There shouldn’t be any permanent damage to if stretched properly, used the right methods and materials, and proper care to piercing and stretches.

The professionals who do ear gauging or stretching would have your ear skin elasticity and vascularity observed first and foremost. This is to determine its limits and sensitivities to procedures involved in stretching your ears. This is also why professionals should do the work for you.

While stretching methods don’t cause wounds and bleeding, improper conduct and wrong choice of materials and use of jewelry could damage your ears. So it’s important to know the processes involved so you could avoid causing harm and permanent damage when you decide to have your ears gauged.

For most people, regardless of age and ear tissue and size, the 12mm or 00G is the maximum stretch. Anything beyond that will most likely cause damage that will require surgery to fix.

Thus, it is important that before any more stretching is done, one needs to evaluate if going further will not cause irreparable damage to his ears and well-being. This goes the same for stretching too soon from the last procedure because unhealed tissues will likely catch infection, bleed or cause skin to break. Also, to avoid scarring or having keloids, proper care is important. Relax your stretches by taking out the gauge objects such as jewelry, tunnels or rings, and then massaging the area for proper circulation of oxygen, blood and nutrients. This will keep the lobes healthy – and ready for the next stretching, if you opt for it.

It is important as well to have clean hands all the time, use antimicrobial but gentle soap on the area, and have sea salt soaks if the stretched area seem itchy.