Mod monday; earlobe evolution

This image shows my ears as I write this, and boy have they been through hell! Currently, I sport a pair of 6g(4mm) initial lobes that I had re-pierced about nine weeks ago, a set of 7/16″(11mm) conch punches, and a recent reintroduction to jewellery for the high cartilage piercing I’ve been wearing naked that was at 2g(6.5mm) prior to retiring. Notably, my earlobes have been reconstructed. I’ve also had a number of other smaller piercings, some of which still show how well my body agreed with their existence even though they have been without blingage for some time. This route wasn’t what I had in mind when I began stretching. So where did it all begin, and how did it end up this way, you ask?

I had my lobes gunned when I turned eight in the hair salon I used to get my hair trimmed at growing up. They were my first piercings. My mother never had mine pierced so I had the option to choose whether or not I wanted them when I got older, and like any other girl I wanted to wear dangly things from the bits of skin hanging off of the sides of my face. These are the studs I was pierced with. I recall suffering with cysts behind my earlobes and dealing with a slow healing period. I wasn’t really sure why, as I continued with the solution rinse they gave me and turned them multiple times throughout the day as advised. Like many other gunned lobes, mine were far from even, but the right side was pretty centered. My lobes began their life as detached, chubby little things that were perfect for stretching, minus the placement issue with the left piercing. When I got around to the ripe old age of fourteen, I discovered the stretching addiction and carried on without trying to worry about the placement issue too much.

I didn’t have any idea what I was doing. I saw it, I liked it, I wanted it. Stretching was just picking up in my area when I was in high school. I knew a few people, and saw a few people with stretched lobes, but not many like now, and few of them as large or larger than the 1/2″(13mm) mark, which was my first “goal size”. My mom purchased my first pair of large gauge jewellery. She was tired of me sticking whatever in my earlobes to make them larger. I think she thought I would stop if I had something proper to wear, and I was heading into high school after summer break and golf tees weren’t really appropriate for wear, according to her. They were a pair of 6g(4mm) economy steel cbrs with what must have been a 3/4″(22mm) or 1″(25mm) inner diameter. I actually still have them somewhere (Unfortunately my early days haven’t been well documented, and anything I did have photo wise I can’t seem to recover). I discovered that wrapping tape around things would gradually make them larger, so that’s how I ended up doing it for quite some time. I never really owned any proper jewellery for most of my lobe stretching journey. It was all household things that I eventually wrapped in electrical tape to go larger. Straws were a big deal and I experimented with them a lot. This continued for some time well beyond my 1/2″(13mm) goal size and took me to 1″(25mm), which became my new goal size. Pictured above is the size with Industrial Strength titanium eyelets, which I ordered through a local shop. That turned out to be a door to other modification experiences in the future.

Soon after discovering this shop, I started going by more often to chit chat and get some piercing work done. I also decided it was time to go beyond the 1″(25mm) mark and step it up to 1-1/4″(32mm). Again, I achieved this goal using objects and tape, and I sat at that size for a little while. I was sixteen around this time. It was winter, and I was beginning to notice some circulation concerns with my left lobe, the one that was placed so poorly by the hairdresser. But I didn’t know a thing about lobe care, or what to look out for and what to be careful about. My lobes were a little dry, the left one flaking slightly along the bottom outside. I picked at it briefly, and broke the skin ever so slightly. Now, if this were happening to me today, I would’ve removed my jewellery a while ago. I would’ve definitely have removed jewellery if I injured it in any way, but I was so terrified of losing size back then that I felt it was easier to care for things if I left them alone for the most part, and I wouldn’t feel like I was giving anything up.

The piercer I was seeing said it was just a blowout, after I showed him what was going on as it continued to get worse. At this point, I’m pretty sure necrosis was already settling in. My lobe remained bandaged and I was very stubborn. The piercer also told me to use epsom salts and everything should be okay. I don’t think I did the soaks, but I retired the piercing once I began seeing translucency in some areas. The image above depicts the results of tissue death after a few years of healing. Wearing jewellery was not a feasible nor a comfortable option anymore, even though the lobe was still in one piece. I was devastated, but I continued to stretch the right lobe and experiment with what I still had. The green acrylic eyelet pictured above was a piece I found in the shop I was now frequenting, and it was the largest thing I had ever seen at 1-3/4″(44mm). Naturally, I had to have it.

Being asymmetric took some getting used to, especially since everything facial wise was paired up or in the works of being so. I got my conches punched at 0g(8mm) and worked on stretching those over the next few years (which was done by the same piercer I’ve been speaking of, and may warrant an entry of its own). Additional lobe piercings were stretched and retired many times and I went to many different sizes. I got to the point where 1-3/4″(44mm) wasn’t good enough anymore and 2″(51mm) seemed like a more reasonable size, so I worked toward that.

It was a while before higher end jewellery really made it into my body. I guess I felt homemade and economy was fine because I never seemed to have any serious issues (not including cheap silicone). Plus it was all experimental. I knew lobe reconstruction was in my future and investing in a lot of jewellery seemed pointless to me. That same concept was also why I didn’t invest in jewellery while stretching in the beginning. Initially, lobe reconstruction was planned for the left side only, and over time I would work back up to match my right lobe. I also had plans to go to 2-1/2″(63mm) if I could, once scalpelling stuff had been done. Stretching was a quicker process for me than it probably should have been, and I did my share of overstretching and hoping for the best like so many others. Having my earlobes reconstructed was going to happen at some point, but the appointment was spur of the moment. I had a chance to get them fixed and I wasn’t going to miss it.

This was the basic image I took when I was setting up my reconstruction appointment. As you can see, I had multiple stretched lobe piercings and I wanted to get rid of them all.

Approximately two hours after the reversal procedure. Sutures in the front and back, and they took a couple hours. I didn’t feel anything due to the anesthetic, but I was awake and conscious of course.

About a month into healing. I continued to wear jewellery in other piercings. My lobes felt natural fairly quickly, and I didn’t regret my decision to undergo reconstruction at all. I already knew I was going to stretch again, but at this point only 1/2″(13mm) was calling my name, my first ever “goal size”.

One year following reconstruction. I retired the upper lobe piercings by this point and eventually I retired the cartilage work, too. They healed pretty well and feel just like a normal earlobe should. Piercing through scar tissue at 6g(4mm) was barely even felt, and healing was surprisingly quick. I’m so much happier with the way things are now than the direction I was going in. I hate that I waited so long to do it! I’ve decided to settle at 00g(9mm) at the largest, if I can make it there. My itty bitty right lobe may need some help from a scalpel so I can wear weight styles more comfortably.

I wish I knew more before I got so into stretching, but it was definitely a learning experience, and at least I got a neat story out of it.