BodyJ4You Blog
Here's What People Say About Acrylic, Surgical Steel, & Silicone To Stretch Your Ears!
What Jewelry Material Is Best To Stretch Ears With? If you're starting your stretching journey (or continuing), you've probably come across a plethora of stretching kits made of different materials. It may be hard to find resources to learn which material for your lobe stretching would best suit your needs. But, worry not! We searched the web and did the hard work for you!
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Piercing Aftercare - How to / when to use sea salt wash, saline spray, soap, and tea tree oil on new and healed piercings.
Caring for a fresh piercing can be daunting with worries of uninvited pain and scares of infection. But not to fear, here is a pain-free aftercare guide for your new piercing!
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Piercing Infections | How To Treat and Tell If Your Piercing Is Infected
Why they happen and how to recognize them... There is a myriad of reasons to choose a body piercing. Personal expression, an appreciation of body art, potential health benefits, and aesthetics are only a few possible motivators. We personally believe any reason is a good reason and that it’s important to know the risks before you decide to get pierced. Any time you modify your body, you are opening the door for infection. While not everyone develops an infection, the Mayo Clinic does estimate that approximately 30% of piercing leads to localized infections—don’t worry, though, as those infections tend to be benign! To ensure you don’t develop a serious infection, you need to know why infections happen in the first place, how you can recognize them after receiving a piercing and how to treat them. Read on to learn the basics of body piercing-related infections and how you can deal with them! Why Infections OccurWhen you were a kid, and you scraped up your knee, what would your parents tell you? Probably something like "don’t pick at that" and "let it breathe." Well, turns out they were right! A healing piercing is a process that can take anywhere from a month to a year, depending on the location of the piercing—you should treat it like any other wound. That means leaving it alone, avoiding overly tight clothing, and correctly cleaning it. Infections are primarily caused by bacteria and irritation, so eliminating both to the best of your ability is your optimal route to a quick and easy healing process! Soaking your piercings sites with a saline solution can help cleanse the area and remove any buildup. How to cleanse your piercing sites! Saline baths are a great way to wash your piercing site from harmful bacteria and dead skin cells. When you do not cleanse your piercing sites, these things can lead to infections. When you first get pierced, we recommend doing a saline/salt soak around twice a day. Saline soaks and washes are an all-natural way to relieve your piercing site of common irritations like swelling, bleeding, reduce scarring, dehydrate bumps, and encourage healthy skin. Salt soak directions A salt soak comprises 1 cup of sterile or distilled water (warm). Mix 1/4 tsp. of sea salt into the water. You want the salt to dissolve, so the warmer the water, the better. (For extra power**) Add 2-3 drops of tea tree oil and stir well. Submerge your piercing site into the mix for 5-10 minutes. ** When you combine Tea Tree Oil with Saline Solution, it offers a hygienic healing process and gives your skin the treatment it craves. How to Spot an Infection No matter what your experience or tolerance is, the healing process for a body piercing is probably going to hurt a bit. If that pain sticks around for an extended time, though—maybe over two days—you may have an infection. Also, if the pain seems unusual or is accompanied by swelling, you should keep a close eye on it. Other, less subjective indicators of infection may be present, too. A dead giveaway is a foul-smelling discharge that is typically yellowish. Significant or prolonged bleeding is also a warning sign, as is excessive redness around the piercing site.If you have any of these signs, it’s important that you be willing to go to a medical / piercing professional if necessary. The cleaning and care methods listed above are the most you can do on your own, so visiting your local piercing professional is the best route if you have taken thorough care of your new piercing and still develop an infection. In conclusion we don’t wish to discourage anyone from expressing themselves and getting the body piercings they want. We do, however, want you to be informed of the risks and potential infections that can accompany such piercings. That way, you can not only enjoy your new piercing but do so in a healthy, safe way!
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What you should know before during and after getting your belly button pierced.
