I'm going to be going on a Jewelry buying spree soon haha.  My goal is 2g and I'm at 4g now so I'm going to stay at 4g for quite a long time and I figured I needed some Jewelry.  I'm going to be buying a set of blue earskins, SS single flared eyelets, and a pair or two of the 4g Acrylic Plugs.  I really like the look of them and you can get em in all different colors!  I know that a lot of people on here swear against using Acrylic but I haven't had any trouble with it.  Back in High School I tried stretching my ears...I started at a 16g and I had acrylic plugs in and I waited 2-1/2 months between each stretch(I only got to 12g) but I had acrylic plugs in the entire time.  I never had any trouble with acrylic at all.  It would itch a little if it was real warm outside(80* and up) but that was it.  Well I stopped stretching because I just kind of got out of it.  I started stretching again last year and for the 16-14-12 stretch I used acrylic again and had no problems out of them at all.  I was wondering if any of you have used the acrylic plugs and if you liked them or not?  I know that I should only put them in when my ear is healed so that's what I'm going to do.  Let's hear your reviews and post pictures if you have those too!  Thanks! 

 Im pretty sure the 4g acrylic plugs have massive flares...

bluebananaeater:

 Im pretty sure the 4g acrylic plugs have massive flares...

 

 

I'm talking about these...

http://www.bodyartforms.com/productdetails.asp?keywords=4g+acrylic&button=Search&anyallexact=any&basicsearch=yes&ProductID=504&index=2

I'm sorry I guess I should have put that in my first post but I'm pretty sure they're No Flare..

 Like you said, acrylic shouldn't be worn in fresh piercings or stretches, but I've had no problems wearing it in my healed lobes. I have a few pairs that are acrylic and they're in my regular rotation of jewelry. One thing I actually like about them (the Half-Tone ones at least) is that they have a deep groove for the o-ring, which helps keep the o-rings from getting lost in my sleep (I HATED the deep groove when I first stretched up and had to wait quite awhile for my ears to loosen up to be able to go over the groove).

It's all up to personal preference. You shouldn't wear them in a fresh stretch, obviously, because they're porous and getting bacteria around the microtears that come from stretching is dangerous. But after that, it's all preference. Personally, I hate acrylic and like to wear stone and glass, because I'm not the hugest fan of bright colors, and I think a lot of acrylic looks cheap, but that's just me. If you like it, go for it!

I'm going to be ordering the black and clear acrylic plugs soon.  Thanks for the help and advice!

 I don't really like sleeping in acrylic, but anything that's not soft tends to bother me. Once I hit 2g the plugs got big enough that they're uncomfortable for me to sleep on sometimes, so I often change to silicone (or nothing) for bed.

I think IS brand acrylic is all dental acrylic isn't it? What is it about dental acrylic that makes it better anyway?

And after a search, it looks like IS don't make any acrylic plugs below 2g... weird

 I used acrylic plugs when i was at 10g and my left ear got infected and somehow ate an o ring. I had to pop the oring out of my piercing kinda weird and go buy some steel circular barbells immediately. Been using steel ever since.  

The first time I got my ears pierced at a 12g, the piercer put 2 acrylic tapers in my ears as the initial jewelry, which I bought earlier from Spencers. I had no idea about the negative effects at the time. Luckily, my ears rejected them that night and no infection occurred. I waited a good six months before having them pierced again, and have been using stainless steel for piercings and fresh stretches ever since.

Before I knew better, I would buy the acrylic taper/plug packs from Hot Topic, and just wear that particular pair til my next stretch.  I never had any problems...guess I was lucky.

Rodger:

I think IS brand acrylic is all dental acrylic isn't it? What is it about dental acrylic that makes it better anyway?

 

 Acrylics can be quite biofriendly and have negligible porosity WHEN PROPERLY PROCESSED.

The problem is most people are experienced with industrial acrylic which is most commonly extruded for economy..solid granules are heated and reformed into sheets and rods.....a process that creates significant defect in the polymer matrix...weakening it, creating microscopic stress fractures in the polymer chains and introducing porosity.

Rods and sheets of "cell cast" Acrylic, a process resulting in a grade closer to dental materials structurally at least, could be used as raw materials for jewelry construction....but at a significant increase in material cost.

 Medical and Dental acrylics are polymerized directly in form from a monomeric syrup. The resulting plastic mass is harder and more dense with  a very tight polymer matrix.

 Think ice cube vs snowball.....both frozen water but one monolithic in nature the other an accumulated aggregation. 

 This difference is where the line between a material that is merely tolerable (barely suitable) in a healed piercing and an immediate denture which is designed to go directly into the mouth after extensive multiple extractions..fresh and bloody....we even sink small "nubs" into the fresh sockets to reduce gum resorption during healing....and if thats not extreme enough for you....we could always replace a piece of your skull with acrylic.

http://www.anatomics.com/content/detail.aspx?cid=62

 

 What delightful information...thanks!

wissabo:

Before I knew better, I would buy the acrylic taper/plug packs from Hot Topic, and just wear that particular pair til my next stretch.  I never had any problems...guess I was lucky.

 

I bought acrylic ones there too. -.- Im wearing them now O.O looks like i need to get some steel plugs -.-

megandoodle:

wissabo:

Before I knew better, I would buy the acrylic taper/plug packs from Hot Topic, and just wear that particular pair til my next stretch.  I never had any problems...guess I was lucky.

I bought acrylic ones there too. -.- Im wearing them now O.O looks like i need to get some steel plugs -.-

 

I sometimes wear acrylic in my lobes when they're healed, and I've had no problems with it. It varies from person to person, so if you're not having problems with it then you don't need to discontinue using it. As always, don't use it in a fresh stretch.