I am not a body piercer or a doctor but I do know how to stretch up a piercing. You don't have to take my advice and you can do it your own way but I believe that this is the best and the safest method of stretching.
Most piercings can be stretched but it is best to check with your body piercer to make sure that your piercing can be stretched. Your piercing must be fully healed so it might be a good idea to check this with your body piercer too.
Piercings should be stretched up gradually using the right equiptment, sterile insertion pins and sensible lubrication (KY Jelly, Vaseline, Baby Oil or Vitamin E) are recommended.
This is an example of how to go about streching up a 1.0mm - 1.6mm ear lobe piercing.
After the initial piercing has healed (usually 6-8 weeks but this is dependant on so many things that it is different for everyone) you should use a 1.6mm - 2.0mm oiled insertion pin and gently push through from front to back. If you experinence any pain, discomfort, redness, extreme warmth or if the pin gets stuck try using a smaller insertion pin. If the piericing is relatively new then wait a few weeks as the piercing has probably not healed properly yet.
Once you have done this insert a 2.0mm ball closure ring (BCR) into the ear. It wil probably help if you use a small amont of vaseline daily as this will help prevent the ear from forming keloid tissue.
Leave the BCR in until the ear has got completely used to the BCR. This usually takes about 2-3 weeks (again, it is different for everyone). After this time you can try stretching again.
To stretch the piercing further you should follow the above instructions using the following size guide:
2.0mm piercing - Use a 2.0mm - 2.4mm insertion pin and a 2.4mm BCR.
2.4mm piercing - Use a 2.4mm - 3.2mm insertion pin and a 3.2mm BCR.
3.2mm piercing - Use a 3.2mm - 4.0mm insertion pin and a 4.0mm BCR.
4.0mm piercing - Use a 4.0mm - 5.0mm insertion pin and a 5.0mm BCR.
Once you have reached 5.0mm and it has healed up properly you can begin to put tunnels and plugs through it!
To keep stretching up from 5.0mm use the above method increasing by 1.0mm each time and leaving for about a month until the next stretching.
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