Popular Art and Entertaintment

Tongue piercing has become extremely popular nowadays for quite a number of reasons which include pleasure enhancement, shock value and social appearances. If you desire to get your tongue pierced it is worth noting that you must do your research before doing so.

There are several important factors those that must be taken into account before getting your tongue pierced. Before you even step foot into the piercing shop you must have substantial knowledge about the aftercare that you will need to perform.

Here are a few tips that would make your piercing easier for you and get yourself healed up within the minimum possible time.

1. Primarily the most important factor in tongue piercing is that you must always get it done by a certified piercing professional since it reduces the risk by a great extent.

2. Since the tongue has one of the toughest muscles in your body there may be a little pain involved in tongue piercing procedure. You are advised to remain well prepared for that during the procedure and not to become unnecessarily paranoid because of the pain. Extraordinary stress and tension in such a case may make it hurt more.

3. In order to avoid infections make sure to use a clean and hygienic barbell while piercing your tongue.

4. Use long barbells as the tongue may get swollen after the piercing procedure. A long barbell always helps to accommodate the swelling.

5. For tongue piercing aftercare it is advisable to take in liquid diets for a few days until your tongue is completely healed of the punctured wound. Generally it takes about two weeks for a complete healing.

6. Frequent use of mouth wash kills the useful bacteria in our oral cavity like lingual antimicrobial peptide and ptyalin. Limit washing your mouth with mouthwash to no more than twice a day.

7. Remember to wash your hands with antibacterial soap as a part of tongue piercing aftercare before touching the piercing.

8. Consume cold water frequently to tackle the swelling of the tongue. You may also crush some ice cubes and put them inside your mouth around the pierced area.

9. Avoid eating hard food objects like chocolates and chips. Instead try to eat ice cream in greater quantity.

10. Try to regularly rotate the barbell.

11. Check that the barbell remains tightened before going off to sleep as you may swallow a loose barbell or may get stuck inside your throat.

12. Do not indulge in any kind of oral sex and continue with all your tongue piercing aftercare until the piercing has got itself completely healed.

13. Avoid swimming or smoking until the piercing wounded has been fully healed.

Knowing how to carry out ear lobe stretching properly can help save you from a great deal of pain and grief, because if carried out the wrong way, stretching earlobes can damage your ears.

Ear lobe stretching, also known as ear lobe gauging or earlobe stretching, is a very old practice used by old civilizations as a status symbol or for religious reasons. It was not just restricted to earlobes, and was applied to lips, tongues and other parts of the body, sometimes to monumental levels. The same basic technique is used in each case, irrespective of the part of the body concerned.

Most ear lobe stretching, or gauging, is followed by ear jewelry designed to fit the expanded hole in the lobe. These can be traditional earrings, hanging decorations or even flesh tunnels designed to emphasis the hole through the ear lobe. These can be made of plastic or metal, and often gold since it is a non-allergenic metal.

The first stage is to have your ears pierced in the normal away, although if you intend to stretch the piercing then it is strongly advised that you have the initial piercing carried out by a professional who can pierce your ear to 16 gauge, or 1.2-1.3 mm. The actual millimeter equivalents of the various gauging can vary between sources, but most non-pros can pierce to gauge 20 – 18 (0.8 – 1.0 mm). Needle piercing is preferred to a gun if you intend stretching it.

Gauging drops with increasing hole diameter, so the higher the g number, the smaller the ear piercing. It is very important that your piercing has healed before you start ear lobe stretching, and also that each stage has healed (3 weeks- 3 months according to the person) before going on to the next stage. Never skip sizes, but go up in size (down in gauge) from one level to the next.

Get your tools together, because without the right stretching tools you will make a total mess of it. Never use plastic or wood that can hold bacteria. Surgical steel is best, followed by gold and so on. It must be metal – if you can. If you can, get the tapers autoclaved by a tattoo salon then placed in a clean wrap for you take home. Otherwise boil them first. You should wash the taper with disinfectant before use, and then rub it over with a lubricant such as emu oil or jojoba oil – or anything water based. Vaseline and other oil-based lubricants can store germs, so don’t use these.

Here are the steps:

Preparation

First have a shower or wash your ears with warm water. This makes them softer and helps prevent tearing. Then wash your hands and earlobe with an anti-bacterial soap – preferably not perfumed. Smear the antiseptic over the taper and then you are all set to start.

Ear Lobe Stretching Methods

There are many methods you can use, such as tapering, Teflon taping, weights and scalpeling that involves cutting out the larger hole with a scalpel, but it is not recommended that you try that yourself! The old method, used by Africans for their ears and lips, involves hanging a weight form the piercing and stretching the hole mechanically. Again not recommended!

The best way for you to use yourself is tapering. There are three basic ways of doing this, but the principle is the same with each: you insert the thin end of the taper into your healed piercing and then work the taper through until the thicker end is reached. There are now three possibilities for tapered ear lobe stretching:

Insertion Taper: This is about 3 inches long, and is gradually inserted into the ear. The earring or other jewelry is inserted right at the back (thicker) of the end of the taper, and then all are pushed right through. The taper comes out and the ring with the larger pin is in your ear.

Taper Spike: This is inserted in the same way as the insertion taper, only the jewelry doesn’t follow. The spike is retained in the hole with elastic bands until it has healed and then the next size is inserted – and so on until the required gauge has been reached.

