okay i`ll make this short: i have been at 0g for 3-4 months now. bought some silicone eyelets at a shop in trois-rivieres, quebec. i`m still in quebec and won`t be home for another 4 weeks. eyelets are thicker than what they are supposed to be...i think so at least. hard to pinch and pop in, but i managed to. once it was in (i tried only one lobe) it felt tight all around. thought maybe i should take it out, but decided to wait it out. couple hours later i`ve become paranoid so i tried taking it out. pinched ends, lubed a lot, whatever, couldn`t take it out. now it hurts when i pinch one end, i think it is a big bigger than my fitsula, which is why it`s so hard to take out. flares are not gradual from the wearable area, so that`s even harder to do. and the wearable area is short too. what should i do to take it out?! i really don`t want to hurt my lobes, but it just won`t come out.

You're just going to have to continue oiling the crap out of them and work it through whatever gaps in your lobe you can find until it releases and you can ease it out. Worst case scenario (and I mean absolute WORST), you may have to cut off one of the flares so that you can gently ease it out with more and more oil.

okay, i will do that. should i be concerned at all that it hurts when i pinch the end? and how long should i continue oiling before realizing it`s not working and having to resort to the cutting method?

I can't really give you a time frame, but don't panic, just stay aware. Has it gotten any looser? If you have some cotton swabs, try to use those to spread oil around it thoroughly. If you must use the cutting method, try using some nail clippers so that you have less of a chance of cutting your ear, and just carefully clip off the flares on one side. It's really not the safest advice I can give you, and it leaves sharp angles when you have to cut that could cause some damage.

:( no it hasn`t gotten any looser and in fact today it was hurting. im so scared i tore it! it doesn`t hurt when i pull, but it hurts when i push up so i`m 80% something happened to the top part of my fitsula...i think i`ll give it another day and if it still bothers me i`ll cut it.

honestly in your situation with it hurting, i would cut the flares NOW.

 I hate to say it but I probably would too.

 I'd have someone ELSE cut them.

Yeah, if it's already stinging, it might be bonding to your lobe. Get it out ASAP as gently as you can.

 thanks for replying everyone! its funny that everyone said to cut the flares, because thats exactly what i did once i replied. i couldnt stand it and didnt want to take chances and had a thought that it may bond to my fitsula and make it worse, so i cut one of the flares. and even then, it was hard to take out even with tons of lube and so i knew i made the right choice. eventually, i got it out and put back my steel eyelets in...now they feel so much better and the stinging almost all went away! thanks for everyones responses again!

thats great to hear. good thing there was no real damage to your lobe.

Oh I'm so glad you got it out. Sadly, I gave that advice from experience I'd recommend considering a downsize in the future.

ooh really? what happened after, to your lobes?

I downsized to 2g, let them heal for a long time, and stretched back up. I downsized again to 6g last year which helped a lot, but they are still more wrinkly than I would like. Fortunately, they did not form a lot of tough scar tissue.

ooh thats good to hear. i dont think anything major happened with my lobe. the pain is all gone and no fluids came out, i didn`t see any sign of tearing, looks pretty normal now. but a downsize when i get back home probably wont hurt. thanks again  :)