Simple ear piercing is looking old-fashioned these days. Your teenager may be asking for permission to "stretch" her ears with "gauges." This new fashion trend involves wearing a series of ever-larger rings in the earlobes to slowly increase the size of the hole in the lobe. The process is relatively safe if done correctly.
History
Many world cultures practice ear stretching, and their reasons for doing so are varied. According to Brimstone Organics, ear stretching may be performed for "religion, coming of age ceremonies, to ward off evil, sexual enhancement and physical beauty." Stretched ears were discovered on "the Iceman," a 5,300-year-old well-preserved mummy. The Easter Island Moai statues show ear lobes that have been stretched. Statues of King Tutankhamen show him to have had stretched ear lobes as well.
Process
A gauge, or stretcher, usually made of steel, niobium, titanium, glass, Teflon or surgical stainless steel is inserted into the earlobe. These stretchers are sized according to their "gauge"; the smaller the gauge, the larger the diameter. Small gauges are used at first, and after a month or two, larger gauges are inserted. With each new insertion, small "microtears" are caused in the skin, and once these heal, The Onetribe website recommends waiting a few more weeks before inserting a larger-gauge stretcher. The general rule is "one stretch every other month."
Some people choose one of two other processes to stretch their ears: tapering or tape wrap. With tapering, you insert a tapered tube into your ear lobe. The tube is small at the tip and grows larger toward its base. Place the gauge at the wide end of the tube. The user puts water-based lubricant on the taper and slowly slides it through his ear. When he reaches the gauge, he pushes it through his ear. According to Onetribe, this process won't be painful if done slowly, and it should not cause bleeding.
Tape wrap is a process in which you take a gauge and apply a wrap of Teflon tape around its diameter. Every few days, take out the gauge and add a new wrap of tape. This slowly stretches the ear.
Warnings
Stretching the ears can cause many problems if not done correctly or slowly enough. Bleeding, a foul odor around the piercing, pain, infection and permanent scarring are a few issues that people who are stretching their ears may experience. EarStretching.net warns that gauges made of cheap materials, such as those intended to be worn for short periods of time only, can cause infection. Additionally, toxins from these materials can be absorbed by the body or react negatively with skin.
Considerations
Before you stretch your ears, keep in mind that after you go larger than a 2mm gauge, your ears will probably never go back to their pre-stretched appearance. Consider your age now, and imagine how you'll look wearing these gauges when you're older or how you'll explain to your grandchildren why you have huge, dangly ear lobes.
Correcting the Lobe
Dr. Barry Eppley, a plastic surgeon, says that he is seeing more and more requests to repair stretched ears. To repair the lobes, he uses local anesthesia and then cuts the loop of stretched earlobe. He brings the pieces together in a straight line, carefully stitching them together. He warns, however, that the "new" ear lobe may be smaller than the one the person had before stretching his ears.
