Gauges how big can you go

Most newbies at ear stretching starts at 20G, going down to 18G and so on. There are plenty of young adults though who shun the standards and dive directly into getting the 18G, and later on skip sizes from an 18gauge to 12gauge.

You never want to skip sizes! Your lobes will love you for not skipping sizes and also will look better because they were stretched healthy and were not rushed. I went to a 2 or 6mm and after like 6 months my ear lobe was almost perfectly closed up and I was wearing regular earrings.

I think it depends on the person and their skin. Generally from what I've seen in my friends and people in the piercing shop I frequent, most skin can be stretched to an inch before it doesn't shrink back.

Bigger means longer before it stretches back. And of course it depends on how well you stretch it waiting before it heals each time and keeping it moisturized and how well you take care of it afterwards.

I stretched my ears to 22mm, had them like that for a couple of years, took them out for a year and I could wear earrings as long As they had a flat plastic back on them. I've gone back to 10mm now though. But they're different for everyone, most people say don't go passed 10mm if you want them to go back completely. It depends on the person, but usually anything less than 00g will shrink back to the range.

Just make sure you inquire about the method used before getting it done. Some shops will remove skin how they think that's a good idea, I don't know , and make sure they don't attempt to jump sizes.

If they do either of these things, you risk them not shrinking back or having a blowout. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I feel like this is one body mod I really only trust myself to do. I agree with Kailey, in a lot of ways it's better to do this yourself since you have full control over how fast you go. I had mine up to a 00 twice and they were the perfect cute girly size for me and shrank back within 2 or 3 months. If you do go to a shop make sure they use tapers to go up sizes and never skip sizes.

It took around 6 months. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. How is body jewelry measured? While you may be aware of the different gauge sizes for body jewelry, if you are new to these measurements, you'll need a lesson in the basics since they're a little counterintuitive.

You may be asking questions like, what is the range of gauge sizes? And, why is knowing gauge size important? Keep scrolling for their savvy advice on how to find the right gauge size for your body jewelry.

Meet the Expert. The word gauge pronounced GAYj is used to refer to the overall thickness of a piece of body jewelry— how wide the shaft of a post is rather than how long it is. A gauge size indicates how big a piercing hole must be to accommodate the jewelry. Fun fact: According to Faris, the jewelry gauge system is based on the wire gauge system used by electrical workers.

Gauge is abbreviated "g. This can be a very comfortable way to gauge up to larger sizes over 0g. Thankfully, there is not a lot involved in the aftercare of a fresh ear stretch.

If you have stretched your ear properly there should be no tears or damage to your ear and therefore no need to treat them as if they were fresh piercings. The most important thing however is that you not do anything that will slow down the basic healing process. Do not use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide near your freshly stretched ears.

You can occasionally gently massage a very small amount oil or Holey Butt'r or Gauge Gear around the area to help stimulate blood flow to the area and speed healing, but not until two or three days after the stretch.

There should never be any bleeding or significant pain. A little tingling or a small amount of soreness is normal, but if anything more significant than that occurs remove the ear jewelry and downsize back to your previous size.

Be sure to wait until the ear is completely healed before trying again. If all seems to be going well with your new ear gauging then after weeks you can begin changing your ear jewelry if you like and why wouldn't you, with so many great options to choose from?

You should never attempt a new stretch again though until your ears are completely healed from the previous one; one to two months is a good rule of thumb. Many people find this waiting period to be annoying as they want to be at 'x' gauge as soon as possible.

However, bad ear stretching practices can result in some serious permanent damage. Stretched ears are beautiful, but that look is one that is worth waiting for. How long should I wait between ear stretches? Ear stretching is a very personal thing and people heal at different rates. Just how long you should wait between stretches depends upon what size you are gauging up to and how quickly you personally heal between stretches.

However, a minimum of a month is recommended for smaller sizes and that time frame should for most people, increase for larger sizes. The most important thing is that you are sure that your latest stretch is fully healed before attempting to increase again. Any bleeding, strong resistance or pain experienced when attempting to stretch your ears usually means that is not the case and you should wait a while longer.

Can I skip a size to speed the process up? Skipping gauge sizes is never a good idea. Doing so increases the chances that you will cause permanent damage to your ears and may even mean that you have to stop the process of ear stretching altogether as a result.