How to Stretch a Tribal Ear

For people who wear large gauge, pierced ear plugs, the question, "Does that really go through you ear?" becomes very familiar. Of course, the answer is 'yes'. There may be some imitation ear plugs available but, to wear the real thing, you need a big hole through your ear. Although this is a service you can get from many piercing parlors, this requires several visits and can be quite expensive. Luckily, stretching your ears for tribal jewelry is something you can do yourself.

Things You'll Need

• nylon fishing wire
• scissors
• tapered plug earrings

Instructions

1. Get a basic ear lobe piercing from a reputable parlor. You can also go to a mall or other jewelry store piercer, but it's better not to. While piercing with a gun seems fast and maybe less scary, traditional piercing with a needle is more accurate and less physically traumatic, and the piercings generally heal more easily.

2. Take care of cleaning your piercing according to the piercer's instructions until the skin is completely healed and not painful anymore. Make sure that you can change your earring without any trouble before you start to stretch your ear for tribal jewelry.

3. Exchange your earring for a piece of fishing wire. You can use a short piece or, if you're concerned about it falling out easily, use a slightly longer piece and tie it into a loop.

4. Stretch your piercing in the shower or bath. The steam helps make the skin stretchier, allowing for less damage and pain. Whenever your piercing feels completely healed, thread another piece of fishing wire through the hole. This may hurt a bit the first few times you do it but, eventually, adding the width of another piece will hardly make any difference. This method allows you to stretch your piercing very slowly and gradually, which is the safest way. Wait until your ear feels completely healed before doing another addition.

5. Stretch your ear with tribal jewelry. When the hole has become somewhat enlarged, you can keep stretching it with the fishing wire method, or move to a piece of tapered jewelry. Choose a piece of tapered horn, metal or glass jewelry that will fit through the hole, then gradually move toward the wider end of the jewelry whenever you feel comfortable. Again, doing this process in a steamy environment will be the easiest.

Tips & Warnings

• Think carefully about how much you want to stretch your ears. Smaller gauge holes may be able to shrink to almost nothing eventually, but larger sizes can leave a permanently scarred hole in the earlobe.

• Don't rush this process. Stretching your ears too quickly can cause pain, scarring, tears that can become infected, permanent loss of feeling in the area, dead tissue and even a complete split in the earlobe. Not only can these outcomes destroy your piercing, but they can permanently damage your ears. It's quite safe if you do it right but, if in doubt, consult a professional piercer.