Stretching
From BMEzine Encyclopedia
Stretching can be a lot more extreme than you might think. It is far more time consuming than anything else in piercing, and requires far more commitment to the art and lifestyle.
Contents |
Methods
As far as how stretching is done, it's simple — you just put bigger and bigger things in your piercing. As you stretch, you will discover what is best by "listening to your body".
Starting with Large Gauge Piercings
Stretching should only be done on a fully healed piercing, but note that you can get a head-start on the process by beginning the piercing in a large gauge (using a scalpel, dermal punch, or large-gauge piercing needle for the initial piercing).
Contrary to popular belief, a needle does not remove tissue — it cuts a curved slit. Assuming that the body part is large enough, there is no real limit as to how large you can start. Given a sufficiently experienced piercer, an initial half-inch lobe heals as quickly as a 14ga lobe. Scalpels offer larger size holes, but also require more experience to use. For the average piercer, using a 6ga or 4ga needle is a reasonable upper limit.
Taper
The most common method for stretching is the Taper, a rod that increases at one end in diameter to allow the stretch to take place as it is inserted. These can be "professional" manufactured Tapers (usually made of surgical stainless steel or acrylic) or it can be things you find around the house. You will very quickly learn what materials are appropriate for your body. Everything from stainless rod to aluminum bike tubes to knitting needles to wood to plastic bottles progressively wrapped in electrical tape.
Weights
Generally weights are not the best way to stretch a piercing as they can cause migration of the piercing and thinning of the tissue on the bottom of the piercing.
PTFE Tape
PTFE is a widly used method of stretching peircings, mainly lobes with plugs, by wraping PTFE pipe tape around the plug and then reinserting it into the piercing.
Bondage Tape
Bondage Tape is now becoming a more popualar method of stetching like PTFE tape it can be wrapped around the jewellry and reinserted into the piercing, the advantage of Bondage tape is it is slightly thicker and many find easier to work with than the thinner PTFE tape.
Permanency
Most people can stretch to at least 2ga (1/4") and still have the tissue return to normal when they remove the jewelry, but there really are no guarantees. Don't stretch your ears unless you are certain you'll be okay with it forever. Once the elastic limit of the skin has been passed, or a large amount of additional tissue has been built up, the hole will not close again completely. However, in some cases the stretched tissue can simply be cut off — for example, in ear stretching, the lobe can often be cut off and sutured, and once healed looks virtually normal. In addition, plastic surgeons can rebuild a stretched ear.
Warnings
Once one stretches past a certain point (typically around 0 gauge), tissue is permanently and radically different from its original form.
If the skin around the piercing gets very thin, whatever you do, stop stretching. The easiest way to thicken the tissue is to downsize a few sizes, wait a couple of weeks, and then re-stretch. By repeating this process, you can usually drastically increase the thickness of the tissue. In addition, choice of jewelry material can have an effect on the tissue's thickness (and general health). Many people find the high quality wooden jewelry both thickens the tissue and keeps it healthy (and stink-free).
Most people can stretch about one inch per year. Over-stretching can result in tearing or migration, which will usually lead to scar tissue. The biggest problem with this is that it makes further stretching more difficult. Over-stretching can also result in damage to nerves, leading to a loss of feeling in the tissue. However, feeling typically returns in six to twelve months. Damage can also be done to blood vessels, resulting in a loss of circulation, in which case the tissue may die or become significantly weakened.
Another problem is the development of a "lip" behind the piercing. These blowout "lips" commonly appear around earlobe and other stretchings that are stretched quickly. The simple way to get rid of them, if you catch them in time, is to downsize them immediately, and allow them to reabsorb. Folding or rotating the lip back inside the piercing, will sometimes help it assimilate back into the primary tissue. However, this doesn't always work. The more advanced way to get rid of them is to physically remove them. One method that has been met with good success is tightly tying off the lip (using a tunnel as a backing), allowing the tissue to die, and then removing it.
Trivia
- A person who is either obsessed with stretching their piercings, or with showing off their many stretched piercings, is known as a "Gauge Queen". Some wear this term with pride, others use it derisively.
Earlobe Stretching
Earlobe stretching is the practice of increasing the diameter of an earlobe piercing after the initial healing period for the purpose of wearing larger gauge jewelry. Standard earlobe piercings, performed with commercial ear piercing instruments (piercing guns), are typically 20 gauge for piercings receiving 14 kt. gold piercing studs, or 18 gauge for piercings receiving 24 kt. gold plated surgical steel piercing studs. If the piercing is performed in a professional piercing studio, the initial size will typically be 16 gauge or larger.
Jewelry
A variety of jewelry is available for stretched earlobe piercings. Types of jewelry available include plugs, eyelets, and large captive bead rings, as well as hanging styles. The best jewellery to wear in a stretched lobe, is something organic such as bone, wood or stone. These materials relieve the wearer from lobe funk and smell.
If the jewelry is removed from the piercing, the hole will shrink in diameter over the course of weeks and months. The amount a stretched earlobe will shrink if jewelry is removed long-term is dependent on the specific person pierced, and it's impossible to give an exact amount that will apply to everyone. Please note, however, that it's generally accepted that a piercing stretched to 4 gauge or over is not likely to shrink to the point it won't be noticeable. Earlobes which which have been scalpelled or punched will typically not shrink beyond the size they were when the procedure was performed.
