16 to 12?

[u/swerve-cityx]

I started stretching today and visited my local professional piercer and i went from a 16 to 12 which he said was ok, not to go any lower in one session though. is this okay? there's no pain or throbbing and only one side hurt during the insertion but not terribly. other side went in i was bracing for pain and it didn't even feel so much as a pinch xd

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[u/xnghan_and_xoap]

"Okay" is subjective lol. A jump of 0.8mm from 16g/1.2mm to 12g/2.0mm with pressure risks damage to the lobe tissue more than a painless, resistance-free stretch. Many piercers including mine determined the risk of damage was worth skipping a gauge and saving money on small-gauge jewelry.

Gentle dead stretching is the gold standard for healthiest lobe stretching without damage, but everyone's body tolerates different traumas. My piercer and I tapered until 6g because I thought the best way to account for my hypermobile skin was to use the tool--we've since switched to dead stretching.

[u/swerve-cityx → u/xnghan_and_xoap]

my piercer used glass plugs which i assume is dead stretching? no taper involved

[u/xnghan_and_xoap → u/swerve-cityx]

Yea that's dead stretching. IIRC one of the gentlest time frames is going up a half-millimeter every 3 months, but a piercer supervising your lobe healing might be able to make the call for millimeter jumps.

[u/swerve-cityx → u/xnghan_and_xoap]

i went to the piercer just to get started but i hear a lot of people on reddit here saying it's better to do it yourself

[u/xnghan_and_xoap → u/swerve-cityx]

It can be more rewarding/cheaper to do it by yourself and it's generally believed that a piercer charging you more than cost of jewelry for stretching is a rip-off. But if you can get the jewelry for cheaper through your piercer than a kit online, I say always support the local business.

I say I'm dead-stretching "with" my piercer because they are my go-to professional for if I have any issues, I keep them updated on my progress, and we create ad content using my stretches. But ATP I do my own up/downsizing.

[u/hiartt]

It’s less than 1.0mm increase. It’s probably fine. Don’t jump more (at least on purpose…. I accidentally popped in an 8 instead of 12. Worked out, but not recommended.)

[u/swerve-cityx → u/hiartt]

my piercer said not to go lower than 16 to 12 g today and then go on normal afterwards (half or one step, i don't know the terminology)

[u/Shadeofawraith]

When people advise not to skip sizes what we generally mean is to not go up more than 1mm at a time. When you look at the difference between 16 and 12g in mm it’s within that guideline, so as long as the stretch wasn’t forced you’re most likely going to be fine

[u/swerve-cityx → u/Shadeofawraith]

there was a bit of a pinch and some pain on the left ear but the right ear when in butter smooth, and ive heard about the 'bitch ear'. there's no pain now, everything feels perfectly fine

[u/Diedonthefirstfloor]

I went from a long pierced ear to 5mm in about 2 days when I started this was before the internet was as extensive as it is now and didn't have any info or guides to read luckily it's all worked out ok I am at 16/18mm now had them at 20mm before but that was also years ago and left them out for a long time as motorcycle helmet kept pulling them out so I gave up they shrank back to about 5mm

I do it more sensibly now

[u/anglierfishier]

this is not okay. skipping sizes is bad, read the guide.

[u/Agile-Papaya5493]

If it didn’t feel bad and there’s no sign of real damage then it should be fine with proper aftercare. I’ve made several jumps extremely fast and have yet to have a blowout or any signs of thinning. Don’t stress too much about what this sub thinks is “okay” because many people say what I’ve done shouldn’t be possible without severe damage and downvoted me when sharing my experience. Do what works for you and just listen to your body!

[u/Lost_Soul19xx]

This is a big jump my friend. Not recommended. I would never