+ common sense on cutting your lobes
+ by lish, crank@got.net

(this text is NOT for those new to stretching. for information on getting 
started, see this link instead:
http://forums.bodyartforms.com/showthread.php?25448-How-do-I-stretch-my-piercing)

there is a time to scalpel, & a time to stretch. a time to downsize, & a 
time to fucking research all of this shit really well before you have 
someone take a sharp instrument to your head.

it's ALWAYS time for that last one.

here's some common sense for you: if you want your lobes to be bigger, 
DON'T REMOVE TISSUE FROM THEM.

lobe tissue isn't the same as hard cartilage. if you want a larger conch 
or helix hole, yeah, you'll find it a lot easier to punch the tissue out 
at that size due to the hard fibrocartilage which tends to ripple or even 
crack with pressure. lobes aren't the same at all. they're made of areolar 
& adipose tissue, which are fibrous & fatty respectively, & CAN MOVE with 
time & pressure.

what's this mean? it means if you have a thin spot, cutting away the 
tissue above that spot isn't going to fucking help you. it's going to make 
you THINK it's better because your lobes are larger & the thin spot isn't 
any worse - HOWEVER, you're now carrying a heavier weight than before over 
the same piece of thin tissue. so what do you think is going to happen? 
yep, your thin spot, being the path of least resistance for your entire 
lobe, is going to stretch first.

now consider this: what would happen if you were to downsize first, then 
cut a slit across the highest point over your thin spot? since lobe tissue 
is soft & (given time) can move, it's feasible that the released tissue 
could well move to support the previous bit of thinned lobe when you 
stretch up again.

consider this too: scalpelling creates new, fresh tissue which has never 
been stretched before. lots of collagen, little to no scar tissue. you can 
often even feel the difference just by rubbing a stretched lobe versus 
rubbing the unstretched upper lobe (provided you're not already getting up 
into the cartilage). so when you scalpel into it, it's reasonable to 
expect that this newly opened tissue ISN'T going to stretch the same way 
as the tissue you've been working on for the past year. remember how easy 
those first few stretches were? it's not just because the increments were 
small. by the time most people scalpel, they're wearing large, heavy 
jewelry. imagine if you had worn a weight as heavy as a 5/8" glass plug 
when your lobes were 10ga. this fresh, never-before-stretched tissue being 
weighted heavily is foremost in what causes the rubber effect many people 
experience after significant scalpelling.

the solution: if you have good placement, then stretch. if placement is an 
issue - & this counts folks who have a large triangle of untouched upper 
lobe who desire to open it up to their primary lobe hole - then scalpel 
only in small increments, & don't remove tissue. only in rare cases is 
tissue removal necessary - if there's any question AT ALL, then it's not 
necessary. scalpelling in small increments (1mm or so) DOES mean you have 
to wait longer for your end result, but you'll get there SAFELY, & you 
won't overshoot your end goal with thin rubber ears that won't properly 
downsize because you've blown all the collagen.

remember, you can always cut a bit more in a month or two, but you can't 
UNcut, & there are no guarantees that downsizing/restretching will ever 
restore tissue once taken away.

your ears are YOUR responsibility. they're YOUR body. be cautious of who 
you trust to modify them.