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[neville]

I tried the memories, but I am hopelessly confused by all the terminology I know nothing about. So can someone tell me, in simple language since i'm a complete noob, if I can use a taper on my ears if i got them pierced just regular at the mall four years ago? Sorry that I'm a jerk and have to ask a stupid question. :S

Comments

[butterpixie]

yes you can. However you should start with a 16g taper...I don't know if they make one that small though.

[neville]

so, the taper would start at 16g? then after my lobes are stretched and I just want to wear a normal gauge or whatever, I buy the size of the ending size of the taper & put that in, and if i want to stretch I can tape that right?

[stellarchunnie]

baf has 18g tapers (16g too)

[stellarchunnie]

http://www.bodyartforms.com/forumsV9/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=21

[neville]

thank you! that helps a lot.

[stellarchunnie]

no problem. i just started stretching (as in two days ago) too and followed that and had an extremely easy stretch.

[ripmyheartoutx]

You really should look into it more before even TRYING to start doing it. You buy a taper, in say 16g. That means the END OF THE TAPER is 16g. It's smaller at the end for a more GRADUAL stretch. You shouldn't have to buy a taper to get to 16g. You could probably just buy some CBRs and pop them right in. Don't skip sizes. Buy some emu oil. Don't tape to the next size while wearing a taper.

16g->14>12>10>8>6>4>2>0>00 in that order. You should wait anywhere from 2 weeks - 4 months depending on your body. Don't skip sizes. Check out bodyartforms.com for the best priced body jewelry.

♥

[neville]

heh, i've been looking into it for months but i'm pretty slow. i've been reading the entries but not really understanding what people are saying... so there's that. thanks for clearing up the taper thing for me, that confused me a whole lot.
Don't tape to the next size while wearing a taper.
Um, if I stretch say from 16g to 14g first and then i want to stretch to 12g, can't I tape the taper(after a month)? o.O and then so on and so forth to the next sizes?

[atrophie]

generally taping works best for much larger sizes (after 00ga). also teflon tape (the kind you'd buy) isn't as agreeable a material as steel or glass (that your jewelry would be made of).
stretching involves more patience than money but you will need to spend a little if you want to keep your lobes in the best shape.

[ripmyheartoutx]

What Lindsey said. I definitely would tape at such small sizes, and I'd only use tape on plugs. Wearing a taper all the time probably isn't a great idea either, because it could irritate the back of your neck while sleeping on it. And I found that after a stretch, when you leave the taper in, it's like sleeping on a big hunk of plastic/metal and it's annoying, and it also hurts my neck/my piercing. I would buy a pair of plugs or CBRs (captive bead rings) in every size, and one taper. Do one ear, plug the plug/cbr in and then the other side. CBRs bigger than like 10g need to opened with ring openers, but at the smaller sizes, they are really good. Feel free to keep asking questions, I'll be on a while. :)

Well anyway. I'm Lauren. I'm 18 and my ears are 1/2" and 8g in the second holes.

Good luck!

[atrophie]

so you wanna join the club. membership is open to responsible stretchers only :P

so whatcha wanna do is get a 16ga taper as said above, and some sort of water-based lubricant (sex lubes) or natural oil (jojoba, olive, Vit E, grapeseed, etc). your first stretch should be a breeze. my best advice is that you buy actual jewelry for each size; don't just wear the taper. you'll soon find out what materials your body dis/likes--such as the black rubber o-shaped rings that will come with the taper.
getting to 00ga ought to take you between 20 to 40 weeks depending on how elastic your lobes are, and whether you encounter any problems (tears, blow-outs, allergic reactions)
remember that the taper's "size" is always the size that it ends at (usually your next size to stretch up to).

[hiddendrow]

Take it slow and listen to your body. Even the first stretch to 16 can hurt.

You should stick at every size until the earring/plug/tunnel/whatever is loose and comfortable in your ear, it doesn't hurt to sleep on it, it stops crusting, etc... If you go too fast, you can create a lot of problems for yourself. Make sure you're using high-quality stuff. Don't stretch with acrylic or cheap metal.

I just started stretching after having gunned lobes for over 10 years ;) Good luck!

[ripmyheartoutx]

Using an acrylic taper never killed anyone. I've used them and acrylic pinchers to stretch, and I've never incountered a problem with it.

[hiddendrow]

And I've used listerine and tea tree oil to heal my piercings with no problems ;)

[atrophie]

and i put nails from my dad's workbench in my ears but i think we've all grown up into smarter people :)