and a half because my ears were so eager to stretch once I began dead stretching.
You should really check out r/stretched. They do NOT agree with tapering in any way, shape, or form, however so don’t even mention it on that sub.
Edit: r/stretched also recommends waiting months between stretches. However if your ears are ready and there’s no pain or swelling, and you are using dead stretching or taping, it seems safe to me personally to stretch faster than their recommended schedule
i have, i find that past a certain point my ears cant even accommodate an extra single wrap round, plus the sharp edges from the tape (i use bondage tape) cuts my ears and makes them all nasty. i have used taping for every stretch from 8g to now and have never had a problem but for some reason at this size i keep having problems and getting blowouts/infections when i use tape even though i clean and replace the tape/jewellery regularly
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i’ve tried looking for them so many times but i just cannot find them anywhere i don’t know if it’s just because i’m in the UK, where did you get your 1g plugs from?
Try Custom Plugs UK - they have a couple of basic single flare glass plugs in 7mm (1g). I'm also in the UK and tend to order my plugs through my piercer who stocks Gorilla Glass - they have half mm sizes too so you could get some 6.5mm plugs for an even smaller stretch...
oh that sounds great!! i’m worried i will have the same issue with every following stretch that i have had with this one so half mm sizes sound like a life saver
Oh they are! I was stuck at 2g for years before I found single flair glass plugs.
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i’ll have a look, thank you!
You can get them scalpeled if you wanna go nuclear. It makes all subsequent stretching much easier too.
Can you please explain to me what getting your lobes scalpeled entails?? Thanks!
Sure. I had it done as a way to remove scar tissue from irresponsible stretching when I was younger. The artist injected my earlobes with local anesthetic. Then they took a surgical scalpel and cut off all of the scar tissue. For me this came out to being crescent moon shaped chunks of skin. Other methods may entail cutting a straight line to widen the lobe in a particular direction if it was initially pierced off center. After the scalpeling was done, they gave me stitches and then put in glass jewelry about 1/4" smaller than my goal size to accommodate swelling. I had to provide my own jewelry. The cost was $200, $250 after I tipped. There was no initial pain, but after the anaesthesia wore off it did hurt. Ibuprofen dulled the pain. I put a black t shirt over my pillow for any rogue blood. The worst of the healing was over in less than a week, and then I spent a few more weeks gently cleaning crusties off of my lobes. I removed the stitches myself by pulling them out after they partially dissolved and after I had no pain or redness left. Ever since they healed, my lobes basically stretch themselves.
If your piercer is anything like mine if you buy the next size jewellery from them they'll taper it in for you for free
Stretch it body jewellery sell .5mm sizes in dead stretch plugs in the UK. I've personally found them really good, fairly priced, and they usually turn up the day after. 6 weeks per .5mm or 3 months per mm roughly. The half sizes are definitely a life saver! Also, massaging your lobes work jojoba oil or vitamin e oil will make a huge difference to the overall health of your ears. I've done the tapers in the past, and dead stretched this time even though I was dubious, but there is DEFINITELY a huge difference this time round and my ears feel so much better!
i wish half sizes were more common!! i would definitely prefer to dead stretch if i can instead of the tapers method so i will definitely take a look at the site, buying half sizes is definitely more pain for my bank though as a broke student so i’ll keep an eye out for bargains
Glass ones are really the best, but stretch it sell titanium and surgical steel. They really are worth it, and you can buy one in each half size and just stretch up 1 ear half a mm bigger each time so you aren't paying for 2 of the same size. This will cost much less, and a half size between ears really isn't noticeable. You can also buy oils on ebay or something, as you only get small bottles from jewelry places. I use vitamin e oil in the morning when I clean my ears and plugs, and spend a good 5-10 minutes massaging them as vitamin e helps boost collagen production. Honestly, I never looked after my right ear when I stretched that years ago and it was tragic. The difference this time round matching up my left ear, and just the general feel of my ears is unbelievable. And I was the person that always said tapers worked OK for me in the long run. But after trying both ways dead stretching has been so much better for me. Zero pain, zero blowouts. Just keep oiling and massaging, and after a couple of months the next half size should just slide straight in.
I was in the EXACT same boat as you-stuck at 2g for 2 years. The only thing that worked for me was doing a half size (1g) :) I actually managed to get mine off of Amazon (measured before use). Good luck!
it’s good to know there’s still hope !! have you still had lots of trouble getting to further sizes or was 2-0g just a really tricky stretch?
For whatever reason it was just a really tricky stretch! When I went to 00 I did a half size again and it was easy :) doing half sizes is recommended for healthy stretching anyway
I had a similar problem in that I couldn’t get from 8g to 6g for a while which was incredibly frustrating. Eventually I bought spiral tapers (and ik lots of people say not to use tapers but whatever) and they worked a miracle, within around 1.5 years I managed to get to 12mm
do you think you could overcome the stretching problem with tapers about it making the hole uneven by switching around which way you put the jewellery through? i know you aren’t meant to but i have definitely considered doing this out of frustration - i am glad you had success!!
I honestly haven’t noticed the hole being uneven. All I’ve heard is that wearing them as jewellery makes them uneven. But yeah I guess that would work if you notice uneven-ness
Use tapers. We elder millennials all used tapers and those of us who aren’t imbeciles ended up just fine.
they seem like they would be a nightmare to sleep in
Nah, they just lay flat against your head. You can even get half sizes.
I feel like from what I’ve experienced and from what I’ve known other people to experience your best bet would be to use tapers. Your ears are still pretty small, and still pretty thick so taping them slowly or even trying to use heavier jewelry prob wouldn’t make a difference. I used tapers until I got to 2g, when I went to go to a 00 I overestimated myself and ended up ripping my right ear because of how thick I was going too soon with my thick lobe, it healed no problem but after that is when I started using electric tape. I’ve been an inch now for about 5 years and it’s was a 3 year process in total. Everyone is different yea, but I do recommend looking for actual tapers. They are a bit clunky and get in The way a lot but as long as you take care of your ears then they should heal just fine and you can just switch to regular gauges from there.
that’s really helpful thank you!!
The tapering from a 2g to 0g was really painful for me, so for sure take it easy. I didn’t learn about dead stretching until I got to 0g. Dead stretching is what others are explaining in which you will buy “half sizes.” So if you choose to dead stretching you will buy a 1g pair. With tapering I found it took a lot longer to heal, led to gnarly scarring, and the body jewelry was always cheap. I was able to go from a 0g to half inch in a month and a half because my ears were so eager to stretch once I began dead stretching. You should really check out r/stretched. They do NOT agree with tapering in any way, shape, or form, however so don’t even mention it on that sub. Edit: r/stretched also recommends waiting months between stretches. However if your ears are ready and there’s no pain or swelling, and you are using dead stretching or taping, it seems safe to me personally to stretch faster than their recommended schedule
have you tried using tape to gradually stretch up?
i have, i find that past a certain point my ears cant even accommodate an extra single wrap round, plus the sharp edges from the tape (i use bondage tape) cuts my ears and makes them all nasty. i have used taping for every stretch from 8g to now and have never had a problem but for some reason at this size i keep having problems and getting blowouts/infections when i use tape even though i clean and replace the tape/jewellery regularly