Safe Ways to Stretch Your Earlobe Piercing

I'd advise you right off the bat to go to your local piercer, but then I'd be a hypocrite. I did mine myself before I had the advice I'm going to give you now. Mine resulted in a bloody mess that stayed sore for weeks. I found out the hard way that I can't just force a piece of jewelry that doesn't fit into a tiny hole. Later on I implemented a few of these techniques to safely stretch my earlobe piercing and had far better results. Stretching your earlobes will still hurt, but you'll have less pain and less blood, which is always a good thing.

As an overall tip, you will want to avoid any bleeding or tearing of your earlobe. Let your pain receptors tell you when to stop and don't force your earlobes to stretch. A standard earlobe piercing is an 18 gauge, which is very small, so you don't want to try and force a 0 gauge in there. Start small and work your way up to the bigger sizes. Taking baby steps will help you avoid tearing of the earlobe piercing and keep your piercing clear of infection.

Stretching Earlobes Tip #1: Buy some tapers.
Tapers are either metal or acrylic tools to stretch earlobe piercings. I like this method the best, because there is less pain and blood and if you needed to stop, the taper could be left in your ear. The tapers are pieces of jewelry that look like a spike and are available in various sizes. There is a small end that you put through your ear and the large end is the size you want your stretched earlobes to be. If you want to go from an 18 gauge to a 0 gauge, you may have to buy a few since most tapers only span a few sizes. They come in metal or acrylic. I recommend metal because they tend to collect less bacteria and don't seem to pull on your ear as much as you're pushing them through. The main benefit of tapers is that they slowly stretch your earlobes and reduce the chance of tearing and infection.

To use the tapers you'll need petroleum jelly or an antibiotic ointment to cover the taper with. Then you slide it into your ear to the point where the taper stops. Then let your ear relax for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, push it through just a little more. Then rest another 15 minutes. Keep doing that in intervals along with using more ointment as you need to. Yes, it's a slow process but don't force the taper through. The idea is to resist tearing of the lobe so you're ear piercing stay healthy and infection free.

Stretching Earlobes Tip #2: Use Weighted Metal Jewelry
Weighted metal jewelry is one of the most common do-it-yourself methods for stretching earlobes. You can find this jewelry anywhere you find body piercing jewelry. They look like the smaller rings, but they are bigger and heavier. This works best if your earlobes are already stretched to a larger size. It's a very easy method that many people swear by. All you have to do is purchase a heavy piece at the size you're already wearing and put it in. Then the weight of the metal does all the work for you. In some cases your ear will stretch a size or two just by wearing the heavy jewelry. Then when it's to a larger size, you put in a lighter piece of jewelry in the new size and let it heal. Although many people like this method, I've only tried it once and still prefer tapers. The weight of the jewelry can cause an uneven stretch and could actually cause a tear where the jewelry rests. Another downside is that it requires more care when you put the new jewelry in- you have to use a lot of Bactine or a sea salt/warm water solution to make sure your ear stays infection free.

Stretching Earlobes Tip #3: The Dermal Punch
The dermal punch should only be done at a piercer. It is one that I have not tried yet and probably won't because my ears are already full of piercing. There are many plus sides to a dermal punch. It can be done whether your earlobes are stretched or not and you don't have to worry about tearing your earlobe. The dermal punch is done by a piercer. The piercer actually cuts out a piece of your ear to the size you desire. The piercer can either cut it with a scalpel or using a large, hollow needle. It's quick and easy. The downside is that this is a commitment. If you were to just stretch your lobes and decided later that you wanted them to go back to a more normal size, over time you can get your ears to heal to the smaller size. But if you have the dermal punch, you are stuck with that size unless you decide to get surgery to make the hole smaller. The other downsides include that it is a bloody procedure that will hurt and it requires a lot of care afterwards that you have to be really diligent about or you will surely get an infection.

Stretching Earlobes Tip #4: Go to your piercer.
For the dermal punch or the tapers, you can go to your piercer. I've found this to be the easiest way to stretch my earlobes since I don't like to inflict pain on myself. Since the piercer has probably done a lot of stretching of earlobes, they will know the best point to stop to avoid causing a tear and sometimes you can walk out with a after care solution as a freebie. It can cost a little more that doing it yourself, since they will charge you for the new jewelry and the use of materials, but you'll get evenly stretched earlobes that you didn't have to do yourself. They will also send you off with care tips and at most times offer a better selection of jewelry.

Overall, I really recommend doing the taper method or going to your piercer. Those methods worked the best for me, but everyone is different. Whichever way you decide to stretch your earlobes just remember to listen to your body (if it hurts too much then stop) and take good care of your stretched ears afterward.