Ear piercing is a cultural and cosmetic practice that dates to ancient civilizations across the world. In the Western world, a more recent derivation of this body modification is the practice of gauging or stretching, in which the diameter of a piercing is increased over time by gradually using larger earrings in the holes. This practice bears all of the dangers typically associated with more traditional ear piercings. Gauging exacerbates some of these dangers and has others that are unique.
Keloid Formation
A keloid is a fibrous growth that sometimes occurs during the healing process. These growths can be painful and disfiguring, and they can require steroid treatment, surgery or radiation to remove. None of these methods of excision is effective all of the time. Once they have developed, keloids often recur and regrow after removal. The causes of keloids are unknown, but they can appear in any area of the body where scar tissue forms, and they have been seen in smaller traditional piercings and in stretched or gauged ears.
Risk of Infection
Anytime the skin is pierced or penetrated, there is a risk of infection. The initial act of ear piercing, even when done with sterilized equipment by a professional, can lead to infection because of irritation from irregularities on a piercing stud, exposure to dirt and germs after piercing or reduced blood flow because of pressure from tightly closed tabs. Stretching an otherwise healthy piercing can compromise blood flow to the lobe and run the risk of infection, and there is additional risk from attempting to stretch to a larger gauge too quickly, which will rip or tear the skin. Infections can be painful, unsightly and disfiguring, and they can develop into more serious conditions, such as necrosis and gangrene, which can result in amputation or even death. Swelling, redness, hotness around the piercing and the presence of pus are symptoms of the early stages of infection.
Cosmetic Concerns of Gauging
The stretching, tearing and scarring effects of gauging often are permanent. In an ear that has been stretched with a smaller gauged earring, removal of the earring might result in shrinkage and near closure of the piercing holes. In lobes stretched by larger gauges of about a quarter-inch or more, or in the lobes of older people whose skin has begun to lose elasticity, the skin will remain permanently stretched. Dr. Barry Eppley, an Indiana plastic surgeon writing for Clarian Medical Centers, has remarked on the diversity of disfigurements that gauging has caused in his patients. In cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, stretched lobe tissue is not treatable as normal tissue. It can be very thin, thick or scarred, or affected by keloid formations.