Belly Button Piercing A belly button piercing is arguably the most sought-after body modification piercing solution. People who do it say that its beautiful impact is so amazing that words alone cannot express it. You too won’t be making a wrong choice if you opt for it, but the piercing could take more time to heal. A number of things must be taken into consideration before you can go for it. But you have nothing to worry about because here are a few tips you need to know about belly button piercing. Find The Right Piercer You are at risk of severe bloodborne diseases like hepatitis C if you go for the wrong piercer. The standards of the place and the piercer should be considered before you take any decision at all. Check out the piercers Google reviews, Facebook reviews, and Yelp reviews...these can give you some insight as to what type of atmosphere the place offers. When you visit the piercing shop check whether they are clean, well-lit, and licensed. Don’t put your body in jeopardy just because you desired bodily modification. You have to look for the right piercer that’ll give you all you want, with no negative health effects too. Check The Piercers’ Sterilization Process Take your time to see the sterilization process or method that the piercer uses. The piercer should use an autoclave (a device that sterilizes the piercing jewelry and equipment) because it is a potent killer of bacteria and pathogens. Reusable tools like the closing pliers should be sterilized with this autoclave. Always insist for the best and don’t forget that all piercing needles must be sealed since they are not to be shared. Disposable gloves should be worn by your piercer at all times. Reject Piercing Guns Reject outrightly piercing guns if that’s what your piercer wants to use. Go ahead and cancel your appointment with the piercer. Piercing guns can transmit bodily fluids from one customer to the other since they are reusable tools. Also, many people have complained that piercing guns usually cause tissue damage in the course of running the piercing process. What To Expect After Getting Your Belly Button Pierced A few days after the piercing, you might see an off-white fluid in the piercing area but that’s normal. It is your body system telling you that it is working hand-in-hand with the object in your navel. Just clean the area with warm water...but that’s after you have washed your hands with soap and water. Just apply a little soap on the piercing area for just 30 seconds and rinse it carefully but thoroughly. Soak the area for 5 minutes daily with a sterile saline solution, and pat-dry the surface with soft disposable paper. Belly Button Piercing Aftercare You can use a packaged sterile saline as piercing aftercare but it must not contain any additives. Sterile saline is not readily available in every region but a salt solution mixture is an alternative. You can dissolve 1/8 tsp iodine-free sea salt into a cup of 8 oz bottled water, to make your own salt solution mixture. Make sure your solution is not too strong because it can cause the piercing to get irritated. Try and keep your piercing from rubbing on clothing. A simple way to do this is to look for a hard and vented eye patch to protect your navel from the threatening impact of the clothes you are putting on. These eye patches are sold in pharmacies or you can easily order one online. This will be added protection against restrictive clothing, excessive irritation, as well as the physical impact during sports and other physical activities. Cleaning Instruction For Belly Button Piercing Always wash your hands before you clean or touch the piercing.• Soak saline solution on the piercing area for at least 5 minutes daily. Apply the saline solution on the piercing area and allow it to form a vacuum before you clean it up with clean gauze or soft paper towels. If your piercer says you should use soap for the cleaning, use mild soaps only and rinse the piercing as directed. All traces of the soap must be carefully rinsed from the surface of the piercing. Use disposable paper products to pat-dry the piercing area. Don’t use cloth towels because they may harbor bacteria or cause injury to the body. At the initial stage, you might experience some bleeding, tenderness, or bruising, but you shouldn’t panic. In the course of healing, there’s bound to be some discoloration, itching, and secretion of whitish-yellow fluid in the piercing area. Yes, it is whitish-yellow, but not pus. Once you see these effects, you should remember that the healing phase is already in progress. Don’t assume that the jewelry would move freely in the piercing, even after it has healed. There could still be some difficulties but on no occasion must you force the jewelry to move. If you do, there is a possibility you’ll be injured, and this could be bad for your health. Always remember that failure to clean the piercing daily would lead to the accumulation of offensive body secretions in the area. The piercing could heal from the outside while the inside is still very fragile. That’s why you need a lot of patience during the healing period. What You Must Avoid Don’t move jewelry in piercing that is not completely healed. You must not pick dried discharge with your fingers because it can make you bleed.• Don’t clean your piercing with items such as Betadine, Hibiclens, alcohol, or soaps containing triclosan because these things can damage your cells. Avoid ointments too because they stop free circulation of air.• Don’t over-clean your piercing. If you do, it will hamper healing and irritate the piercing more.Above all, you should ensure you settle for the right piercer and abide by all the instructions you are given. Belly button piercing is quite amazing but that’s if you did it in the right place. What are you waiting for? Feel free, relax, check out the tips, and go for your coveted belly button piercing once and for all.
