Beads would be made into beautiful pieces of jewelry and worn in both cartilage and ear piercings. These body modifications made up a major part of Maasai culture. Another example of a culture that has been ear stretching for years is the Huaorani tribes of the Amazon.
These tribes have been known for their fierceness and close ties with animals. However, like the Masai, the Huaorani tribes have also granted much importance to beauty enhancement. Both men and women began spacing their ears very early, beginning in their childhood years.
The initial piercing procedure would be performed with a spine from the trunk of a tree. After that, the Huaorani would stretch their lobes using wood or stone plugs of increasing size.
At a certain age, the peoples of the tribe would remove their plugs and leave their piercings with no decorations for a wholesomely natural look. Today, tribes such as the Masai and Huaorani, affected by the intervention of the Western world, have begun to abandon some of their traditions.
But whereas the indigenous peoples are giving up on their old valued customs, some of these customs have caught on in the modern world. For instance, ear stretching, the boldest of Masai and Huaorani traditions, is currently becoming a massive trend.
Plugs of all shapes and sizes are being crafted by jewelers worldwide. These materials allow for more variety and color to show up in piercings. The bold color is not welcome everywhere, of course. Some employers frown upon employees with any kind of body modification. However, despite this, both men and women are expressing interest in ear stretching. And it is certainly becoming more and more socially accepted all over the world and amongst all age groups. Every day, more and more people of all ages and genders are getting their ears pierced and stretching.
Stretching an ear piercing takes time and must be done slowly and patiently to avoid tearing of the earlobe. Once the piercing has been stretched as far as you want it, you can wear wide-gauge or hollow jewelry in the enlarged hole. Trends in body piercing and body modification tend to come in waves.
In the United States, ear stretching has been fashionable for several years. According to Elayne Angel's book, "The Piercing Bible," ear stretching is receiving greater visibility and acceptability in wider society as more people choose this form of body modification 3. Ear stretching is also associated with certain social cliques and subcultures. Punk and emo musicians and fans, for example, are relatively likely to stretch their ear piercings, as this body modification is associated with contemporary punk fashion and lifestyle choices.
The stretching of ear piercings is traditional in certain tribal and indigenous cultures of the world, according to "The Piercing Bible. A person of an ethnic or geographical heritage in which ear stretching is a cultural tradition may choose to stretch a piercing as a way to staying connected with her cultural roots. A regular ear piercing is not inherently permanent.
A small-gauge piercing, if left without jewelry for a long period, will typically heal itself. Hard-core modifiers have to up the ante to defy the commercialisation of the practice, Prof Pitts-Taylor suggests. The more you stretch the skin, the more commitment you are expressing to a counter cultural look. People who are obsessed with getting the largest stretch possible are known in the business as a "gauge queen" or "gauge king", according to Fox.
There are many ways to stretch ear lobes. You can gradually stretch the skin using different sized tapers cone-shaped pieces of jewellery. This requires patience. For those who want an immediate result, there's dermal punching. This works like a hole punch and will create an instant gap. Mellor advises customers to take the gradual approach. Applying excess pressure can squeeze flesh from the inside of the lobe to the outside, causing what's known as a "blow out", she says.
This can leave people with scarring. There is a point of no return but it varies. A stretched piercing can shrink back to its original size but this depends on several factors including the length of time taken to stretch and the elasticity of the skin. In some cases, if you stretch too fast or by too much, the lobe can split. They are thinking about the future.
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