Updated Stretching Guide 3.12.2025

Stretching Guide for r/Stretched:

Hello! Welcome to the Stretching Guide, where we will go over all the information you should need for happy, healthy stretched piercings. As always, information is continuously changing and updating; the guide will reflect the most safe and current of that information. If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to the community’s moderation team.

How do I Begin Stretching My Lobes?

Large Gauge Initial Piercing: This method involves talking to your professional piercer (Find a Piercer – Association of Professional Piercers) about using a hollowed out needle to pierce you at a size larger than a standard earring or labret. This can be done safely up to 2g and can cut an entire year off your stretching journey! Just remember, it is important to let your lobes fully heal (6+ months!) before starting to stretch.

We do not recommend the surgical punch method, as it removes the skin essential to continuing to stretch.

Dead Stretching: This method involves the use of single flare glass or titanium plugs to gradually increase the size of your lobes over the course of months, even years. Waiting longer periods of time and using the weight of the jewelry naturally stretches/loosens up your lobes to avoid overstretching, blow outs, tears, and other complications. Stretching is NOT supposed to hurt. If it hurts before, during, or after, it is not ready. You should see at least a small gap in between your lobes and jewelry before moving up in size.

It is important to note that standard ear lobe piercings are started out somewhere between 20g-16g and it is important to not skip sizes. If you are starting out at 18-20g, it’s recommended to insert and heal 16g titanium labrets, plugs, or CBRs before moving on to 14g.

Should I use Tapers to Stretch My Lobes?

The short answer? No, we absolutely do not recommend using ANY form of tapers to stretch lobe piercings. This includes traditional tapers, spirals, pinchers, and other jewelry similarly shaped.

Long answer? Tapers are a tool that are commonly used in the piercing industry, but they have two main, specific uses. They are meant to guide the same size jewelry in or be used as a temporary placeholder to keep an existing piercing open while changing jewelry out.

There are many reasons why tapers are not recommended for stretching. One of the main reasons is because they encourage users to stretch too big, too quickly. Tapers are offered in 2mm increments, whereas the standard for stretching is in .5mm or 1mm increments. Due to the construction, they have a drastic and steep incline in size that unnaturally forces the ear open. Stretching with this method is the most common way that causes irritation, rips, tears, blow outs, thinning lobes, thin spots in the lobes, infection, and sometimes even worse.

Tapers also tend to be made of poor quality materials, such as acrylic or mystery metals.

The last reason we’ll mention is another construction error. They tend to be quite bottom heavy, causing your ear lobe to droop and sag. Due to the poor weight distribution, it can also cause any of the issues listed above.

Should I Stretch Using the Taping Method?

No! Taping can be the most dangerous method, even attempting to do it the ‘correct,’ way.

First and foremost, there are no body compatible tapes currently on the market. Material such as this can fuse to unhealed skin, cause rips, tears, and infections, and cling to all dead skin and oils that your body naturally produces. No amount of cleaning can make such porous material safe, it harbors bacteria.

Second, you can never ensure that two wraps will be the same. Say you do go with the taping method, you need to be changing your tape on a daily basis. The tension you used yesterday cannot be accurately replicated today. Even small discrepancies can cause blow outs, as consistently changing sizes inhibits the healing process.

Can I Use Stone to Stretch?

Stone is not recommended to stretch, mostly due to the porous nature. Similarly to tape, stone harbors bacteria, which can then lead to infection. However, there are a couple of exceptions. Quartz, Rose Quartz, Amethyst and Obsidian are all materials you can stretch with because their structures closely resemble glass. Opalite and Goldstone are also ‘stones,’ you can stretch with because they are quite literally man made glass.

Jewelry Types, Qualities, and Explanations:

Wearing quality jewelry is one of the most important parts of the stretching journey.

The best material(s) for stretching are single flare glass plugs; while single flare implant grade titanium and niobium are safe to use, it is important to get it from a trusted maker or seller to ensure the grade labeled is true to the product.

Acrylic, silicone, cheap/mystery metal, double-flared, natural (i.e. wood, stone, horn), and weighted jewelry should never be used to stretch piercings- let alone in freshly pierced flesh. Here’s why!:

Acrylic: Acrylic is a plastic material that is porous and can quite easily be scratched, dented, gouged, or splintered. This can lead to irritation or allergic reactions, swelling, rips, tears, blow outs, even infection. While acrylic is sold commonly as jewelry, it is not currently available in a biocompatible or ‘medical grade,’ version(s); this means it is not a good option for fresh stretches or long term wear.

Cheap Mystery Metals: Cheap and/or mystery metal jewelry can be safely presumed to be low quality in many ways; either being low polished, coated in low quality materials, or just not the proper grade in general. This can lead to swelling and irritation in most cases. If you are going to choose to wear cheap/low-grade jewelry it is important to be sure the area for it to be used in is fully healed beforehand. Many cheap metals include nickel, one of the most common allergens amongst jewelry wearers.

(Surgical) Stainless Steel is included in this category. Surgical stainless steel is a term that refers to corrosive resistant steel.

Silicone: In this case there is a medical grade silicone jewelry provider, Kaos Soft Wear. However, silicone is still a poor choice for stretching as it can easily lead to micro-tears, blowouts, irritation, and infection. It is also an extremely porous material, which harbors bacteria and can easily fuse to unhealed skin. High-grade silicone is an excellent choice for healed piercings and after stretching has healed but not during either process.