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Instagram Answers What You Need To Know About Nipple Piercings!
Let's talk about female and male body piercings....nipple piercings to be exact. We went to Instagram and asked "What was your nipple piercing experience like & are you happy with it?". Once we asked this question we received lots of great comments about individuals nipple piercing experience's, responses about nipple piercing healing times and after care, and those thinking about getting a nipple piercing done! With all the responses we received we want to share this valuable information with you! The purpose of this post is to share these experiences with you so you have an idea of what to expect when getting your nipples pierced. If you would like to add any suggestions or responses, please leave a comment on this post and we will add your response to the post. Responses from BodyJ4You's question "Are you happy with your nipple piercings? & What was your nipple piercing experience like?" z_o_e_morton: Yesss! I adore mine! Can't imagine not having it now and it gives me so much confidence and self love ❤️ smile_youre_beautiful_10 same here! And didn't hurt much either sdsaunders69 Thought about having it done. My g/f was totally wanting hers done. So we did it together!! I even went 1st. We love the increased sensitivity for both of us!! littleecoffeeebeann I used to hate my nipples being touched until I got mine done! lizard89 So SO worth it! I love my nipple rings so much 😊😊 big confidence booster @stonepark1989 it’s not for everyone. Everyone has their own style! oldschoolcustomsbe Had them pierced and thinking of doing it again! Because 1 was pulled out with a badminton racket 🤣 kinda an accident and the other one don't know 🤣 afangirlyoucantsweatout They’re rad as f*ck!! usuicid I have them. My piercer that I used to go to was the worse and had a horrible experience getting them pierced. He didn’t even tell me when he was putting the needle in and was super rude. Other than that I really like them haha kxmui I want them so bad 😩 issaqueena I Want Them... But I’m Afraid Of The Pain & Healing Process ☹️😥 jord.renae mine only hurt when i got them/for two days after and are healing BEAUTIFULLY! antibacterial soap is a MUST!! cinnamonpuppi mine didn’t hurt at all getting them pierced!! it was a couple sore for the days after but nothing crazy. just keep em clean april.kaye it doesn’t really hurt, it’s just really uncomfortable. But it’s over super fast and they’re really pretty. Just make sure to follow the healing advice and clean them twice a day with salt water (since they can get infected easily) but the healing time goes way faster than you’d think homicidal.bunni I don’t think I’d get them but they’re cute but I do want cute tattoos around them cause that seems less scary z_o_e_morton I got my right nipple pierced 3 months ago, after I turned 18. I absolutely love it. Since I was 12, I've had what seems like constant checkups for ovarian cysts, cysts and lumps on my breasts and lymph glands, so it's a massive boost of confidence for me! Even if no one else were to see it, it makes me feel sexy and happy. It's also hella hot! I was really lucky actually, as I have quite a high pain threshold, and it barely hurt at all! It just felt like I'd been bitten or something. My friend came with me when I got it done, and she held my foot and then got her eyebrow pierced. That was an awesome day, and it's healed beautifully!! donttjudgemee I literally got mine done today. I was so scared. It hurt but it’s fast @n3kochann_ you can get numbing cream that they used for tattoos. Let it set for an hour and then get them pierced. You feel nothing at all. Just got mines done. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are soley those of the Instagram users and other contributors. The views and opinions do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BodyJ4You.com. If you wish to voluntarily use any of this information displayed you assume the risk of any resulting injury.
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Relieve migraine, headaches, stress & anxiety from daith, shen men, & tragus ear piercings!
