I thought body modifications were taboo?
When I started stretching my ears and becoming interested in body modification, I was in 7th grade (which made me 13 years old). When I decided I was going to begin the process of stretching my ears, I had absolutely no outlet to work with to gain knowledge about how to do it, or the proper way to do it because it was absolutely unheard of around my area -- no one had stretched lobes, and if they did it was because they were "bad children" -- but because I was interested I didn't care what other people thought.
I started my stretching process using belly button and tongue barbells. At the time, that's the only way I knew how to start sizing up. I hadn't done much research because I really didn't know where to look. After about 5 belly barbells in each ear, I went out and bought tapers. I had no idea what size my ears were, so buying something to fit in my already made holes wasn't an easy task.
Bought the tapers and thankfully they fit. I wasn't anywhere near as extreme as I wanted to go, but I figured it was a good size because I had already gotten angry comments from friends and family about what I was doing to my ears.
A handful of years went by (I was now in grade 10, and 16 years old) and I decided that I wanted to stretch up even bigger. I did some research because by then, I knew how to use the internet better and found some forums and YouTube videos to get information from regarding the do's and don'ts. I put that information to the test and sized up using another taper. What I hadn't learned was that sizing up too many gauges could mess up your ears in more ways than one.
During the process, I actually did jump up a bunch of sizes, landing myself in a pile of pain. My ears bled for hours, my lobes just kept rejecting the tapers, they were swollen and painful for the longest time. I couldn't sleep on my ears and every morning for about a week, they were crusted over with puss and dry blood.
Now I know what you're thinking -- "you're an idiot" -- and you're 100% correct on that. But it's in a past tense "you were an idiot". After that little incident, I googled what was going on, and they said it could be a blow out. I didn't want to take them out, so like an idiot child I was, I kept them in until they healed. Afterwards, I checked them to see if there were any blowouts, or any scarring. There wasn't. Thank-god. I got REALLY lucky. I was now at a 00.
Years and years went by, I was now in my 20's. I decided it would now be safe to size up again in a more safe manner. Did my research in the time between my last up-size. Found out about the taping method, didn't know one vital piece of information though -- electrical tape isn't the best idea -- used it anyway. I kept them clean while taping. I would replace the layers of tape every three days so that the build up of dead skin cells weren't just hanging around. Eventually got myself to half inch, and then to an inch. Everything went smoothly and didn't get any problems.
Now I am 23 years old and my ears are still rather thick, still having no problems and am thinking about going up another half inch, or maybe a little less. I'm happy with where my lobes are at the moment, but have always wanted to be 1" 1/2 by the end of my journey. I have a long ways to go and I'm sure things will take a little while so that I can keep an eye on my lobe thickness as I progress and stop when I think it's getting a little too far.
Now it seems like society today is becoming more and more aware of body modifications. When I started stretching my ears, it wasn't heard of. It was more so a thing that rebels did, or bad kids with no futures did. Every time I sign into Facebook, or even check tumblr the odd time, I continue seeing a rise of people with different types of body modifications from scarification, lobe stretching, piercings, to tattoos and implants. It's crazy to think that things are becoming less and less taboo than they used to be, but it's also a little upsetting to know that so many people are following trends that are more of a life style.
Make sure you think about what you're doing before you do them. A lot of jobs and people still don't accept certain appearances and although it's an awful thing, it happens all too often.
Hope this helped someone out there think about the do's and don'ts, and learn from my mistakes before stretching! Cheers!
"My ear stretching experience" ^
I started my stretching process using belly button and tongue barbells. At the time, that's the only way I knew how to start sizing up. I hadn't done much research because I really didn't know where to look. After about 5 belly barbells in each ear, I went out and bought tapers. I had no idea what size my ears were, so buying something to fit in my already made holes wasn't an easy task.
Bought the tapers and thankfully they fit. I wasn't anywhere near as extreme as I wanted to go, but I figured it was a good size because I had already gotten angry comments from friends and family about what I was doing to my ears.
A handful of years went by (I was now in grade 10, and 16 years old) and I decided that I wanted to stretch up even bigger. I did some research because by then, I knew how to use the internet better and found some forums and YouTube videos to get information from regarding the do's and don'ts. I put that information to the test and sized up using another taper. What I hadn't learned was that sizing up too many gauges could mess up your ears in more ways than one.
During the process, I actually did jump up a bunch of sizes, landing myself in a pile of pain. My ears bled for hours, my lobes just kept rejecting the tapers, they were swollen and painful for the longest time. I couldn't sleep on my ears and every morning for about a week, they were crusted over with puss and dry blood.
Now I know what you're thinking -- "you're an idiot" -- and you're 100% correct on that. But it's in a past tense "you were an idiot". After that little incident, I googled what was going on, and they said it could be a blow out. I didn't want to take them out, so like an idiot child I was, I kept them in until they healed. Afterwards, I checked them to see if there were any blowouts, or any scarring. There wasn't. Thank-god. I got REALLY lucky. I was now at a 00.
Years and years went by, I was now in my 20's. I decided it would now be safe to size up again in a more safe manner. Did my research in the time between my last up-size. Found out about the taping method, didn't know one vital piece of information though -- electrical tape isn't the best idea -- used it anyway. I kept them clean while taping. I would replace the layers of tape every three days so that the build up of dead skin cells weren't just hanging around. Eventually got myself to half inch, and then to an inch. Everything went smoothly and didn't get any problems.
Now I am 23 years old and my ears are still rather thick, still having no problems and am thinking about going up another half inch, or maybe a little less. I'm happy with where my lobes are at the moment, but have always wanted to be 1" 1/2 by the end of my journey. I have a long ways to go and I'm sure things will take a little while so that I can keep an eye on my lobe thickness as I progress and stop when I think it's getting a little too far.
Now it seems like society today is becoming more and more aware of body modifications. When I started stretching my ears, it wasn't heard of. It was more so a thing that rebels did, or bad kids with no futures did. Every time I sign into Facebook, or even check tumblr the odd time, I continue seeing a rise of people with different types of body modifications from scarification, lobe stretching, piercings, to tattoos and implants. It's crazy to think that things are becoming less and less taboo than they used to be, but it's also a little upsetting to know that so many people are following trends that are more of a life style.
Make sure you think about what you're doing before you do them. A lot of jobs and people still don't accept certain appearances and although it's an awful thing, it happens all too often.
Hope this helped someone out there think about the do's and don'ts, and learn from my mistakes before stretching! Cheers!
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