What is dead stretching and how can it change your stretching game forever? Dead stretching is stretching your piercings using nothing more than time, massage, a bio-compatible massage oil, gravity, and the right jewelry. If done properly, your journey to a large gauge piercing should be relatively painless and easy. If anything, having patience is the hardest part!
Let’s talk jewelry...
For the sake of brevity, we’re going to keep this to earlobe piercings. (Technically, you can stretch any piercing, but cartilage and septum are a bit more complicated and an overall slower process.) For the best results and the smoothest experience, you'll want single-flare glass plugs. And you’re going to need them in every size (in millimeters) – and not just every gauge. This can be tricky because you’ll need to track them down in some odd sizes, but they are out there and will make this process much easier. The difference between 16 gauge and 14 gauge is less than a half millimeter but the difference between 2 gauge and 0 gauge is two full millimeters. Once you start getting to gaps of that size, you’ll want to go by millimeter instead of gauge. Don’t get impatient and try to skip sizes. For the best outcome, you have to stretch slowly, a millimeter at a time. If your piercing is being particularly resistant to stretching, you may want to try using half-millimeter increments. This helps protect the earlobe from tears, blowouts, and irritation. Rushing the process can leave you with an angry, puckered-looking hole that is sometimes called “cat butt”. Take a moment to look over a size chart that lists all the conversions from gauge or fractions of inches to millimeters, so you know exactly what you need in advance.
You have to have a piercing to stretch...
If you don’t already have a hole to stretch, you’ll need to get pierced and let it heal completely which can take about three months or up to six. A standard lobe piercing is generally 18 gauge although, if you’re getting pierced with the specific plan of stretching, you can talk to your piercer about getting a larger gauge to start. You’ll also want to talk to your piercer about making sure the piercing isn’t too low on your lobes. If the piercing is too low, you run the risk of thinning the bottom of the fistula as you stretch it. Once your piercing is completely healed, you’ll want to pick up some body-safe oil. Emu, sweet almond, and jojoba are good choices. You don’t want to use baby oil, anything with petroleum products or anything just labelled “massage oil”. Give those lobes a good, greasy rub a few times a week. This helps promote blood flow and will help keep your lobes from thinning as you continue to stretch them. Keeping the blood flowing to the area will also help with healing so you minimize the amount of puckering around the edges of the fistula. Don’t forget to gently remove the oil afterwards, either. It is most convenient to do the massage right before a shower so you can be sure it has all been removed afterwards.
Give it some time...
Your current jewelry should start to feel loose within the piercing. This means you’re on the right path! When you feel like your piercings are ready – nice and loose within the piercing – you’ll need a single-flare glass plug and some more of your bio-compatible massaging oil. You’ll want to clean the plug first with hot water and antibacterial soap. You’ll also want to clean the O-ring that holds it in place. Hot water and antibacterial soap will work nicely on the O-ring too. (Don’t forget to close the sink drain!) Thoroughly dry the plug and the O-ring and wash your hands as well. You then will want to lightly oil your earlobe and the body of the plug – just the part that is going in your ear. Don’t use too much oil – greasy hands may make this harder! You should be able to simply insert the jewelry slowly and carefully and without the use of force. If you feel any pain or resistance or if you see any blood, stop immediately. Remove the plug and put your old jewelry back in. Your piercing isn’t quite ready yet. If the jewelry slides (slowly, gently!) into the piercing without a problem, put the O-ring on the back. You have successfully dead stretched your piercing! (Now go take a shower and get the oil off your ears.)
A few things to be aware of...
A lot of advice is given on the internet and not all of it is good. Please do NOT wrap PTFE or any other kind of tape around your jewelry to make it thicker. This can damage your ears or harbor bacteria. Also, ear weights (while lovely and a fabulous style choice) are NOT meant for stretching. These can also cause the bottom of the fistula to thin which will cause issues as you continue to increase the diameter of the jewelry. Lastly, dead stretching is meant to be done with glass jewelry. It is NEVER to be done with silicone. Silicone cannot be properly sterilized, and each stretch is the equivalent of having a whole new piercing to heal. Not only would silicone come with a risk of infection, but the material also does not allow any kind of airflow. This can lead to infection or irritation in and of itself, as well as a potential buildup of moisture causing a condition colloquially referred to as “wet ear”. Should that happen, you would have to remove the jewelry until the tissue heals which would ultimately result in a loss of size, causing you to have to backtrack and re-stretch. (Not to mention that it’s decidedly uncomfortable and unpleasant.)
Over the years, methods for piercing, aftercare, and jewelry styles have all slowly changed. Dead stretching is a natural and exciting alternative to previous stretching methods. All you really need is patience and the right tools! And look, if you really can’t be patient and feel like you must use tapers (we know you guys are out there…) please don’t wear them as jewelry. They aren’t meant to be worn like that and can mess up all your work if they get snagged on something.
Happy piercing!
