What are flesh tunnels, you ask yourself. One glance around a packed train or a bustling shopping street and you'll find them: these giant holes in some people's ear lobes. The trend, in which people allow piercers to stretch their earlobe with rings of various shapes and sizes, has been growing for a few years now.
What Are Ear Gauges? Ear gauges, also known as ear plugs, are pieces of body jewelry that are inserted into an existing piercing to gradually increase its size over time or alternatively, for reinforcing the current size of existing elongated earlobes.
What Is Ear Stretching? Ear stretching allows people to wear unique types of jewelry in their ears known as “spacers” or “gauges.” Some people stretch their ears because of cultural traditions, while others just like how it looks.
What are the names of second and third ear piercings? First, second and third earlobe piercings are considered standard lobe piercings. These can be referred to simply as your seconds or your thirds.
Rook Piercing
Like a snug, these cartilage piercings may not be suitable for certain ear shapes and are relatively high on the pain scale. Rook piercings take approximately six to twelve months to fully heal.
Ear gauging, also known as ear stretching, is a process where the ear is gradually stretched out for the purpose of wearing larger piercings. Even though ear gauging has grown in popularity in recent years, it is still a painful process that could result in unwanted effects and the need for ear gauging surgical repair.
Proper care and hygiene can easily solve the issue of smelly gauges in most cases. It's crucial to stretch the ear gradually, wear jewelry made of non-porous materials, and keep the area clean with regular cleaning routines.
It should not hurt to stretch your ears if you do it properly. While you might feel a slight sting, the pain should never be so dramatic that they hurt for days on end. If they do, it means you are going up a gauge size too big.
In the ear stretching process, typically up to 24 hours during a given interval is the maximum amount of time that you would want to allow for wearing tapers before switching over to ear piercing plugs.
For women with round faces and a fairly long neck, dangling or drop earrings are the most suitable. You should opt for linear styles as they give an illusion of a narrower face and won't make your face look bigger, as opposed to wider pairs like studs or hoops.
Sleeper earrings are specifically designed to sleep in, so will be more comfortable than other types of earrings for bedtime. Sleeper earrings are continuous hoops that lie flat against the ear while you sleep. Their design allows for mobility to keep the piercing from growing around the earring.
Everybody heals and adjusts to changes differently. One person's earlobe may shrink back to normal after having a stretched piercing and another may need surgical repair. Generally, holes that are less than a half inch in diameter may shrink back naturally if the jewelry is left out. There is no guarantee, however.
Accuracy and Dial Size
Typically, more accurate pressure gauges are more expensive. In part, this is because it takes longer for a manufacturer to calibrate an instrument to a tighter accuracy, as is the case of a test gauge.
Most professionals would say that size 0g (8mm) to 00g (10mm) is the absolute point of no return. But, to be on the safe side most would recommend staying under 2g because at this point most people can shrink their ears back.
The size of ear gauge you can get greatly depends on your earlobe tissue and whether you have enough to accommodate such large holes. However, studies show that employers frown upon ear gauges and may even require them to be removed if they offer you a job.
Remove your jewelry when you shower.
Be sure that your hands are clean before you remove your ear gauge jewelry.
Wet Ear. While uncommon, stretching with non-porous materials (typically glass) can occasionally result in a condition some piercers refer to as “wet ear.” This is where the skin in contact with the jewelry secretes too much fluid, creating a sticky, moist, “sweaty” layer between the ear and the jewelry.
The only items we can safely recommend for wearing while asleep are the soft silicon plugs and tunnels. All other items carry a degree of risk. Some items have spikes which could cause injury while sleeping. Some flared items can slip deeper into the ear than intended while leaning on them while asleep.
Once it fits properly, go down another size until you reach the smallest gauge. Once you reach this point, your hole should be able to close on its own. This entire process usually takes at least 2 months. You can also help your ears along the road to healing by cleaning and massaging them with oils and moisturizers.
Safest Piercings
Along with the nostrils and belly button, the earlobes are the safest and most common body part to be pierced. The flesh of the earlobe heals well when the area is cleaned regularly and the piercing is done at the proper angle.
Mandibular Piercing:
This is an extremely dangerous piercing to get done. There are a number of important Nerves and Viens in the area and due to the depth of the location, internal bleeding could occur.