Taper Ring: The earring itself has a tapered spike that is inserted in the same as above, and then fixed as normal.

Teflon: Basically you add a layer or two of Teflon tape to your ear jewelry and force it into your piercing. Wait a few weeks and then do the same again and so on. It works eventually, but is not as guaranteed as the tapering methods to reach any specific size, and is basically a simple DIY method. This could be tried if you can’t afford the tapers, and not subject to bacterial infection as the other types of polymers or plastics.

You can also use the dead stretching method, involving simply forcing the larger ear jewelry into your smaller piercing. This can hurt and is not recommended, although many use it. It can go wrong if it causes bleeding.

After-Care of Ear Lobe Stretching

Irrespective of the method used, the ear lobe should be washed with anti-bacterial soap after each stretching. Sea salt can be used to keep the piercing clean at a high concentration (about 3 tablespoons in sufficient water to soak your ear lobe in it). Clean it frequently until fully healed before carrying on with the next gauge. Never use any alcohol-based or peroxide-based antiseptic because they can destroy white blood cells and dehydrate the cells around the piercing.

Stick to these rules and you should be able to carry out your own ear lobe stretching and get the result that you want. One important thing to remember: this should not hurt much, and should not bleed. In either of these cases stop, wait until your piercing has healed and try again.

Stretching earlobes is becoming increasingly more popular as normal body piercings and cartilage piercings are becoming commonplace. Young people want to look different to their peers, and one to do this in a visible way is to increase the diameter of their piercings to hold increasing larger forms of jewelry. Ears are among the most visible, and the most suited to such decorations as thick studs and flesh tunnels.

One problem with respect to stretching earlobes is that it is recommended that you do it yourself, since only you know when you are not hurting – once it begins to become particularly sore, an earlobe gauging should be stopped, and held until either the pain stops or the piercing is properly healed.

Piercing earlobes is a standard technique that even amateurs can do (though not recommended) but stretching earlobes must be done either by a professional who fully understands the problems involved, or by yourself because only you know how much pain you are experiencing.

Here are some tips on stretching earlobes: they do not include the actual stretching other than a brief resume on the basic technique, but are intended principally to keep your earlobes healthy and clean during the procedure.

When Stretching Earlobes is Safe

Your earlobes are safe to stretch only once the original piercing has fully healed, and the same is true of each stage when stretching them. Stretching earlobes is also known a ‘gauging’ due to the terminology used in measuring the sizes of the hole through your lobe.

You would generally begin with a 0.8 mm to 1.0 mm, which are respectively 20 gauge – or 20g – and 18g. A professional can use a needle to give you a 16g hole which is ideal to start off with. This is about 1.2 mm – 1.3 mm. You can however, also commence gauging using a 16g taper with a 20g hole.

Gauge Sizes

Although a professional needle piercing is best for stretching earlobes a gun will do, but the hole will likely not be as straight as a with needle. Begin with the next size below that of your piercing. If you are not sure what that is, then you should be OK to start with a 16g taper. Basically, stretching is carried out using a tapered needle, one end starting at the size of your current piercing, and the other end one size above.

This is where it can get confusing, because for some reason gauges reduce with increasing diameter, and also do so in steps of 2 – so they are always even. Thus, if you start with a 16g as you should do, the thicker end will be 14g. Simple insert the narrow end into your piercing and work it through until the thicker end just enters your ear.

Taper Options

Now, you have three options: with an insertion taper, you will place the pin of a 14g earring, or some other jewelry, against the end of the 14g end as it is pushed through, and then follow the pin through and fix it as normal. Another form of smaller rod, known as a spike, is designed just to stay there until you are ready for the next size, and a third type is ear jewelry with a tapered pin. Simply insert the pin and you are set until it has healed.

The first option is best because the jewelry pin is the same diameter all the way, while tapered jewelry is thicker at one end and thinner at the other, so your hole may heal at different widths front to back.

Tips on Stretching Earlobes

However, this is not about the mechanics, but about how to care for your earlobes and for yourself, so here are some important tips on stretching earlobes:

1. Do not start until your piercing has healed, including any previous earlobe stretching carried out. Otherwise it will be too painful and can become infected.

2. Have a shower before starting – the warm water will soften you ears and will help prevent tearing of the skin that can lead to infection farther down the road.

3. Buy a non-scented anti-bacterial soap and clean your earlobes with it before and after gauging. 4. Use a solution of 3 tablespoons sea salt in enough water to dissolve it, and use that to soak your earlobes with. Doing this daily should prevent any infection that could ruin the stretching.

5. Never use plastic, silicone or double flared plugs for new stretches – gold, platinum, stainless steel, surgical steel or glass are suitable. Silver is OK, and anti-bacterial, but it can tarnish.

6. Turn the insert daily to prevent sticking or crusting – after a shower is best.

7. Never try to accelerate the process by missing a size.

8. Keep in mind that once you reach about 2g stretching earlobes is liable to be a permanent change, so you will always have to wear something in your ear

If you follow these tips on stretching earlobes, you should find it to be a fairly simple procedure. It might be slightly painful, but no more than that, and it is stressed that if it is, and if you see bleeding, then stop, insert your original stud and wait until your piercing has healed completely. This can take up to 3 months, and you may have a wait of 3 weeks to 3 months between earlobe stretching steps.