Spring Break
The Daily OrangeStretched out
By Kelly Outram
Posted: 10/14/08, 4:03 AM EST Section: Feature
"Those who want a larger gauge and know they want it forever can try dermal punching or scapling," Tabolt said. "That way you don't have to go through the cost of stretching jewelry."
Dermal punching is a method where the ear is pierced with a larger size gauge than average. Halo Tattoo Parlor and Salon dermal punches with either a 12- or 10-sized gauge. Scapling is a bit more drastic, Tabolt said. During this process, part of the ear lobe is removed and replaced with a plug. These methods are known for being much more painful then manual stretching.
Tabolt said the best materials to stretch your ear with are Pyrex glass and surgical steel because they cause less irritation to the ear. Once the ear is stretched, any variety of materials is fine.
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While Tabolt said she has mainly pierced women, she said she thinks the gauged ear scene is mostly male dominated. This is a problem Makai finds when shopping for jewelry.
"There's not a lot of variety, so I can't wear fun earrings unless I wear them under my plug or in my second hole," Makai said. "It's a little less feminine sometimes."
She notes that most of the earrings for her gauge tend to be plugs, and she can't find more feminine earrings for special occasions. She recalls going to a friend's wedding where she had a dilemma of almost not being able to wear the jewelry the other bridesmaids were wearing.
"I ended up wearing the earring in my second hole, but I was worried at first," Makai said.
Other girls with gauges find creative ways to wear their earrings. Tabolt says some sandwich regular earrings in-between their gauge and their earlobe.
Freshman psychology and LGBT studies major Lexi Irving said she likes to wear hollow gauges and hang hoop earrings through those holes.
Irving said she stretched because she wanted to stand out, and she found them entertaining to play with. Despite her creativity, her parents didn't find the piercing humorous.
Dermal punching is a method where the ear is pierced with a larger size gauge than average. Halo Tattoo Parlor and Salon dermal punches with either a 12- or 10-sized gauge. Scapling is a bit more drastic, Tabolt said. During this process, part of the ear lobe is removed and replaced with a plug. These methods are known for being much more painful then manual stretching.
Tabolt said the best materials to stretch your ear with are Pyrex glass and surgical steel because they cause less irritation to the ear. Once the ear is stretched, any variety of materials is fine.
****
While Tabolt said she has mainly pierced women, she said she thinks the gauged ear scene is mostly male dominated. This is a problem Makai finds when shopping for jewelry.
"There's not a lot of variety, so I can't wear fun earrings unless I wear them under my plug or in my second hole," Makai said. "It's a little less feminine sometimes."
She notes that most of the earrings for her gauge tend to be plugs, and she can't find more feminine earrings for special occasions. She recalls going to a friend's wedding where she had a dilemma of almost not being able to wear the jewelry the other bridesmaids were wearing.
"I ended up wearing the earring in my second hole, but I was worried at first," Makai said.
Other girls with gauges find creative ways to wear their earrings. Tabolt says some sandwich regular earrings in-between their gauge and their earlobe.
Freshman psychology and LGBT studies major Lexi Irving said she likes to wear hollow gauges and hang hoop earrings through those holes.
Irving said she stretched because she wanted to stand out, and she found them entertaining to play with. Despite her creativity, her parents didn't find the piercing humorous.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
gobigpelf
posted 10/14/08 @ 11:07 AM EST
Kelly, did you do ANY research at all about this topic?
1) Stretching is NOT the same as gauging. If you were to gauge your earlobes, you would be measuring the size of your lobes. (Continued…)
angel
posted 11/24/08 @ 3:15 PM EST
I am using toothpicks though,
and it isn't to bad.
But it does hurt, and bleed, and shit... it's infected but at least im not a baby!
richard
posted 7/18/09 @ 1:11 AM EST
i almost shit when you said 00 was the biggest size. my ears are at 2 inches right now. and why worry that it wont close up. isnt the point of going through the process of stretching to have them to not let them close up?
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