It never seems to fail. You go out and get a new piercing. You love it. You take care of it and it heals up very well. You buy a TON of jewelry for it. And then you find a piece of jewelry that you absolutely must have and it is 6 gauges larger than your piercing.

   1/2 Inch Gem Plugs

No worries. This is how you get it to fit.

Before we begin:

It is our opinion that stretching should be done under the watchful eye of a piercing professional. We understand that this is not always an option. If you choose to gauge up alone, please have the closest piercing shop’s phone number handy. If something goes awry, give them a call.

You can gauge up as far as you want! Whether your goal is a 10 gauge tongue barbell, or 2 inch ear disks, the process is the same.

You should never feel excessive pain while stretching your piercing. A slight burning, itching, or pulling sensation is normal. If you feel pain, stop what you are doing and go back to the gauge you are comfortable in.

You should never bleed! Stretching your piercing will create tiny, invisible tears around the piercing. These are what cause that burning/itching/pulling sensation. These should not be visible and should never ever ever ever bleed. If you have torn your piercing, stop what you are doing; call your local piercing shop and see if they can see you ASAP.

You should only gauge up one gauge at a time, meaning from 16 gauge to 14 gauge, 14 gauge to 12 gauge, 12 gauge to 10 gauge, etc.

You should treat your stretched piercing just like a new piercing. Clean it once or twice a day. Keep your hands off of it. Try not to submerge the piercing in water (swimming, bathing, hot tubbing). Take a multivitamin. Get plenty of sleep. Keep your bedding clean.

Here is what you are going to need:

Lubricant. Good old KY Jelly works great.

Tapers. You will need one for each gauge you are going to stretch through. For example: if you are going from 14 gauge to 6 gauge, you will need tapers in 12 gauge, 10 gauge, 8 gauge and 6 gauge.

                                                 12 Gauge                                     10 Gauge

                                                                        8 Gauge                                    6 Gauge

Jewelry. You will need at least one piece or pair of jewelry for each gauge you will stretch though. Pick out something nice because you are going to be wearing it for a while. Some options are shown below.

     Pair of 2 Gauge Steel Spirals                                       3 Pairs of 00 Gauge Acrylic Plugs

  Barbells: 6g, 4g, 2g, 0g & 00g                                          Pair of 10 Gauge Horseshoes

And we’re off:

Smaller gauges such as 20 gauge, 18 gauge and 16 gauge are pretty easy to stretch. Once you get up around 6 gauge you will really start to feel the stretch. Be sure to give your piercing enough time to adjust. As you stretch through heavy gauges, it will be easier to insert jewelry that is internally threaded.

Step 1) Wash your hands! Repeat as needed throughout the process.

Step 2) Wash your tools! Use warm water and a mild antibacterial soap to clean the jewelry, the taper and even the container that the lubricant is in.

Step 3) Lay out your tools on a clean surface.
      Open the tube of lubricant.
       Prepare the jewelry you will be wearing (take the ball out of a CBR, screw off one end of a barbell, etc)
      Make sure the taper is ready to use. Take the o-ring off on the tapered end.

Step 4) Lube up the taper and the jewelry.

Step 5) Remove the old jewelry.

Step 6) Insert the taper very SLOWLY. If you feel any pain, STOP! Sometimes the stretching will need to be done over the period of a day or more. Just find the spot on the taper you are comfortable at, slip on the o-rings and wait. A little while later you can try to go a little farther up the taper. As a bonus, you’ll be walking around with a wicked look for a while. Once you get the taper all the way to its widest point and the end is flush to the piercing, you can proceed to step 7.

Step 7) Line up the jewelry to the flush side of the taper.

Step 8) Slide the jewelry into place.

Step 9) Secure the jewelry (put the ball into the CBR, screw on the end of the barbell, etc)

Step 10) Clean up. Do not discard the jewelry you just took out. If something goes wrong, you may have to temporarily gauge back down.

Step 11) Wait. You should always wait at least a month between stretches. Piercings through cartilage and piercings with excessive scarring may take longer. The best rule of thumb is to use the time that it took your piercing to heal. If it took a month, wait a month. If it took 10 weeks, wait 10 weeks.

Some things to expect:

The area around the piercing will be tender for a while. If this is especially irritating, remove the new jewelry and replace the old, smaller gauge jewelry. Wait a day or two and try the stretch again.

The piercing may secrete a clear mucus. The area you stretched will need to heal, just like it healed when it was first pierced. Just keep it clean and you will be fine.

The piercing may “tighten up”. Your jewelry may be free moving one day, and stuck tight the next. This is completely normal. Just wait it out and it will settle back down. If it makes you uncomfortable, use a lubricant to get the piece moving again. Try not to touch the piercing too much.

If you ever have green pus come out of your piercing, you need to visit a piercing friendly doctor. DO NOT REMOVE THE JEWELRY! If you take out the jewelry and the piercing closes up, there will be nowhere for drainage to go and then you will be in trouble. A doctor can prescribe an antibiotic that will clear up the pus.

We love body jewelry. When we gauge up, we fully enjoy each gauge. I have personally spent more than a year at one gauge before moving up. Take the time to enjoy what you have. There is no rush and there is a ton of body jewelry out there at all gauges!

If you ever have any questions, please feel free to contact me or contact your local piercing shop.