Body Piercing: What Are Ear Plugs?

Ear plugs of modern times are a fancy term for very thick earrings that you plug into a stretched hole in your ear.They range in materials from surgical steel and plastic to amber and wood, and everything in between.

This relatively new fad is reminiscent to many who studied the "Lip Disc" tribes of Africa while in grammar school.Some ear plugs do go to the same extreme as these discs, and many people like to see exactly what they can fit into the hole in their earlobe.Quarters and shot glasses have been seen in many earlobes across the malls of our country.

For those questioning how one would go about putting a plug into their ear, it is a long and slightly painful process.You have to start with a gauge of earring that is a bit larger than a normal sized earring.For example, a typical ear is pierced with a gun and twenty gauge stud.In order to safely stretch out your earlobe, it will be necessary to gradually increase the size of the stud.The next stud that you will need is an eighteen gauge, as the gauge numbers get smaller as the size gets bigger, just like in a wire.

It is important to leave each size stud in until your ear is fully healed, before moving on to the next size.In general this takes about 4 weeks, but every body varies.After the ear is fully healed, wait an additional 2 weeks before stretching.Count on waiting between 6 and 8 weeks between going up in sizes.

After you have achieved the size hole in your ear that you would like, you can leave in your plugs for as long as you like.A typical size plug is a zero or double zero, and can come in a wide variety of colors and shapes.The world of ear plugs is now yours for the taking.

One very popular look is a surgical steel ring placed into the hole in your ear, showing off your new hole's circumference.Many individuals accent this type of plug with a traditional hoop earring placed through the plug.This double earring design is still trendy, but tends to give you a more conservative touch to your plug.This is popular for the mid-twenties crowd of former skateboarders who are getting married and having children.

A bit of advice for those considering stretching out their earlobes: At some point in your life, you may not want plugs anymore.It will be difficult to have your earlobes shrink back to normal, and past a certain size it will be impossible without plastic surgery. Depending on your career path, you might have some difficulties landing your dream job with giant holes in your earlobes.Make sure that you have thought out what you will be doing before you start the process.