Description

This article is from the Piercing FAQ, by Anne Greenblatt with numerous contributions by others.

2C.1 Facial Piercings: Large Earlobe Piercings

Please refer to Part 7 of the FAQ for information on stretching
piercings.

Please refer to Part 2B of the FAQ for descriptions of different
styles of jewelry for enlarged earlobe piercings.

Earlobe piercings can be easily stretched. The stretching process
should be a gradual one. Using a stretching taper is the easiest
method to test how far the piercing can be stretched
safely. Stretching too soon or too fast can tear the piercing or
stretch it unevenly.

Most ear piercing studs are approximately 18ga in thickness. Standard
earlobe piercings can often be safely stretched to 16 or 14ga. The
size of the earlobe and how close the piercing is to the edge of the
earlobe will determine how far it can be stretched. If the piercing is
too close to the edge to be stretched to the desired size, a new
piercing may be placed above the existing piercing without
compromising the strength and elasticity of the earlobe.

If the earlobe has not been pierced, the piercing should be placed in
the center of the earlobe by visualizing it as a circle or oval.

Most piercers do not perform piercings larger than 10 or 8 gauge.
Piercing needles slice a crescent-shaped hole; they do not actually
remove the tissue. The larger the needle, the more exaggerated the
crescent shape of the hole. Some piercers will use a large needle and
immediately stretch the piercing to the next gauge. However, this
method can cause excessive tissue damage because the piercing will
tend to tear at the corners of the crescent rather than stretching
evenly.

 

Continue to:

• prev: 2C.1 Facial Piercings: Earlobe
• Index
• next: 2C.1 Facial Piercings: Dermal Punch Method for Large Earlobe Piercings

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