What is stretching?
Stretching is the means by which one can slowly enlarge a pierced hole in the body, this is mostly done to the ear lobe, but can be done to nearly every piercing that you can get. This is done by slightly stretching the tissue, causing micro-tears to form, and maintain the hole at the new size until the tears heal completely. This process can then be repeated as many times as needed, to get to the desired size, as long as this is done safely and correctly, this means that nearly any size piercing hole can be created.
How often should I stretch?
Stretching is based on the individual, as every body is different you must gauge this time yourself and be sensible about this. As there is no set time frame that will work for everyone all I can do is give you a suggestion on how long to wait, but this will vary depending on aftercare and difference in size that you are going from and to. General rule is that most people feel that their ears are healed after 1 month, before stretching again it is advised to wait another 2-3 weeks. Or you can look at it this way one stretch every other month.
Stretching By Taper Method
Using a taper is the most effective way to stretch your ears with minimal stress. Firstly you will need a taper to do this, these can be made of metal or acrylic and should be:
- Smallest end - your starting gauge
- Largest end - the size you want to get to, this goes one size jump at a time, e.g. small end would be 12G (2mm) and the large end would be 10G (2.4mm)
WARNING! When you stretch it should never be painful, there might be a slight amount of discomfort from the pressure, but it should never be any more than this, also there should never be any blood while stretching.
For more information please download our full stretching guide (file is a PDF and has been zipped), the download is free but if you would like it on a CD-ROM you can purchase it from our shop.
You can find a huge range of plugs, tunnels and tapers in our shop for stretched ear lobes.