Body pain sucks! But what if I told you there was a way to get relief from that pain? Have you heard the buzz about how getting ear piercings may help with pain relief? The way it's supposed to work is that your ear has pressure points that acupuncturists poke with a needle to alleviate pain. These pressure points target certain nerves which trigger the rest of your body. So in theory getting a certain ear piercing will place constant pressure on that nerve which in turn will relieve the pain. We searched the inter-web for real anecdotal data from actual pierced individuals, who claim pain relief, claim lessened amount of pains occurring, and others say it does not work. But I will leave you with this information and let you make a decision. There haven't been any clinical research or studies we can report from so we are using the information from actual people who have reported on the theory. If a piercing has the potential to relieve pain, why not at least give it a try? Read more into this “piercing for pain relief” article to learn about the different piercings that may help relieve some pain. We will go over Daith Piercing and its alleged relief from migraine pain Shen Men Piercing and its alleged relief from anxiety relief Tragus Piercing linked to headache/migraine relief Daith piercing for migraine relief: Daith Piercing Location: innermost cartilage fold, the crus of the helix. It's kind of an awkward curvy fold. See photo for placement. There has been lots of speculation as to whether or not the daith piercing (located on the ears inner most cartilage fold) has the ability to actually relieve a migraine. The relief actually points to acupuncture for the answer. This is due to a daith piercing running through a pressure point that is linked to alleviate migraine pain. Acupuncture is a form of treatment that involves inserting very thin needles through a person's skin at specific points on the body, to various depths. Research suggests that it can help relieve pain, and it is used for a wide range of other complaints. Source We found a Facebook community group “Migraine Again” whose members give us real world experience about whether or not the daith piercing helped relieve their migraines. Lets see what they say... John M: “I been suffering from migraines for a long time now (over 20 years). taken pain killers, preventative medicines and now take triptans. Then I read an article about an ear piercing that people had that helped reduced and in some cases stopped migraines altogether. A couple of weeks ago I took the plunge I had the Daith piercing done on my right ear and since then my migraines have almost stopped but not completely, Doesn't work for everyone. Worked for me. so I thought i'd share my news with you all.” Grace R: “After 35 years of getting migraine i got this done i haven't had one for over a month” Nicola B: “Wanted to share this. Had a piercing in my ear on a pressure point. So far had the onset of 3 migraines since having it in. Twiddled the stud and voila its worked. I was about to take meds and thought i would twist it to see if it helped and it did. Best $18 i've spent. So happy. I have 170 botox injections a year, endless meds and rescue injections and facet joint injections...so glad i had this done!” 097Survivor113 (Reddit Response): “The daith helped me for about a year then the migraines came back stronger. I think it was more or less a placebo for me.” Oddlythesame (Reddit response): “So I got mine done back in December. I didn't get it with the intention of helping the migraines. I don't suffer from migraines but I do experience headaches daily. Some worse than others. Since December, I have not suffered from headaches every day. I have had around 6 headaches total since the 3rd week in December. I can't say it will help your migraines but it did wonders for my headaches.” Bshawed (Reddit response): “It can help- but it really depends on what type of migraines you are having. I got both of mine done (3 weeks apart) in May of 2016. Before that I was taking triptan drugs at least twice a week and was consistent getting migraines that were 8-9 on the pain scale. Since I had the 2nd piercing done I’ve had maybe 5 migraines and the worst was maybe a 4 or 5. It’s not eliminated them entirely, but it’s certainly allowed me to live life again!! The way I look at it is this: it looks cute, isn’t too “out there” and it’s relatively inexpensive when you compare it to the cost of medication and simply the pain. A couple seconds of pain is nothing to a migraine sufferer so it’s really worth a try. If it doesn’t work, take it out. My migraines were so bad I’d be willing to try a lot to get any relief at all.” Neurogirl0 (Reddit Response): “I got my daith pierced in December. Honestly, it didn't help me. I get 2-3 migraines a week with preventatives. I liked the look and would have kept it but it never quite healed so I took it out in April.” Pennspaper (Instagram Response): I got both of my daiths done in the spring and have noticed a major decrease of migraines. It could just be a coincidence, but I'm very happy with the results. Jwylie26 (Instagram Response): I got my daith done almost 6 weeks ago and haven’t gotten a migraine like I normally do each month. Still too early to tell if it’s just coincidence or if it is working. But hey, in the end I have a nice pretty new piercing :) blksongbird143 (Instagram Response) Got my right daith pierced on 3/24 and today is 1 of maybe 3 migraines since. I also had daily headaches for 25 yrs. Now my head is so "quiet" that I get seriously pissed off when I have a headache. Before, I simply accepted that it was a part of me. Shen Men Piercing linked with anxiety relief: Shen Men Piercing Location: the upper mid center of the ear, just above the opening canal. See photo for placement. We also took to Facebook about the Shen Men Piercing and have some real world responses for you. The Shen Men Piercing is also over an acupuncture pressure point known to relieve anxiety. Crystal M: “After years of anxiety. Probably about 15 I can say I am anxiety free thanks to the Shenmen piercing. Don't get me wrong I do get a little anxious but not where I used to be. I used to take anxiety pills multiple of times a day and now I've taken 2 in the past two weeks. Going into stores was so high anxiety for me and now I can go into the store and not even have to take an anxiety pill. Thank you Karen for introducing this to me. I am so excited to be anxiety free. I love you Karen!!! This was life changing!!!” Jonelle E: “My daughter and I got this piercing and it is amazing no more anxiousness or worrying about everything were both off our meds now.” Kari T: “I’ve had it a week. I’m not a good example of how bad it hurt, I have a high tolerance... it wasn’t bad at all. And yes it works, I’m no longer medicating to go to class and I participate. Before I was taking a Xanax before going to class and I sat in the back away from everybody and didn’t participant.” Kelly W: “Mine has been a godsend!! I no longer imagine myself throat punching people at the grocery store!!! Or annoyed that their breathing..lol” Jennifer M: “Well it's only been 2 days and today I took my 2 boys along with my sister, karissa, and granny to the zoo, battled Knoxville traffic, and not one panick attack. I usually have them every time I drive thru Knoxville! I'd day its helping already” Tori H: “I got the Shen men (anxiety) piercing in my ear last week and honestly couldn’t recommend these people more! So far so good! I have been a lot more relaxed since and have found myself more relaxed in situations that would have made me extremely nervous! Would definitely recommend it!” Tragus piercing for linked with headache and migraine relief: Tragus Piercing Location: the cartilage that partially covers your ear canal. It's also located below the daith piercing. See photo for placement. Rebecca J: “ I have the tragus and it didn’t help me. Honestly it was just a temporary relief.” Haley D: “When I asked about it, I was told the daith is a 50/50 shot. In order for it to even work, they need to hit that pressure point just right I guess? I'm not totally for sure. But I've had my daith for over a year now. I got it on the side I felt the migraines started on the most often. I don't seem to have as many daily headaches and I do have less migraines but I still get them, just not as often.” Emily G: “Yup! I don't know how to explain it - it was a weird feeling. As soon as she'd pierced me, it was almost like my headache melted away. I guess it depends on the person - I know some people don't get affected by getting their daith pierced, but for me, it definitely worked! I normally wake up with a slight headache, too. None this morning xx” Dark_Ascension (Reddit Response): “If there is anything linked to piercings I definitely can say anecdotally I've no experience with it helping or it making it work. I have both a tragus and a daith by the way. As well as several other piercings. I've had my tragus a year or so before my diagnosis of chronic migraines and chronic silent migraines without Aura, and my daith I got around the time of my diagnosis of silent migraines and shortly after started experiencing the headaches as well. All the actual evidence for daith piercings is anecdotal, you will not find any legitimate research on it... just like you won't find any legitimate scientific research on acupuncture or herbal remedies. It's all a placebo effect sorry to break it to you. If it works for you great! Likely a placebo, there is zero scientific evidence to back it up.” That concludes our article. If you have any anecdotes to share, please leave us a comment! We will add it to this post. Shop TRAGUS, DAITH and SHEN MEN piercings here: SHOP NOW
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Take this quiz to find out which body piercing to get! | BodyJ4You.com
What piercing should you get? - ProProfs » ProProfs SHOP BODY JEWELRY NOW
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Unique Body Piercing Ideas | BodyJ4You Blog
