How to Properly Gauge Your Ears

We see a lot of people with gauged ear piercings. Some of which we don’t even expect to be interested in piercings. I am married to a piercing technician and after working at Spencer Gifts for two years, I’ve noticed that most people gauge their ears in the most painful ways. This is a guide to make this process easier and less painful.

When most people gauge their ears, they go to their local Spencers, Hot Topic or Piercing Parlor to get tapers. My advice is don’t get tapers! Not only is this process more painful, there is a risk of keliods, excessive bleeding, and worst of all “blowing out your ear.” “Blowing out your ear” is very painful plus you will have an unsightly flap of skin that pops out when you gauge too early or before the piercing has had enough time to heal.

I have a 0G in my ear(first hole) and 6G(second hole) and when I take out my piercing, the hole that remains does not look like a butt hole. It looks like a hole. I achieved this without much pain and no tapers. I use simple fishing weights bought at any local store such as Walmart, K-Mart, etc. With those I paint a layer of clear coat(nail polish will due fine) to protect my flesh since the weights are primarily lead. After that I simply hang them from the 14G hoops in my ear and allow my ears to gauge naturally. Time frame varies with the weight used.

After getting up in size(maybe about a 6G), I wore tunnels,put a hoop inside the tunnel, and hung the weight from the hoop. The same principle applies even after going up in size. You can also achieve this by adding jewelry to your existing jewelry. With using weights instead of tunnels, I never bled and it barely hurt. I do admit that going from a 2G to a 0G hurt a little more than expected on the left ear but everyone has a side of the body that is a little more resistant to body modification.

My husband has used this process for all of his clients. Even though he is not extremely gauged, he is at a 7/8″. He used the weights up until he hit 716″ and then his ears gauged naturally without weights. Although this process takes more time and is not for the impatient, it is so much healthier and less painful.

When you decide to gauge your ears, do your research. Don’t just go and grab some tapers and make a hasty decision. The best thing about gauging ears is that the hole does shrink back. After a certain gauge, it probably will not shrink back to a “normal” size but it will shrink. If you gauge improperly, your ear may never be the same again. As a wife of a piercing technician, I implore to please be safe when modifying your body. We see too many people on a weekly basis that are not safe and have to pay the price.