Hi, guys, I've always been interested in body modification, but never really got to doing it. However, I have a friend that recently started stretching her ears and that gave me some motivation. I've been reading the message boards at BAF for the past couple of days and finally decided to create an account. Now.. I have a couple of questions. :)

 1. I have extremely small ear lobe piercing holes and had my ears pierced 3 times (I didn't take care of them well when I was younger), I plan on getting an 18g taper (Industrial Strength Steel Concave Tapers), but my dilemma here is, what do I wear while the 18g hole is healing? (ex. circular barbells, plugs, titanium, steel, plastic, etc.)

2. The price of acrylic tapers are enticing since I'm only gonna use it once for a few minutes, but is it worth it to get steel tapers instead?

3. About the lube.. I plan on using emu oil, what do you guys think? I've read a lot about massaging your lobes too, and was wondering what that was all about?

I'd appreciate your help, thank you !

 You may not need tapers if you wait long enough between stretches... You can usually slip the next size in with time! I prefer steel tapers when I do use them, but I also use them in areas where a taper is usually needed (cartilage, nipples, ect)... as far as lube... You can use oil, but you can also use a water based sex lube, that might be a better option starting off until you get the hang of it! I also prefer to use lubes or even lotion over oils because it seems to leave a layer of moisture more so than the oil that absorbs after a bit... 

 You don't really have a lot to choose from until you get to around 14g.  I'm not exactly sure what to tell you to do about finding 18g plugs.  I was pierced at a 16g and went to a 14g and there were plenty of plugs to choose from.  I think acrylic tapers are fine.  I've used them for every stretch since 8g with the Poor Person's Stretching Kit(great product by the way).  Some people say that steel taper's are easier to work with but I've never had a problem with an Acrylic Taper.  Just make sure you wait the recommended amount of time and you'll be fine :)  I've never used emu oil, but I've heard it works good. 

I've always used Vitamin E Oil and it has worked fine for me.  I massage my lobes every day in the shower and once before I go to bed.  Massaging your lobes helps keep them thick and healthy and also gets the blood flowing which is good for stretching.  If you have any other questions feel free to ask.  I'll help as much as I can.  Just please remember to wait, your body will thank you!  Good luck and happy stretching!

Honestly, the distance between 20 and 14 is almost entirely negligible. If you've got a rough idea of your target size, you can always go to a parlor and have them jump start you. I was pierced at six gauge. Yes, it hurts, but it's not all that bad, it's mostly just a shock. (Especially considering it was my first piercing). If you don't want to go too big, you can probably stretch straight up to 14 (I've had at least three friends do this with minimal pain and a lot of success but I'm telling you right now, this is at your OWN RISK. ) On the record, skipping sizes is bad bad bad. However, some people view skipping these initial sizes as not terrible (since the difference is often half a millimeter or less.) You really have to know your body as well. Put a normal earrings in your ear (which is usually 18g, by the way) then pull down, if it stretches a good deal, you might be able to put a 14g piece of jewelry in right away (known a dead stretch. ) I, along with many people, don't recommend dead stretches, it's a risk you don't need. Do some more reasearch into sizes of earrings, and do what YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH. What seems like a negligible risk to me might scare the shit out of you and make you not want to do it.

I'm warning you right now though, stretchingis REALLY FREAKING ADDICTING, at least for me anyway. Asthetically, I don't want to go over 00 (as I don't want to overwhelm the other parts of my ear and face) but I'm almost constantly tempted. 

vulgarjack:

Honestly, the distance between 20 and 14 is almost entirely negligible.

nuh-uh...  for many folks this might be true, but do not recommend it casually because the OP might be that not-too-uncommon slow-healer... 

i cannot remember now what the OP is at (and for how long), but they were talking about doing it themselves.  that can be a risky proposition, especially for a newb...  for an experienced piercer it might be fine - but to expect someone to stretch-themselves to anything beyond the next-size-up (and only if theyre fairly confident itll work) is just inviting them to HURT themselves...

to the OP, maybe go see an experienced piercer and have a chat...  it might be totally worth your while to get to know them and (especially if youre not the do-it-yourself kinda person [i was not, at first] ) then prolly just let them do it for you.  itll be worth the time/money for the initial encounter into piercing-stretches...  and they should have professional advice about after-care...

gl, h.

 I wore stainless steel CBRs a lot when I was at the smaller sizes..relatively inexpensive and they did the job! They're readily available, and stainless steel is safe to wear in healing piercings. Other options would be titanium or glass, but as others are said, glass is limited until you reach a certain size.

I know it's not always negligible for new stretchers, which is why I went on and said that it's at your own risk and that as a rule skipping sizes is a bad idea.

Though I suppose word choice is dangerous.

 Hello and welcome 

I recommend you not repeat some of my mistakes in the initial stages, I don't think you will because you are here but this would be my advice anyway: 

1) Don't skip gauges, things will be much easier and happier for you if you follow the stretching guide on here.

2) Buy online, not from stores near you. They will often sell lower quality stuff for much, much more.

3) Acrylic tapers are fine but acrylic jewelry is not ok for fresh stretches, use only steel, titanium or glass for the first two weeks after each stretch. I would recommend some circular barbells until you get to 12g as they are less fiddly then CBR's, after 12g I say glass all the way, amazing stuff!!

4) I also recommend the sex lube, worked very well for me.

I hope that helps. Happy and safe stretching 

imark654:

Make sure you use a water based lube, because oil based lube could irritate your ears further because it's harder to get it off your plug/out of your ear.

I like emu oil, which is of course not water based and is safe for fresh piercings. I'm assuming Mark is saying to avoid petroleum based products, such as neosporin, which I would agree with (but some people love).

 Well if you're gonna get the IS tapers, which are really nice, I guess that means you'll just be doing the stretch yourself. I actually wouldn't recommend getting anyone else to stretch a piercing (except maybe initial piercing stretches), as when you do it yourself you have full control over it, so you can stop/slow down instantly if it starts to hurt.

It's also *possible* you're already at 18g, not that uncommon a size for normal earrings, so it's prolly worth accurately measuring your current jewelry. You might just need a 16g taper to start with.

I've used emu oil for all my stretches so far too. I like the idea that the lube is something I'd *want* to put on freshly stretched piercings anyway.

 When I first decided to stretch I barely wore any earrings, so it's safe to say I was around a 20g. I went to my local piercer (who is at a very reputable shop) and asked him to stretch my ears to 16g, but he convinced me that a 14g stretch would be just fine since it was a "small" stretch (I knew very little about stretching at this point and discovering BAF was years away). It hurt, and I'm lucky there was no significant tearing (no bleeding at all), but had I done the stretch myself I would have stopped when I felt pain and would have known that something wasn't quite right. Piercers will generally just continue to push the taper through regardless of the resistance, which can lead to significant tearing if your ears aren't ready for it. Needless to say that was the only time I ever had someone else stretch my ears...