Body piercings are a great way to get creative with your body but if you don't know where to place your next piercing, you’re in the right place! We are going to give you a bunch of unique piercing ideas! Today’s body jewelry blog is going to be all about the unique body piercings people get, and how they are styled. The thing we LOVE about piercings is the creativity you can have with them and their placements. Whether you have multiple piercings or are trying to decide where to place your first one, read on for some piercing ideas! When you’re ready to go and try one of these ideas out be sure to go to your local piercing professional or tattoo shop. Double Belly Button Piercing This piercing is as the name says, its two piercings around the belly button area. The most common is the vertical belly button piercing placement. The two belly button piercings are pierced stacked on top of one another. (see photo for reference)Source Other double piercing ideas are the horizontal belly button piercing (two piercings near the belly button that are side by size), and the quad piercing (a blend of the horizontal and vertical piercings). This piercing trend is for someone who likes that extra bling and navel attention or for one who just wants to spice up their belly piercing. Curated Ear This is a trend that's been pretty popular in the ear piercing world. A curated ear piercing is an ear that is full of earrings, but carefully curated so that the piercings and jewelry all go together. Over are the days where you would slowly get an ear piercing added to your ear, now it's trendy to go and get all the piercings done at once with the end goal being a carefully pierced ear filled with matched jewelry pieces. It’s up to you and the piercer to collaborate on where you want the piercings on your ear and which jewelry will go where. We recommend that before going into a piercing shop you have some idea of what you want.That way your curated ear is styled to your specific aesthetic. We wrote an entire blog post about the curated ear trend, you can read it HERE. Source Double Nose Piercing: The double nose piercing is a trend that involves getting two piercings on the nose. The most popular type is getting a piercing on the left and right side of the nose. This type of piercing is great for those who like symmetry. (see photo below for a visual) Source Another type of double nose piercing is a piercing in which both are on the same side on one nostril. See photo below for example. Source A septum piercing and nose piercing on one side of the nostril are other common nose piercing combinations. See the photo below. Source Ear Cuff and Lobe Piercing This type of piercing involves 2 piercings, one piercing in the lobe and the other in the upper ear cartilage. There are jewelry pieces that cater to an ear lobe piercing without an upper ear cartilage piercing. We have some HERE. This type of jewelry would be a lobe jewelry piece linked with an ear cuff. See the image below of an idea of how it would look. Gauges With Earrings Through Them This seems to be a creative trend involving stretched ear lobes. When wearing tunnels add some accessory to it like a hoop earring with hanging charms, or add a few simple hoops. Tunnels are often times simple and for those that want some extra dangle or style it's very simple to be creative with hoop earrings and add them to the tunnels for an added effect. Other things we have seen is buying tunnels that already have the attached charms. We have a few styles in our store, you can view them HERE and HERE These unique trends are great examples of how you can break out of the common piercing styles and add your own personal flair to them. Most people have traditional piercings like pierced earlobes and nose rings...etc. Now is your time to shine whether you are an experienced pierced individual or you’re feeling adventurous and want to get pierced for the first time. Have fun with it! We recommend that any of your piercing endeavors are performed by a trained and licensed professional. Check out our body jewelry shop www.BodyJ4You.com! We have everything from belly button rings, nose rings / studs, all types of ear piercings, gauges kits that come with tapers, tunnels, and plugs, tongue rings, eyebrow rings, and face piercing items.
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Ear Stretching Guide The Top 20 Questions About Stretching Your Ear Lobes
Ear Stretching Guide The Top 20 Questions About Stretching Your Ear Lobes. Can your ears go back to normal after stretching? This depends on a few things...your skin's elasticity, how big you stretched your ears, if you experienced a blowout while stretching...etc. This isn't a yes or no question, it really depends on each individual because we are all different. Although a definite way to get your ears back to “normal” size is surgery. How long does it take for a stretched ear to heal? This depends on each person. Although sources say that 6 weeks is the minimum time to wait between stretches. Professional piercers recommend that you wait between 2-6 months between each stretch. The extra time allows your ears to have more time to heal and lower risk of tearing your lobes. The longer you wait the healthier and happier your lobes will be! How do you start stretching your ears? You start the ear stretching process with first getting your ears pierced, then letting them heal. Once they are fully healed look into getting a gauge kit and ear lube. (you can find both here: Gauge Kit, Ear Stretching Lube) Read our blog post about ear stretching safety: CLICK HERE Is ear stretching cultural appropriation? According to Dr Matt Lodder, body modification historian and Director of American Studies at the University of Essex...“Dr Lodder believes 'the main locus of criticism should always be on the appropriation of the belief system' rather than the practice itself. 