Gauged Ears

[papa_levante]

I am very new at this. I never considered wanting to do this before.

I already have two holes in each ear. I would probably stretch the second hole.

How does one get started?
I am not looking to make one inch holes. Just some little plugs will do.

 

[goregeous]

You really want to start off slow and move up sizes in small steps. I've known a lot of people who've tried to stretch too fast and ended up with very uneven gauges and even torn skin. (unless you want to get a 'punch' where they pierce the hole to the large size you want it)
Go to a professional shop and get their advice, they'll best be able to advise you. If you're determined to do it yourself, get jewelery one-two sizes up from what you currently have, use lots of oil/moisturizer/salve and gently work it into the piercing. Don't force it if it won't go! It's going to be a bit painful for the first few days as your body heals itself. Make sure to give your body enough time between stretchings so as not to cause too much damage.
I've gone from a normal size 18 piercing to a 2 in the past and then back to an 18. You just have to take your time and know your body's limits.

 

[jessikt]

I've also been considering this recently. I really wanted to do it when I was 16 and got scared off of it after I started off by shoving two earrings into my ear to "start stretching it", not smart! There are a lot of websites with seemingly good advice, but I agree that the best idea is to speak with a professional piercer!

I also have a question, if at some point you'd like to "re-shrink" the holes - is it possible? Do your ears heal themselves to smaller holes at some point or are you stuck with big holes in your ears for the rest of your life?

 

[goregeous]

Sometimes, depending on how large you've stretched your ears you can just let them shrink back, they'll heal themselves. I had mine fairly large for a few years, got sick of them and just took the jewelery out and they went back to normal.
Although I have been told that there is a surgery you can get to reconstruct your earlobes and it's surprisingly in-expensive. A co-worker with huge stretched ears told me about it and how he'll probably get it some day when he's old