hello everyone! so I may not have looked hard enough, but I am sort of unclear on how I sould be cleaning/otherwise caring for my lobes now that I've begun stretching. I've had normal piercings since I was four (that's about fifteen years now), and ordered the 14g and 12g steel stretching kits upon learning that I could fit 16g jewelry in my ears with no trouble. I tried the 12 gently first to get a feel for where my body wanted to go, and they went in with very little effort and some jojoba oil. Everything looks fine, I'm just not sure what to do now.

 When washing/soaking/applying oil, does the jewelry stay in? I haven't found anywhere that really specifies, though I assume it wouldn't make sense to remove it while healing. Also, I realized after I ordered that there's a minimal amount of nickel in the 316L steel. I know I have a nickel allergy to some degree, but I figured for a month it wouldn't be a big deal. How can I tell if I need to invest in new jewelry?

 Thanks a lot, I've been prowling around here for a while now in preparation, hopefully you can help me some more :)

crywolf:

hello everyone! so I may not have looked hard enough, but I am sort of unclear on how I sould be cleaning/otherwise caring for my lobes now that I've begun stretching. I've had normal piercings since I was four (that's about fifteen years now), and ordered the 14g and 12g steel stretching kits upon learning that I could fit 16g jewelry in my ears with no trouble. I tried the 12 gently first to get a feel for where my body wanted to go, and they went in with very little effort and some jojoba oil. Everything looks fine, I'm just not sure what to do now.

 When washing/soaking/applying oil, does the jewelry stay in? I haven't found anywhere that really specifies, though I assume it wouldn't make sense to remove it while healing. Also, I realized after I ordered that there's a minimal amount of nickel in the 316L steel. I know I have a nickel allergy to some degree, but I figured for a month it wouldn't be a big deal. How can I tell if I need to invest in new jewelry?

 Thanks a lot, I've been prowling around here for a while now in preparation, hopefully you can help me some more :)

first, you shouldn't skip sizes. it can cause scar tissue, which can make stretching later much harder. i would downsize to a 14. read this to help with sizes/waiting period.

i keep my plugs in when cleaning/soaking/applying oil, especially if it's a fresh stretch; you don't want to irritate it.

if your ears have an allergic reaction to your jewelry, switch to a different material; glass is amazing, it's worked the best for me.

remember, you only have one set of lobes. so treat them right! have fun stretching :)

 You seem to be doing just fine so far. haha. You'll definitely know if your ears are allergic to the horribly small amount of nickel. I have a severe nickel allergy too and I'm fine with all the steel I've ever tried. The jewelry stays in for most things except applying oil, but I'd give a few weeks before you take the jewelry out. Unless you start feel pain or anything, I wouldn't worry about doing soaks on a fresh stretch, since it went really smoothly. 

Treat your fresh stretches like a new piercing and don't take your jewelry out for at least a week after a stretch.  Clean your ears with sea salt soaks or piercing soap like Satin and consider investing in glass plugs if you have a nickel allergy.  Remember to follow the stretching timeline.

 Thanks so much, this has really cleared up a lot that seemed kind of vague when I searched. And I don't plan on skipping around anymore, I just knew that my holes have been very supple for a very long time, it was really not much of a change.

leeanananana:

 

 

first, you shouldn't skip sizes. it can cause scar tissue, which can make stretching later much harder. i would downsize to a 14. read this to help with sizes/waiting period.

 

Just to clarify for the OP:  I think it's ok for you to go directly to 12g.  For many people that had their lobes gunned when they were children, their lobes have self-stretched to 14g or possibly 12g.  As long as you wait the recommended amount of time and avoid skipping sizes for your future stretches, you should be fine. :)

I don't think there's anything wrong with a 12g initial stretch if you've had pierced ears for a while.  At 19, I went from standard gunned lobes [that I have had since age 9] to 14g, which slid right in with room to spare.  As a matter of fact, I had worn 14g circulars for periods of time throughout my teens and didn't even consider it "stretching", because they slid in like "normal" earrings.  I probably could have started out at 12g.  It is good that you ordered the 14g kit just in case, though.

As for aftercare, I'll sea salt soak twice a day for a couple weeks after a fresh stretch, and wash with Satin once a day in the shower.  Then, I'll give them a good jojoba oil massage every night.  Once I've been at a size for a few months, I'll go naked for periods of time.

One thing I don't get... I've read that you shouldn't use jojoba oil on fresh stretches.  I lube my tapers with jojoba oil, so why is that bad?  I'll even put a little more oil on my clean fingers and lightly massage my lobes after a fresh stretch, and they like that a lot.

 

 Hmm, the jojoba oil worked magnificently for me, and everything I've read encourages jojoba over most other lubricants and oils. I haven't done any sea salt soaks yet, need to get to the grocery store :) Thanks so much for the help!

 Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that jojoba oil is fine for fresh stretches as long as you're not using it on an open wound such as a tear, a huge bloody blowout, or a fresh piercing.

Since stretching is micro tears (correct me if im wrong) no jojoba oil wouldn't be safe to use. Stick with Emu oil for the fresh stretches and Jajoba for healed.

enigma:

 Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that jojoba oil is fine for fresh stretches as long as you're not using it on an open wound such as a tear, a huge bloody blowout, or a fresh piercing.

 Well fresh stretches are kind of treated like fresh piercings, so yeah, you can't use jojoba oil on fresh stretches.  Emu oil is one of the only oils you can use on fresh stretches [I can't remember the others....].  I wouldn't use jojoba on fresh stretches, anyway.

 Thank you for clarifying that. :)

paigeybear:

Emu oil is one of the only oils you can use on fresh stretches [I can't remember the others....].  I wouldn't use jojoba on fresh stretches, anyway.

 

good to know for the future, although at some point I'd like to figure out what those other oils are, as I feel pretty guilty using animal fat if it's not necessary.

 I also don't use emu oil because i'm opposed to using animal products.  Sorry about bringing this up again, but I just remembered reading in here that jojoba is ok for fresh stretches.  So now i'm a little confused...does anyone else have some input?

enigma:

 I also don't use emu oil because i'm opposed to using animal products.  Sorry about bringing this up again, but I just remembered reading in here that jojoba is ok for fresh stretches.  So now i'm a little confused...does anyone else have some input?

I think they just meant as lube. In any case, I wouldn't do it.