Just keeps going

Well seems the addiction is stronger lately. I think I've stretched my ears 2 sizes for both piercings in about a months time.
Now the current size is 5/8" on bottom and 9/16" on top.


I switched over to a silicon earskin for the top because on my right ear(the one pictured) the skin between the two was getting pinched. That's pretty painful when both tunnels are steel. I'm thinking about going to a silicon earskin for the bottom one too. Being so thin they make the hole look even bigger.( )
I guessed probably a year before I'd get the bottom to 1", at this point it might be a little sooner.

Also, anyone know of any big reptile shows that'll be in the dallas/ft worth area this spring/summer?
I'm planning on making a weekend trip over there for one if I can afford the drive. But I'm also looking to see if I can find a good tattooist/piercer in that area that does scarification/skin removal so I can get a big chest piece done while I'm there.
So anyone with info on either, let me know.

I am not knocking what you are doing to your ears, but could you please explain the fascination with it? I am seriously curious. Is it just the 'thing' to do these days, is there some meaning behind it, what? I'm very open-minded, so like I said, I'm not knocking it. I guess it just intrigues me when something like this everywhere I look. I try to learn something new every day, today it is this!

same as tattoos, piercings etc. some like how they look. some like how it feels.

I knew a guy who had 2 inch guages. I asked why. he said.. "It's like an orgasm for your ear"

lol.. so. some like that feeling :P

I personally guaged initially because I always had allergic reactions.. it was suggested that I guage out, then let them shrink down. that it would build thicker skin and help prevent another reaction.

well I am at 1/2 inch.. and I like it. so decided not to let it shrink down.


and yes.. they will shrink back down. how much depends person to person. and the size of the guage.

Well, for me actually, I started this when I was almost 15. I had never seen anyone else with their ears stretched before, until I met a younger boy(13 at the time) who was stretching his himself with things like sharpened q-tip sticks(horrible idea). His were very small, maybe 8-6g which is about the size of 2 coffee stir sticks. But I had had my ears pierced from the age of 9 months by my mother. I had always hated earings because they got caught in my long hair. But once I saw that, and saw that you could get tunnels to see all the way through I just had to have them. It started out as a physical attraction to them, I personally think they look great on everyone, even just a small 2g which is about the size of a pencil eraser.
So I started out using one of the tapers and went straight up to a 2g. Mind you that is a really bad idea to jump from a normal 20g all the way to a 2g, but I had a very high pain tolerance at the time and just went for it. It took me about a week and a half to get to that size in both ears. After that(with my parents b1tching the whole time) I continued going up one size every 6 months or so, a few I did only a month apart. Then when I was 19 I decided to get pierced for a second time so I could have 4 holes to stretch. Got that done and was sitting at about a 2g in the bottom and 4g in the top. Then I decided to go for a 3rd set of holes. Those were pierced, stupidly I might add, with a piercing gun. The lady didn't listen to me about placement and pierced them right up against the cartilage, way above the mark I had her make. So I got them stretched to an 8g, but they just wouldn't heal. I finally had to literally rip them out being that I had put in double flared plugs and the hole shrank all the way down to the size in the middle.
So after that I decided to just stick with 4 holes and continue stretching them. I always said "this'll be the last time, I promise" but it really is an addicting thing. Even though it hurts extremely bad, and it's not like a normal piercing or tattoo that just heals right up and only hurts at the beginning for the most part. This is like 2 weeks worth of constant pain at a time(especially if you have to sleep on your side like me), but I can look at them and say I think they look good. I'm still told by my parents(when I bother to talk to them) that it's ugly as hell and I'll end up like one of those natives with a plate in my lip. I just shake my head and say to each his own.
It's kind of like how some people can look at a tattoo they get, or even just a new piece of jewelry or clothing, and just love how it looks on them, except it's permanent unlike the latter choices. I could take these out and let them slowly shrink back to normal, but at this point it would never go back to a completely normal sized hole, but I'm ok with that. And the feeling when it is happening, along with the finished product, is as euphoric as a tattoo or scarification(yes I've done that too).
And really, for the most part, I will purposely avoid anything that is "popular" or "the thing to do". And where I live, it's not. I get people that as soon as they look at me will jump back with their hand on their heart and say "oh dear lord" and I find it so funny. After an explanation and them remarking on how painful it looks, even though the pain is far gone, it's a wonderful thing. It's like explaining to someone for the first time that snakes aren't slimy and convincing them to touch this horrible creature that they've always been deathly afraid of. I know that I'm not alone in enjoying the feeling of showing someone something that they would otherwise never see or know.
Sorry for the super long explanation, but it's hard to give a short answer to something that has significance to you. Hope that helps answer your question. And I can always answer more.

Oh, and also for people that don't know, there are some absolutely gorgeous plugs/tunnels that you can buy for almost all sizes of stretched ears. They have hanging styles carved from ivory with pearl on them, jeweled ones that look just like any pretty set you'd buy at an expensive jeweler. Most people think that once you stretch the hole you can never wear normal looking earings again, but that is completely untrue. And with mine, if I find a particular set of dangle earings that have the curved back I can just hang it right through the tunnel and it works perfect. When I got married when I was 18 I bought a pair of jeweled plugs that looked like a big pair of diamond earings, so it looked "normal" for the wedding. Of course next time around I'm not going for "normal" hehe.

Mine are 0g and I have no plans to go any bigger. I first gauged them 5 years ago to 0 g, took them out a couple years later and they did shrink but not as small as they were when I just wore regular earrings. I know people that have gauged them to the larger sizes and when they decided they didn't like it anymore, had to have surgery to "somewhat" correct the problem. I would never advise someone gauge their ears unless they consider it permanent, like a tattoo.

It does feel good to stretch them, comparable to the feeling of getting a tattoo or piercing I reckon, but it's no eargasm!

Thank you, both, for such in-depth answers. I see lots of people in my area stretching their lobes. Never had the chance to really ask a complete stranger about it. It is odd & unique at the same time, and I say "to each his own." I have seen some really neat plugs in my travels, too.
Does this mean I'm done learning for the day?

Haha, are any of us really ever done learning?

Jessica,
Nope, but I really did learn a lot from you & Brandi on this one!
Kelli--eargasm...you crack me up!