How to Stretch an Ear Lobe

Stretched earlobes

Your skinny, silver hoop earrings are fine and dandy, but you are ready to move to the next level of amazing jewelry and you want to stretch an earlobe. Once the earlobe is stretched and the piercing hole size increased, you will have options that run from large, circular plugs to barbells with massive posts. It’s a slow, laborious process to stretch an earlobe, so don’t expect you can go from skinny silver hoops to giant barbells overnight. Patience, time and a few simple steps will help you stretch an earlobe without infection or broken skin.

Things You'll Need

• Array of piercing posts that increase in size
• Anti-bacterial soap

Instructions

1. Get your ear pierced in the place or places you want to stretch it. You may already have the ear pierced, in which case you are ahead of the game. If not, go to your local mall or body piercing studio and have them hook you up. If it’s a new piercing, you are going to need to wait several weeks until the piercing is healed before you stretch it larger. Otherwise, you risk infection or having the ear close up altogether if the larger pieces fall out of the piercing.

2. Figure out the thickness, or gauge, of your current earrings. Most are pierce pretty small, with a 20 gauge. Bring your current earrings to your piercing shop to compare to other sizes. You are going to slowly increase the size of your piercing by picking smaller gauge numbers. For instance, if you are currently at a 20, you can move down to an 18, which will increase the piercing by a smidgen. Rather than talking in abstract numbers, ask to see some of the jewelry in different gauges so you can choose the next size in line.

3. Pick the next larger size, which would be the next smaller gauge, and insert it in the piercing. Don’t just slam it through the hole and hope for the best. Wash your hands and the area with antibacterial soap and carefully slide the new post into the piercing. You can leave the area damp, or use a little soap, to help it move into place.

4. Wait several weeks for the new size hole to heal, then move to the next size.

5. Repeat the steps, slowly increasing the size of the post, until your earlobe is stretched to the size you want it. Don’t necessarily go nuts. You can always stretch an earlobe further but you cannot shrink them.

Tips & Warnings

• Have patience. To stretch your earlobes without them cracking, bleeding or getting infected, you want to take it slow. Increase the size of the posts incrementally.

• Going in small stages will also bring less pain.

• You might consider a special pillow, that goes under your neck but doesn't smash into your head, while you are stretching your lobes. They are going to be sore and it's going to hurt when you lie down in bed.

• No matter how slow the change, earlobes are going to be sore when you move to the next level.

• Keep the piercings clean, guarding against hairspray, face lotion or other substances that may want to sneak around the piercing.

• Use stainless steel posts, as you would for a new piercing, each time you increase the hole size.

• A New Mexico piercing studio once warned rubbing alcohol and peroxide make lobes prone to cysts. Stick to the anti-bacterial soap and, if you wish, any disinfectants available at some piercing places.