So the other day I decided I was going to start gauging my ears. I have double piercings but if I started in either of those they wouldn't be centered so I pierced in between them. My ears still kind of hurt, I did this yesterday, and whenever I take it out it bleeds. Right now I have 14 gauge barbells in there cause I was planning on doing my industrial and didn't think I'd be leaving these in too long but I don't know.. do most people just pierce their ears and then gauge them right after? If not how long do you usually wait?

With gauging the most important thing is to do it slowly... you can't just go whacking huge guages in and stretching your ears beyong belief...
You need to go up 1 size at a time, even waiting a few weeks in between bigger sizes.

Wait until you ears heal before putting a gauge in.

Did you pierce your ears yourself?
Have you used any antiseptic sprays or creams?

Ears definitely shouldn't bleed when pierced properly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shazamataz

With gauging the most important thing is to do it slowly... you can't just go whacking huge guages in and stretching your ears beyong belief...
You need to go up 1 size at a time, even waiting a few weeks in between bigger sizes.

Wait until you ears heal before putting a guage in.

Did you pierce your ears yourself?
Have you used any antiseptic sprays or creams?

Ears definately shouldn't bleed when pierced properly.

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Yeah I did them myself. I used a needle that I got from hot rags and I've been using is peroxide to clean them. My skin is very sensitive to piercings though I've gotten my cartilage pierced twice and both times it got infected. Also my belly button got infected and I got that done at a professional tattoo shop and cleaned it daily.

That sucks :(
I also have sensitive skin but I only have trouble with my piercings if I use cheap jewellery.

Maybe you could ask for the smallest possible rod or ring if you get another piercing, might be less inclines to get infected.

Wash your piercing with a mixture or warm water and sea salt, it's great for sensitive skin and clears up infections and irritations :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shazamataz

That sucks :(
I also have sensitive skin but I only have trouble with my piercings if I use cheap jewellery.

Maybe you could ask for the smallest possible rod or ring if you get another piercing, might be less inclines to get infected.

Wash your piercing with a mixture or warm water and sea salt, it's great for sensitive skin and clears up infections and irritations :)

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Yeah, unfortunately before I thought of doing that I probably wasted money by buying sea salt in hot topic which was already mixed. Ugh.

So I finally decided to go from a 14 to a 10 so I bought tapers and double flare plugs and CANNOT get them through. Got the taper through completely no problem but for some reason can't get the plugs in. any suggestions?

Well I've been through the process went all the sizes between 14 till now I just finished with my 0's. Try putting the taper through in the shower... the water and warmth should soften your ear enough to make it a bit easier also buy vitamin E pills in gel form and pop them open with a needle or the back of the taper and put it on the taper and in your ear this helps it slide in and also heals the skin cause it may tear a bit and bleed. Just be careful and don't go too fast with it you don't want to tear your ear or cause those nasty bumps!

Take it easy . You don't want your ear turning inside out. The h2ocean stuff is great. We personally recommend that or a sea salt mixture. The problem with double flares is that some gauges have flares that are just too damned big. You really don't want to tear. You will know if you have if it bleeds. This really reduces your chances of having them close if you decide to take them out. Definitely wait a few weeks in between stretchings- if it hurts, then you're not ready. Gently pull on your ears a few times a day for a few weeks and this will give you a better chance of fitting your new gauge in properly. You can also rub lotion or cocoa butter on your lobes before the new jewelry is inserted.

I did the same thing as you, and all I can say is 1) don't take them out until after about a mon. 2) take it slow. I started with regular 18s, now I have 4s going on 2s its been about 3 months. Don't rush or u WILL rip your earlob... Its pretty nasty... all in all gauges are pretty cool(: