Ear Stretching Experiences

I began stretching my ears last November, starting at 18g with a goal of either 8g or 6g. I did my research carefully, figuring out what I needed to do in order to get things right. I waited the recommended amount of time before going up each size. So far, so good. And then I came to 10g. I don't know what it is about that size, but that's where the trouble began.
The tapers were difficult to slide through, and in hindsight, I should have known that they were too difficult. But I persevered because I have a high pain tolerance and am also stubborn. They stung for several days and my lobes were shiny and tight looking. So I finally gave in and out came a lovely mix of blood and that white pus stuff. At least it wasn't infected. I downsized & pouted.
And now we come to today. Three weeks later, my "bitch ear" (the one that is more difficult/painful to stretch) is bleeding again. Three weeks! I'd really rather not give up on it, so I'm going to put a glass plug in instead of the metal one and see if things improve.  Once I actually get this right, a stretching 101 post will be forthcoming. In the meantime the BAF Forum and of course BMEzine are wonderful resources.

Lesson of the day: listen to instinct when messing with your body, folks.

I hope this is helping someone out there, if there is even someone reading it. Who's a lazy blogger? This kid!

Monday: Man in Glasses

Half naked man in glasses. With wonderful hair. Still trying to figure out what he's holding. An ornament? Tiny boxing gloves?

Credit to the original photographer. 

Monday: Man in Glasses

I realize that is a perfectly terrible title, but I haven't got anything better at the moment. I've decided to post pictures of guys in glasses on Mondays, because why not?



We'll start this feature off with Ewan McGregor, one of my favorite man-types.


Credit goes to whoever took this picture; I just grabbed it out of my blog reader. If you want it taken down, let me know.

A little Piercings 101

Oh hooray. Blogger deleted this just as I was making the final adjustments. Well, here goes again:

So, piercings. I have a few, all in the ear region. And through experience I know a little bit about what you should and shouldn't do. There is quite a lot of misinformation on piercings floating around out there (false info. on the internet?! Well I never.) so I thought I would share what I know; some common sense, some advice. So let's get going.

• Please, please, please never go to one of those mall kiosks to get a piercing done. Piercing guns cannot be properly sterilized, and on top of that your chances of getting an asymetrical, crooked pair of piercings are pretty damn high, not to mention that they're often pierced with the wrong kind of jewelry.
• Search around for a reputable Tattoo & Piercing place. Try Yelp or some other review websites, that's how I found mine. For those wary of entering a tattoo parlor, if you go to a good place, it won't be scary, you won't feel uncomfortable/intimidated, and you will be treated respectfully as a customer. 
• Think needles are scary? Well then just consider how much scarier the potential consequences of gunned piercings are. That's a little bit of a tough luck kind of answer, I know, but you just have to suck it up. If you have a true, debilitating phobia of needles, I really don't have a solution for you, sorry.
• It barely hurts, and then only for maybe a second. I promise.
• Once you're done, you have to care for it, of course. First: do not touch. I have the worst time leaving the jewelry alone, it's terrible. If you do have to touch it, wash/sanitize your hands well. You don't want little icky bacterias getting in there and throwing a party.
• You want to clean them with either a sea salt spray, which the piercing place you go to should have or be able to recommend, or with a salt water solution. To prepare the salt water, you dissolve 1/4 tsp. of non-iodized sea salt into 8oz. of water, and heat it up so that it's warm, but not burning. Then you soak the piercing for 5 - 10 minutes. This is totally an awkward process to figure out, but you'll eventually get it. You might get a little white gunk out of the piercing when you clean it, and that's normal, just remove it with a clean qtip.
• Do not remove your jewelry until the piercing is fully healed, even if that is longer than the average healing time given. Yeah, it sucks. You want to be able to wear awesome jewelry immediately, but just wait it out. 
• Use common sense when it comes to infections or pain. If things just seem worse than the should be or usually are, go ahead and go back into the shop and get a piercer's advice. Or go to someone better, if you think the original piercer is to blame for the problem. 

That's my crash course in piercings. I'm sure I'll be posting on the subject again, since there is just so much to go over. I've also begun stretching my lowest lobe piercings, and when I think I've figured the whole thing out, I'll post on that, too. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll try to answer to the best of my ability.
Finally, I am not a professional, so take my advice with a grain of salt (pun not intended, and really rather lame now that I think about it). Good luck in your piercing endeavors!