Gauged Earrings

We humans have been obsessed with enhancing our appearance. This is not only a recent trend but has been there since the times of the first early man. These body modifications at first were a tradition that bound a tribe together, it signified the passing into adult life and instilled a sense of belonging among the tribe. Even to this day, one can distinguish between different tribes because of these modifications. A tribe in the forests of Burma is known for their women's long stretched necks, the Mursi tribe in Ethiopia is known for the disc that they place in their lips, there too this is a sign of beauty for a woman. The bigger the disc the prettier she is considered.

The latest gauged earring fad is influenced from such tribal traditions. Of all the types of body piercings, personally I feel, this is one of the most radical styles of self expression.

For Women

Jewelry is measured in gauges, gauged earrings are used with the intention of stretching the earlobe. There are many types of gauged earrings available, one can pick anything from organic, to straight rod to spiral gauged earrings. Women generally prefer spiral as with these earrings the ears are not stretched to that extent. Moreover, one can pick loads of artistic gauged spiral earrings.

The right way to stretch the earlobe is to buy a gauged earring according to how wide you want your earlobe to stretch, then massage the ear with some olive oil or something similar and then insert the tapered jewelry into the ear piercing. Tapered jewelry helps you to increase the piercing to the size that you want and then you can wear the gauge earrings accordingly. It is best to gauge your ears when you are taking a warm shower as steam makes the skin more flexible.

For Men

This gauged earring style is more popular among men. It is generally supported by men who want to break away from stereotype. Gauged ears is more of an occult following, where the people supporting them are not afraid to break the rules. Gauging ears takes time so one needs a lot of patience, the best type of gauge earrings to gauge ears for beginners are cylindrical earrings. These are tube like earrings which resemble the traditional earrings worn by Hawaiian men. You must be wondering why can't a person get a big piercing to fit in their gauge jewelry, well the reason is, that most piercers refuse to remove a large piece of flesh from the earlobe, as in this case, it is difficult to get the earlobe back to normal size. The standard size that most piercers use is 18 to 20 gauge needles. It is best to consult a professional before you attempt to gauge your ears yourself.

These ear piercing tips will be helpful if you are interested in getting your ears gauged.

• Get your ears pierced by the traditional method, that is with a needle. Ears pierced through this method heal faster so you can begin your gauging much sooner.
• Wear a normal but slightly thick earring initially, till the ear heals completely.
• Get your hand on tapers and increase the size gradually every month till you get to the desired width.
• Once you have the right size for your piercing, you can insert the gauge earrings.

So this was everything that I know about gauged earrings. I almost forgot, the tapers have to go in, at one go. So, if you are planning to do it, yourself be prepared for the pain. Till then, take care and remember too big a piercing would mean that you can't wear normal sized jewelry again.