Okay so I'm fully prepared for everyone to call me an idiot, but I really want to fix this.
When I was like 16-17ish, I decided I wanted to stretch my ears, but I wanted to do it the correct way.
I asked the girl at the piercing shop to tell me how to do it, how to make sure nothing bad happens to them, etc.
I didn't know anyone with stretched ears who I could talk to, and she seemed pretty trust worthy.

She told me things such as :
-I would be fine if I stretched really quickly as long as I could get them in somehow
- It was normal for them to bleed sometimes, no biggie
- swelling and things like that will all go away.

So... you guessed it.. I got horrible blowout

Yes, I was stupid for listening to her, but everyone I asked about it had no idea, or would just point and be like " EWWW OMG WTF IS THAT!"

And so.. I kept my plugs in for awhile, then took them out all together.

And since everytime I tried to ask anyone, they would just say how ugly it was, and I'm a person with not the highest of self esteem.
I've just worn my hair down for 5 years. I did ask the doctor, but I'm not sure I can afford surgery.

If there is any way besides sergery, which I cant afford right now, please tell me. Any advice would be appreciated.
I know this is ugly, I know I was a stupid kid, but now I'm 21, and I really just want the problem solved, without people laughing too much at my situation.

Here are some horrible pics..

By the way, If I got this problem fixed, would I ever be able to stretch ( VERY slowly and correctly again?)
I haven't tried anything really, so, since it was 5 years ago, are oils and such out of the question?
thank you for any help, I really appreciate it.

oh, and the smaller blowouts just happened from being pierced with a gun when I was like 10.. ><

http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/parasitelady/?action=view&current=ear.jpg

 

http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l5/parasitelady/?action=view&current=ear2.jpg

 someone back me up here, but those aren't blowouts.  That's scar tissue. (I'm basing this on how they look and that you said 2 were not from stretched piercings but from gunned piercings)

Do NOT be ashamed for how your body heals wounds.  It happens.  repairing them may not make them any better.  But if you have insurance, it may be covered.  If not you will want to find someone who is very tallented with a scalpel.

 What size did you start at and what size are you at now? Have the blowouts been there for the entire 5 years? We types of jewelry have you been wearing as far as materials go? Wnat types of things have you tried to make the blowout go away?

Just a few questions to help get better answers :) 

I agree.. they don't really look like blowouts to me. They look more like keyloids or some type of scar tissue that got inflamed. I dont' much about that type of stuff but it doesn't look like a typical blowout. 

 Those look like either keloids or abscesses. Either way, not good.

 You should definitely go to a doctor to get them diagnosed and treated. At this point, opinions on what they are from strangers on the internet based on two pictures is not going to suffice. You need a medical opinion.

the little ones were just from gun piercings.
It could be scar tissue, as I said I was/am really uneducated about stuff like that. Sadly my doctor said insurance would not cover it, especially now that i'm 21.

I was thinking about asking someone to scalpel them off. I don't know much about that either. do they look semi normal afterwards?

I'll try to remember all the details I can to help, although I'm not 100% sure

I remember getting to 4g pretty easily. I believe i stopped at 0, or what I was told was 0  ( since everyone else this girl told me was totally wrong)

Now I have just normal earings in. I've had the "blowouts" or whatever they may be for pretty much 5 years, yeah. I was just to embarrassed to do anything abou tit.

The last material I had in them, and the one I used most often was acrilic, which I've read isn't good. Looks like I did just about everything wrong :(

So far I haven't tried anything to make it go away, I wasn't sure what to do, and I was afraid I'd make it, somehow worse.
:) I'll be happy to answer anymore questions for people being nice enough to try and help me!

 keloids can come back even after removal.

acrylic is perfectly fine for some people.  I don't think that had anything to do with what you have now.  And you did the right thing, you downsized.

oh, and I don't know if this helps, but they were never itchy or painful in any way. they feel normal.. just look gross

Really, don't be so down on yourself; if your body is susceptible to keloids you may have gotten those even if you had done everything correctly.  At least you're trying to do something about it now.  To be honest, I don't think you'd ever be able to stretch again if they are indeed keloids, someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it would just make them worse.

katy:

Really, don't be so down on yourself; if your body is susceptible to keloids you may have gotten those even if you had done everything correctly.  At least you're trying to do something about it now.  To be honest, I don't think you'd ever be able to stretch again if they are indeed keloids, someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it would just make them worse.

 

 

aw, it always makes me so sad to look at pictures of lovely plugs. I guess i'll go and talk to a few piercers and get their opinions, since all my doctor said was to see a plastic sergeon and that it would cost hundreds of dollars.

Maybe I'll try to rub something on them first, since I never have.

Thank you for being so nice :)

I would try to get a second opinion from a MD before going to a piercer.  Just get them to take a look and provide you with their opinion before exploring any other avenues.  Usually keloids are pink and look like scar tissue, yours may be abcesses of some sort because you said that you have no side effects from them. 

BTW, there is a lot of us stupid stretchers out there so your not alone.

I vote keloids. After 5 years, I would think that an abcess would either pop, be painful, would look red, would have filled up/grown more by now or cause some sort of problems that don't seem to be happening. I should also hope that a doctor would have recognized it as an abcess if that's what it was. They look like keloids, unfortunately.

I'd also vote keloids. What everyone else has said is pretty true: Keloids are difficult to get rid of completely and will often grow back after surgery. Some people have had luck with other methods (here's a link: http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Keloid) and i don't think it would hurt to try oil massages. 

Sorry you've had so many bad reactions from others. Keloids are somewhat rare but I've seen more than a few people with them. It happens and it's just part of your body. I hope you're able to get some relief some how!  

 if it is scar tissue it looks a bit inflamed, you could go to a dermatologist and get scar cream and antibiotic creams that could possibly help. i had really bad purple keloids when i took my cartilage piercings out and with daily cleaning with mild soap and a little bit of scar cream every day, they got a lot smaller.