What are Ear Gauges?
Ear gauges are pieces of jewelry designed to stretch the earring hole in your ear. They have been created to slowly stretch the hole to the desired amount. There are many different types of ear gauges for people to look through. The most important thing to remember when it comes to using these pieces of jewelry is it is almost always a permanent change. Once you have gauged your ears, it can be almost impossible to get them back to the original size. These gauges have been known to attract the more gothic and punk rock personalities than anything else. They are not generally sold in regular earring boutiques. To find these you need to look into the piercing shops or tattoo parlors.
How to Use Ear Gauges
Unless you have gauged your ears before, you probably don’t know the proper way to use ear gauges. The whole point is to gradually stretch out the ear lobe. If you go too fast, you could tear the ear and cause scarring and bleeding. You should first start out with the smallest of the bunch. Once your ears become used to that certain size, it is time to move up to the next size. You can repeat this process as much as you like to get your desired results. There are many different materials you can use when going through this process. The most popular and most sanitary are the metal pieces. The other types can attract bacteria and cause infections within your ear. Before you can start gauging your ears, you must have them pierced first. If you use the generic earrings for your piercing, you will be able to start the stretching process after they have healed. It is smart to let a professional initially pierce your ears and start the first gauge. They will show you the proper way to put the earring in and how to clean it.
The first of the ear gauge sizes is the 20ga. This is the size you get when you initially get your ears pierced. The next size would be 18ga. This is a little thicker than the initial pair of earrings. The sizes go down by 2 numbers for each one. The biggest gauge available is 00ga. This is large enough to fit a half dollar in your ear. If you are trying to achieve this size of a gauge, you need to gradually change the sizes. You shouldn’t skip sizes in the process either. You need to go in order of the numbers to properly stretch your ears. When you skip gauge sizes, you are at risk of tearing your ear lobe. Once you have torn your ear lobe, it can take a while to heal correctly. You will not want to put an earring in your ear until it is fully healed.
There are many different variations of tragus jewelry. There are gold pieces and silver pieces. If you are allergic to a certain type of metal, it would be smart to stay away from those kinds of earrings. The different versions of this piece of jewelry are bars, studs, labrets, hoops, barbells, spokes and earrings. If you can put it in your ear, you can use it as jewelry basically. The bars are small but noticeable enough to draw attention. If you don’t want to draw attention to your ear, try the plain studs. The hoops and barbells will turn this rebel piercing into a classy piercing. If you have a punk rock personality, the spokes would be perfect. These look punk rock and hard core. You can even find pieces of jewelry with objects dangling from them. The most common is to have a red heart dangling from a silver stud.
The generic earring shop will usually not carry gauge earrings. There are a few different punk rock and gothic stores that will for sure carry these earrings. If you cannot find any of these little shops, you can check out a tattoo parlor or a piercing shop. Any piercing shop that does the body piercings will carry the gauge earrings most definitely. A lot of tattoo parlors also do piercings at the same time. If this is the case, you can check out your local tattoo parlor for some of these earrings. You will want to start out with the smallest gauge size and gradually work your way up to the largest size. If you want to start out with a large size, you will need to basically get them hole punched.
One of the most important things about gauged ears is cleaning them properly. If you don’t clean your piercings, especially if they are new, you are at risk of infection. Once your ears are infected it can be really hard to wear any sort of jewelry in them. You should go to a professional to get your piercings done in the first place. Once you have started the gauging process, don’t touch the area where your piercing is. Your fingers are generally covered in different bacteria and can cause an infection in your ear. You should wash the piercing out with anti-bacterial soap at least 2-3 times daily. This will clean out any impurities and prevent any bacteria from growing in them. You want to also make sure the soap you decide to use is not scented or textured.