Going from studs to plugs?

[Jaehjlee]

I got my ear lobes pierced last summer, and I've been wearing studs ever since. I recently became interested in ear plugs though, and was wondering if it was possible to wear plugs if I already got my ears pierced? Or do I have to re-pierce my ears in the same area?

Sorry if the question's confusing

[Padma]

It shouldn't be a problem stretching up your original holes, unless they're too near the edges of your earlobe. A few years ago I did exactly what you want to do, and because my holes were a bit close to the edge the piercer who helped me with stretching up advised me not to go above 2g, because if the edge of the earlobe is too thin, you can get frostbite in winter. So it depends how big you want your plugs. Good to get advice from a professional piercer. Enjoy your plugs!

[Jaehjlee]

Thanks, your answer was really helpful

[sonic]

Oh wow. I had no idea that you could get frostbite on your ear lobes because you stretched them too thin 

[Padma]

Apparently you need a certain amount of blood flow to keep the temperature up, and if the bit of lobe round the outside edge is too thin, it can get frostbitten. Unless you live in Hawaii or something, of course, in which case knock yerself out .

[supremecatoverlord]

Since I stretched piercing holes that I've had in my ear since I was a baby, I'd say this is more than possible.

I'd recommend you finding out the gauge of the studs that are in your ears and then buying small tapers to start that are either the next size or the next two sizes (depending on how much of a steady hand and patience you have) up. I don't know how large of plugs you want, but if it's anything larger than 0g, it will likely be more of long term goal for you than something you can achieve safely in a couple of months.

My main plugs are much larger than 0g (8mm), because I wear 11/16" (18mm) and 3/4" (19mm).

[Jaehjlee]

Since I stretched piercing holes that I've had in my ear since I was a baby, I'd say this is more than possible.

I'd recommend you finding out the gauge of the studs that are in your ears and then buying small tapers to start that are either the next size or the next two sizes (depending on how much of a steady hand and patience you have) up. I don't know how large of plugs you want, but if it's anything larger than 0g, it will likely be more of long term goal for you than something you can achieve safely in a couple of months.

My main plugs are much larger than 0g (8mm), because I wear 11/16" (18mm) and 3/4" (19mm).

Thanks! Your post was really helpful I'm not planning to stretch mine really big, probably just to the 3rd smallest size or something around that.

[supremecatoverlord]

Thanks! Your post was really helpful I'm not planning to stretch mine really big, probably just to the 3rd smallest size or something around that.

Well, the smallest noticeable gauge is like a 12g, so maybe an 8g?

Or are you planning on larger?

This guy has 8g plugs in.

[Jaehjlee]

I was thinking maybe a little bigger. Like around the size of a thumb nail..do you know what size would that be?

[supremecatoverlord]

I was thinking maybe a little bigger. Like around the size of a thumb nail..do you know what size would that be?

I assume you're taking about a thumbtack....um, I assume you're talking about the back of the tack, yes?
Maybe 2g (6mm)?

[Padma]

A thumbnail would be 1/2"-3/4", you'd need to work up to that over a few months.

Here's a 1/2" (12mm)

[supremecatoverlord]

Here's 1/2"

I really didn't think he meant that big mainly (because that isn't a small size and it's nowhere close to the 3rd smallest size) and my plugs are 3/4", but he might have...the spacing between the words kind of threw me off.

The nail of the thumb is rather large and it tends to vary from person to person.

I would also say it's smaller on most biofemales than it is biomales, so I can't say for sure what this size would be.

My hands are close enough to "normal male sized' that I'm probably a bad example too.

And it'll actually take more than a few months...more like closer to a year or so...to safely stretch them up.

That is, unless he wants to take a chance of severe inflamation and or tearing of the earlobe.

[schism]

to stretch properly from normal pierced ears to 12mm without issues will take much longer than a few months.  people can do a lot of damage and cause a lot of problems when they stretch too fast.  it's recommended to leave at least two months between stretches and to never skip a size, otherwise you risk blowout or infection or thinning lobes, or other aesthetic problems such as catbutt which is caused by skin that's been stretched too fast.  here's a really good guide for stretching: http://www.earstretching.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1726 and here's a size guide: http://www.eargauges.net/info/ear-gauge-sizes.html

[Padma]

Good advice - I really meant "quite a few months" as generic for a long time.

My thumbnails are different sizes (as are my thumbs) so I quoted both .

[Maddi]

As someone who works in the piercing/tattoo/body mod industry alot of the people here have told you right. One little "trick" to keep the lobe from thinning out is after the stretch has healed up a few days, take them out when you sleep. This lets the skin cells and stuff to do there thing with out constant tension. By doing this, my left ear has 2 holes. The front at 1 inch and the 2ns hole at 1/2 inch. Both have good thick lobe underneath.

And remember, if it bleeds your doing it wrong! lol

[Padma]

And also: if you're going to make your own saline solution to clean new piercings, for goodness' sake make it weak! Salt burns are not nice.

[rachl]

I've never understood plugs, but that's because I'm a white-collar sort of worker and they just don't seem appropriate in those sorts of jobs. Are there any professionals here that have plugs? I always worry for younger people who get plugs, not thinking about their career implications.

[aniya]

For some reason I'm so addicted to gauges and plugs although I had to stop myself at 3/4th, if not I would have to keep going since my ears easily stretch! You have to start off with tapers to stretch your ears out. They look somewhat like toothpicks but a little more thick and a certain end is thicker. If you look it up on youtube I'm sure you can find many videos on how to do it.

[supremecatoverlord]

For some reason I'm so addicted to gauges and plugs although I had to stop myself at 3/4th, if not I would have to keep going since my ears easily stretch! You have to start off with tapers to stretch your ears out. They look somewhat like toothpicks but a little more thick and a certain end is thicker. If you look it up on youtube I'm sure you can find many videos on how to do it.

We wear the same size plugs.

[aniya]

We wear the same size plugs.

Yay! Have you ever checked out the website plugyourholes(.)com? funny name I know, promise it's not a xxx site lol