'Don't go around claiming that stretching your ears is a deeply "spiritual" practice unless you've actually carefully studied the complex and multi-layered reasons behind the cultures who use ear stretching as part of normative rituals, share those cultural heritages, and gained the authority to do so having lived amongst the communities you claim to be "admiring",' he says. 'Otherwise, acknowledge that stretching earlobes and other piercing practices have their own histories in Western subcultures, and that you're doing it because you think they look good, you wish to experiment with and understand your own body, and they're part of the contemporary cultures in which you move.' Dr Lodder adds, 'if people want to experiment with their own bodies, that is not and won't ever be appropriation. If they want to layer those experiments with culturally-specific meanings, communications and belief systems from cultures they themselves do not belong to, then those same practices become appropriative.” source Is ear stretching permanent? Every person is different. Depending on how elastic your ears are, and how big you stretched your lobes will be the determinant of how much you ears are able to bounce back to “normal” size. Is ear stretching painful? Ear stretching should not be too painful. Yes, there will be some discomfort, but your ears should not be screaming in pain. If this is so please go to your local piercer for care. Is ear stretching supposed to hurt? When sizing up your ears may be sore, but you should not be in pain. Can ear stretching cause headaches? If you stretch to fast a headache may be a side effect. How ear stretching works? Check out our blog post on how to stretch your ears (to read more CLICK HERE) How did ear stretching become popular? We believe it has been popularized by the body modification community. Also celebrities are making ear stretching more “popular” just look at Chester Bennington, Lil Wayne, Travis McCoy and Adam Lambert. How to make ear stretching less painful? The process of stretching your ears is uncomfortable and will cause discomfort although there are ways to minimize pain. We recommend that you stretch slowly and give your ears time to heal before going up to the next size. Moving too fast while stretching is a big driver of pain. How long between ear stretching? We recommend that you wait until your ear is fully healed and not sore. Around 2-6 months is a general time to wait between stretches, the time frame is different for each and every person and depends on how your body heals and reacts to the stretching. How much does ear stretching cost? First you need to get your ears pierced: Price around $20-55. Then you need to buy a few care items: $10+. A simple taper set with plugs from Spencers costs around $14.99 This is just one set! So each time you want to size up it’ll be about $14.99. BUT don't throw away your money!! Buy an entire gauges kit from us starting at $10.98 and this set comes with multiple tapers and tunnels to help you stretch up multiple sizes! View it here: GAUGES KIT . Don't forget your organic ear stretching cream or balm $10.99 What does ear stretching symbolize? There are different things that ear stretching has symbolized for different cultures. For some cultures ear stretching has signified coming of age, a beauty enhancer, for sexuality, religious reasons, and now its been widely adopted in the body modification community. What does ear stretching feel like? After stretching your ears may feel warm and often feel a slight tingle or sting. (but not enough to be in pain). But if you stretch too big too fast then you may feel sharp pain and it will hurt longer than usual, and other complications may arise. So please be patient and don't skip sizes. What is ear stretching called? Its just called ear stretching. Gauges is a term used to describe the size of the ear stretching jewelry. The ear stretching jewelry are called plugs, tunnels, eyelets, hangers. What is ear stretching blowout? Overstretching tends to result in a buildup of scar tissue and reduction of healthy blood flow It can also cause an unsightly “blowout,” in which a section of skin pushes out to the back of the ear lobe. It looks like a red irritated ring of scar tissue buildup. What stores sell ear stretching kits? We do!! Check them out here: BodyJ4You Gauges Kits What culture started ear stretching? The oldest found human mummy is a man called Ötzi the iceman. His ears were stretched to the size of a 0 to 00 gauge. He was found in the Italian Alps. Before Otzi was found there was an Egyptian mummy that also had his ears stretched. Other well known figures that had their ears stretched are King Tut, Buddha, The Fulani tribe (from Nigeria and central Africa), The Maasai people (Kenya), Soura tribe (India), Asain Hill Tribes (SouthEast Asia), The Huaorani Tribe (Ecuador). What to use as ear stretching lube? Find an organic lubricant. We sell our very own...BodyJ4You Holey Butt'r it’s a premium ear care crème to maintain stretched ear lobes. Contains a natural blend of emollients and moisturizers including Karanja oil, Jojoba Oil, and Soy Butter. Why does ear stretching smell? The smell is caused from dead skin cells, bacteria, and an oily secretion that secreteS from the ears called sebum. When you mix all those together it makes a stinky smell. To prevent the stinky smell make sure you are cleaning your jewelry, and your ears. Check out this post to see exactly how to go about taking care of your ears. CLICK HERE
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