How to Gauge Your Ears

As tribal piercing aesthetics get more mainstream, gauged ears have become a common sight. No longer a piercing that marks you as an outsider, gauged ears can help you blend into the hippest of crowds. If you want to gauge your ears, the most important thing to remember is to take it slowly.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Get your ears pierced if you don't already have pierced ears. Get the piercing done by a professional piercer with a 20- or 18-gauge piercing needle. This size allows you to gauge your ears without removing a lot of flesh. If you already have pierced ears but were pierced with a gun, have a piercer insert 20- or 18-gauge jewelry.
2. Buy sterilized metal jewelry the next gauge up once your ear piercings heal. Remember that lower gauges means larger jewelry, so you'll get a lower gauge number.
3. Insert the new jewelry carefully and slowly. You may need to put a little lubrication on both your ear and the jewelry, such as a mild liquid soap, to help the jewelry go in.
4. Allow your ears to heal and adjust to the new size before moving to the next gauge. This generally takes one to two weeks. When your ears are healed, they'll feel just as they did before you moved to the next gauge.
5. Repeat Steps 3 through 5 until you reach the gauge size you want.

Tips & Warnings

• Instead of jewelry, you can use sterilized metal insertion tapers to stretch your ear piercing. Then, you can insert acrylic plugs in as your jewelry if you'd like.
• If you increase the gauge too quickly, you can end up with scarred and damaged earlobes. A gradual process allows your ears to stretch without damage.