Double Flared: Double flared jewelry is a very poor choice for stretching, mainly due to the construction. They are constructed in a way that allows you to keep them in your lobes without the addition of o-rings, therefore the flares are 1-2mm larger than the saddle. Trying to force jewelry in that is that much larger can result in massive blow outs or tears, which can easily lead to infection. In some cases, even fully healed lobes need one size smaller because the lobes can’t loosen up enough to accommodate the small stretch.

Natural Materials: This category includes wood, horn, stone, bamboo, and bone. Though these materials may surpass many types of jewelry in aesthetics, they make a poor choice to stretch with and for initial piercings due to their porousness. This aids in trapping bacteria, which of course can lead to the worst case: rips, tears, blow outs, and infections. Having this happen during a stretch can make for a very poor experience, which is why it is only recommended to wear these pieces in properly healed holes.

Weights and Hangers: Weights and hangers are heavier, dangly pieces of jewelry that should only be used for decoration. Hangers are classified as pieces that are below 30 grams, whereas weights are anything over 30 grams. Neither of these options are optimal for stretching, as they can easily cause thin spots or tears due to the uneven weight distribution in your lobes.

Even with fully healed lobes, it is a necessity to take proper precautions to avoid thin spots or tearing completely through your lobe. It is recommended to wear them through a tunnel and train your ears to get accustomed to the additional weight. Start with small amounts of time and only increase this time once you notice no negative effects such as soreness or drastic thinning. Ideally, you won’t wear them every day and you should never wear them for more than 8 hours at a time.

Additional Jewelry:

O-rings: O-rings are regularly available in nitrile and silicone. Though usually safe, some people may have allergies to or get irritation from either of these materials. Signs of an allergy from your o-ring will usually result in redness or itchiness at the location of the o-ring; it’s important to note not to confuse an allergy or irritation with your ears not being ready to stretch, as blowouts usually result in the days to come and typically not immediately after stretching. It is also important to ensure you’re using quality jewelry so you can rule out irritation from that first.

-Side note: If you have issues getting your o-rings to stay in place, try using a size or two smaller than your jewelry.

Recommended Lobe Stretching Times:

Fresh Piercing: 6+ months

14g (1.6mm) - 12g (2mm): 1.5+ months

12g (2mm) - 10g (2.5mm): 1.5+ months

10g (2.5mm) - 8g (3.2mm): 2-3+ months

8g (3.2mm) - 6g (4mm): 2-3+ months

6g (4mm) - 4g (5mm): 4-6+ months

4g (5mm) - 2g (6mm): 4-6+ months

2g (6mm) - 1g (7mm): 4-6+ months

1g (7mm) - 0g (8mm): 4-6+ months

0g (8mm) - 00g (9/10mm*): 4-6+ months

Larger Sizes: 4-6 months+

*Please note that some plugs may vary in size ±1mm and it's important to use digital calipers to measure accurately. Using millimeters as opposed to gauge or inches is recommended for this purpose.

*Also, please note websites will refer to the same gauge size differently. The two biggest examples are 00g being viewed as 9mm OR 10mm and ¾ being viewed as 19mm OR 20mm. Occasionally, ½ is listed as 12mm OR 13mm.

*The gauge system is highly unreliable and inconsistent. Measuring by millimeters is the most accurate way to wear stretched jewelry.

How do I Begin Stretching My Septum?

First, it is important to note that stretching your septum is going to feel a lot different than stretching your ear lobes. It is normal for septums to be minimally sore or red for days or weeks after stretching. You should not have any unbearable pain or discomfort before, during, or after stretching.

Second, it is important to decide what type of septum stretch you are trying to achieve. Methods vary based on if you are going for a singular piece, large gauge septum or a multiple pieces in a stack.

Stretching with a singular piece of jewelry will result in a more circular fistula, while stretching using the stacking method will result in a more oval shaped fistula. While you can interchange the two, it can be quite tricky. Circular jewelry of the ‘correct,’ gauge that adds up to your ring stack may not fit, and putting rings in your circular fistula may take awhile to settle and sit correctly.

Large Gauge Initial Piercing: Similar to lobe piercings, this method involves talking to your professional piercer (Find a Piercer – Association of Professional Piercers) about using a hollowed out needle to pierce you at a size larger than initial jewelry.

Septums are anatomy dependent and are typically pierced at 16-14g. What size you can start out at will depend on what your piercer feels your anatomy can accommodate.

Glass or Titanium Pinchers: While pinchers fall under the taper category, it is a bit different with septum stretching. Septums tend to be a lot thicker and sometimes need the more drastic size increase, though it is nowhere near as drastic as a traditional taper. Do NOT force it. If it needs to be forced through, it is not ready.
Dead Stretching: Also similar to ear lobes, you can also dead stretch your septum! Dead stretching in this scenario involves letting your septum loosen over the course of months or even years. Once at larger sizes, the weight of the jewelry should further help this process. You can use single flare plugs, pinchers, or plugs for this.
Stacking: This method recommends dead stretching to a 10g singular piece of jewelry before inserting 2, 16g clickers or seamless rings or 3, 18g clickers or seamless rings. You can start stacking at 16-12g, but it may result in more discomfort. You can add 1 ring as it comfortably fits and eventually mix and match what gauges you have in entirely.

Recommended Septum Stretching Times:

Singular, large piece of jewelry- .5mm: 6-12+ months

Multiple, stacked: 1, 16g ring: 3-6+ months