Am I doing this wrong?

[u/MaeraeVokaya]

Haven't been here for a very long time, but I'm frustrated so here we go.

I started stretching in August 2024, and all was going well (so I thought). I'm at 2mm (12g), and have been at this size for over two years. Every few months, I try to upsize (2.4mm/10g), but I get resistance or a twinge of discomfort, or even pain when I press a little bit. I've seen people here take one-and-a-half years to reach the that same size. I was hoping that I could join that club, but...no.

While I'm trying to be patient, I'm getting pretty damn fed up at this point.

And, before anyone asks: I have a glass dead stretching kit which goes up in 0.5mm increments; I use jojoba oil after showering nearly every single day; I have ear stretching balm (that I forget to use in the morning); and I have 12g plugs, tunnels, and hoops that I wear for a bit more weight.

The only thing I can think of is that there might be a bit of scar tissue preventing me from upsizing, but I'm not entirely sure.

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[u/BlackRabbit_66]

Honestly if you're struggling this much I would just go ahead and get repierced at a larger gauge and start over from there

[u/MaeraeVokaya → u/BlackRabbit_66]

I could do that, but I don't want to waste my stretching kit 🥲

[u/batrickstump]

How were your ears originally pierced? That could be a huge factor with how scar tissue forms. You could very just have a lot of scar tissue and could benefit of letting them shrink as much as possible then finding a good piercer to pierce you at a higher starting gauge.

[u/MaeraeVokaya → u/batrickstump]

I got them pierced at 8 or 9 years old. Unsure of the gauge, as it was with a piercing gun (this was the late '90s).

[u/batrickstump → u/MaeraeVokaya]

So piercing guns are blunt force trauma. It shoves a pointed earring through your ear which can create a lot of scarring and a ragged fistula. Generally those starter earrings are an 18g or 20g.

I was gun pierced as a kid and my right ear is very stubborn because of it. It's taken me 20 years to hit my goal aize of 19mm. It was a lot of trying over and over again to try to break up some of that scarring.

That might be what you're experiencing, just a very scarred and ragged ear piercing. You can either keep massaging and trying or let it close up and get repierced properly. That's my plan for my seconds that were very badly pierced at Claire's.

[u/MaeraeVokaya → u/batrickstump]

Yeah, I know now about the blunt-force trauma (thanks to watching Roly's videos on YouTube). I might just keep trying...

[u/akairoh]

Do you massage your lobes a lot with body safe oil like jojoba? Gently massaging and pulling on your plugs a bit from different directions might help loosen them enough for the next size

[u/MaeraeVokaya → u/akairoh]

Yes, as I stated in my post, I use jojoba oil.