Why i stretched my ears

Industrial piercings are more prone to infections than other ear piercings. Having two holes doubles your risk, and the hole that's closest to your…. Have you noticed a scab in your ear? Ear scabs aren't uncommon and could be attributed to a number of causes. We'll share six of the most likely…. Microsuction ear cleaning is a procedure to remove earwax buildup from your ear canal. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Stretching Your Ears? Read This to Prevent Blowouts. Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.

Ear blowout causes. Ear blowout symptoms. Share on Pinterest Ear blowout following stretching. Illustration by Diego Sabogal. Preventing ear blowouts. Treating blowouts. Proper ear stretching care. Read this next. Marcus Mellor, from the Holier than Thou piercing parlour in Manchester, says ear stretching has become more popular in the last five or six years.

Practising what he pierces, Mellor has stretched both his ears. He says it used to be associated with hippies, punks or the rock crowd but now it is "all walks of life and not just students". It can be discreet and people can hide it behind their hair in work.

Ear stretching is in vogue, says Alix Fox, who writes the body modification section in the British alternative magazine Bizarre. Prof Victoria Pitts-Taylor, from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, says ear stretching has become popularised in the same way as other sub-cultural practices, such as tattooing and piercing. The sociologist, who wrote In the Flesh: the Cultural Politics of Body Modification, says it started in the s and s with the rise of the body art movement and the "modern primitives", who appropriated practices from the "global supermarket" for various reasons such as showing solidarity with other cultures or to set themselves apart.

Ear stretching has became more mainstream in the last decade and different people have become attracted to it because they see it on the catwalks and celebrities. Hard-core modifiers have to up the ante to defy the commercialisation of the practice, Prof Pitts-Taylor suggests. The more you stretch the skin, the more commitment you are expressing to a counter cultural look.

People who are obsessed with getting the largest stretch possible are known in the business as a "gauge queen" or "gauge king", according to Fox.

There are many ways to stretch ear lobes. It was incredibly painful and there was a lot of blood. Ten years on and three sizes bigger, I love my ears. Having stretched ears has not affected any aspect of my life. My suggestion for people planning on this body modification is to do it for beauty, not for shock. It's the people who do it for shock that end up with huge misshapen ear lobes.

Oh, and don't do it in 20 minutes either. I have both of my ear lobes stretched to 10mm. It took me four years overall. I wear plugs made from natural stones like jade, gold stone, blue jasper, quartz and all sorts.

I am 47 and a professional in the finance sector. Very few people have ever noticed, they just look like normal button earrings and have never been a problem. Well, having worn every conceivable style of earring for 30 years and I fancied something different. Plus, I love the way they make my ears look and feel, they make me feel sexy and my husband says my "ear wobble" is cute. June, Bristol. I stretched my ears as a teenager around nine years ago and do regret it as I've gotten older.

I took it out around five years ago and I'm left with scarring and my ear lobe has not shrunk back to how it was, despite me stretching it with one of the smallest sizes available carefully and following guidance. I don't think it was as popular back then as it is now, but I think a lot of teenagers have and will regret it as they get older and begin their careers. While it's more popular there's still a stigma attached to it and what people think looks good may change over time.

After the piercing has fully healed, then you can get all the equipment you need to increase the size of your piercings. These are the long, spiky things you put into your piercings to start stretching out the skin.

They come in various sizes or gauges , depending on how much you want to stretch out your piercing. Most tapers are acrylic or steel. Many people recommend steel tapers because they slide through the piercing easier.

Cheaper tapers and cheaper plugs are often of unknown quality and may irritate the ears, slowing the healing process. Plugs are the round jewelry you put in to keep your ear stretched. Plenty of jewelry shops sell commercial-grade lubricant, but you can also use plant-based lubricants, like coconut oil or jojoba oil. Try not to use any lubricants that have chemicals or additives in them, as these could irritate or infect your piercing. If you stretch your ears too much and too fast, you can tear or injure your ear cartilage.

If you do, you may have torn or damaged your ear skin. This can result in permanent scarring. Stretching too quickly can tear your ear tissue in half or cause earlobe skin to detach and hang from your head.