Stretch earlobes
The stretching of earlobes serves to be able to wear “tunnel” as costume jewelry. The goal is to be able to wear a ring in the earlobe, which is larger than an approx. 1mm large normal ear hole for ear studs, depending on the subjective taste.
It is important to realize in advance that a stretched earlobe will never look the same as before once it has been stretched. Only up to an ear hole size of 8-10mm the ear hole will grow together again with scarring. Once you have decided to stretch the ear hole there are basically two alternatives.
The first alternative is to widen the ear hole surgically by punching or cutting, which is very fast, but also an injurious measure of the skin. The other alternative is to widen an existing ear hole in many small steps over a long period of time using expansion screws or expansion rods made of acrylic or steel. This method is very gentle if the stretching is done with a small increase in diameter of the rods and sufficient distance with at least two weeks between the stretching phases.
This avoids cracks and inflammation caused by stretching too quickly and keeps the stretching pain within limits. This process is always painful, as it puts tissue under tension that is not normally used to it. The stretching should always be based on the pain and not exceed a pulling sensation, which explains the often long duration of the stretching. In case of any complication such as a tear or inflammation, the stretching should be stopped until healing is complete and, if necessary, clarified and treated by a doctor. If you are interested in piercing the ear cartilage in the sense of a helix, we recommend our page on: Piercing the ear cartilage
