Stretching Your Pierced Body Parts

Body modification can be very addictive. People who get tattoos for example, usually go back for more. The same is true with body piercing. After getting their first piercing, people usually ask when they can get another one or ask for other septum piercing information such as stretching.

If you're interested in stretching a pierced body part, the first thing to remember is to listen to your body. You need to also be patient because piercings need time to heal especially if you want to stretch them to bigger sizes. It is also important to remember to be careful. Blowouts can happen if you're impatient and these take even longer to heal.

Here are some tips for stretching various body piercings.

Be Patient

Body piercings take time and patience because tissue needs to heal, form and toughen. If you’re impatient, fail to listen to your body and stretch your piercing anyway, scar tissue can form which can leave you disfigured. For example, you want to go from a 12g septum ring to a 16g size, you obviously cannot proceed to bigger gauges without going through the 14g. You will be forcing the hole to get bigger immediately which can be painful and lead to serious infection. So be patient and use the 14g instead.

In this instance, the larger you want the hole to be, the longer you want to wait in between piercings. For septum piercing on big nose for example, a general rule of thumb you should wait three times as long as it took to heal between stretching. This will prevent your skin and tissue from getting traumatized as the hole increases in size.

Massage to Relax

The earlobes are one of the body areas that often experience stretching. The good thing about earlobes is that they receive a lot of blood circulation so they form cells and heal faster. The problem with earlobes is the soft tissue which can get injured easily. To avoid injury, stretch the tissue of your lobes by soaking them in hot water. If you can’t do this, you can also rub essential oil to the piercing and massage it to relax the tissues and soften it up before you start stretching.

Use Lubricant

Insertion tapers are usually used when you want to stretch a piercing. They look like needles which gradually thicken to the size you want your piercing to stretch. Typical sizes range from 18g to 1 inch.  The more gradual you increase taper sizes, the less traumatic it is for your piercing.

To help the tapers go in the piercing, it is advisable to use lubricant. You can use KY Jelly and other brands in the market. Be sure to coat the insertion taper thoroughly to make the stretching less painful and for the taper to go in easily.

Do not use water based lubricant unless you are stretching a piercing in the mouth. Water based lubricants tend to liquefy too quickly.

Professional Piercer

Many people stretch their piercings themselves. However, if it is your first time getting a stretched septum piercing for example; it is better to see a professional piercer. This is because stretching is even more complicated than the initial piercing. If you insist on stretching the piercing by yourself, make sure you know what to do and to practice proper hygiene before beginning the procedure.