For those of you who aren't too sure what gauged piercings are, here is a kinda sorta definition...

Gauging your ears is when you stretch them by either getting them pierced {big ol' chunk} into a bigger hole, or stretch the already pierced ear, using larger and larger earrings {tappers}.


Anyways...

It's all the rage now by what I can see.
When I first started doing mine, not many people had them, but now even the ghetto, rap lovers have them, even though their tiny as heck and almost pointless!

I didn't do the quick way of getting it pierced into a larger hole, I slowly progressed by stretching them little by little with different sized tappers.

I never really wanted to go to big, but at the moment one ear is at 0 and the other is at a 2.
I've been wanting to get the 2 to a 0, but it's oh so painful. D;

Now i'm kind of regretting doing it because they can get awfully stinky, and sometimes my boyfriend will even complain if he gets too close. I do wash them frequently but the smell comes back in no time.

The main reason I decided to stretch my ears, is because of the style of earrings.
I like the unique jewelry, and when I had regular sized piercings, I could never find a normal set of earrings that fit me.


Okay! Enough with my ramble...
DISCUSS!
~ What do you think about gauged ears?
~ Would you gauge your's?
~ Tell me your gauging story!
~ Other piercings?! Tattoos, perhaps?

F.A.Q

Why do they get smelly?
The smell is caused by dead skin cell build-up, though this is normal because your body produces dead skin cells everyday.
Even though you wouldn't be able to smell it normaly, the dead cells are trapped more easily by the jewlery.
ALSO, the moisture that is left in there from showering is a part of it too.
All you could do is clean regularly, it's just a downside to having stretched ears! D;

What about when you're old? Will gauged ears ever go back to normal?
As far as I know, and i've heard this from multiple people and also have seen it for myself.
If you go past the size 0, it will no longer be able to go back to normal but as long as your at a 0 or less, you could take them out and they'll shrink back.
I am 0 myself, and if they fall out when I sleep, by the morning they can get to almost the regular looking size! So just imagine having them out for a week or two, you'd have your normal piercing hold back!

I'll be honest without being completely blunt. I can't say that I like them. They're just um...gross.

I'm scared of getting my ears pierced, let alone doing that to them. o.o;

I don't really like the sound of them. They look painful. Extremely painful. And smelling bad for fashion doesn't really appeal to me either. Dx

Blah.
In my opinion,
Gaging is absolutely disgusting and revolting.
Similar to tattooing,
But worse.
With tattoos,
Some can be elegant,
But gaging just gets worse and worse.
The holes bigger and bigger.
What about when you are all old and saggy?
Wrinkly too!
D:
Think how big those gross ol' holes will be!
Blah.
I just think the whole idea is stupid.
I mean,
Some native do stuff similar,
But they are native.
Their culture is different.

They look wierd and make the person with them look stupid and give the impression that you've got nothing better to do and want to rebel but are scared of what you're parents will say if you get your nose done or a tattoo.

Being blunt, but I can't help but think how pathetic it is.

I think they're really disgusting, tbh.

There's no way I would put my ear through that, I don't even like looking at them on anyone else. I especially hate when people use those ring-type gauges that you can actually see all the way through their ear.

Yeah, I find those kind of piercings gross as well. Besides the fact that it looks like someone took a hole punch to your ear it does smell pretty nasty. Usually I'm looking around thinking to myself, "Geez, where's the road kill?" and it'll be result of the massive gauge in someone's ear. I know it's because of that because when I first got my ears pierced one got infected because the lady did it wrong and the wound smelled like dry blood until it was healed. ><; Also, even if it's the latest fad, it just looks tacky and people with piercings like that drive me nuts. Of course everyone's different and not all people that get those sorts of piercings are bad but it never looks right. No matter who you are.

My boyfriend had um... I think 6's at one point but now he's back down to a 10 in both ears because his Job made him take his out...

I like the smaller sizes... like 6's or even 8's... But I wouldn't want him to get anything bigger than that... I had a friend that had 0's in both ears and they always freaked me out... Especially when he would hang my house keys from them... :x

Hmm... I never knew they got stinky... Ewwwww!!!

I think they're mostly pretty haggard-looking, but my bottom set of earrings are 14-gauge. XD All the rest are regular-size.

The ones that are like the size in that picture don't really bother me.

Now the really big ones that some people get..well that is just kinda gross in my point of view. I have heard they stink before, but luckily I haven't got that close to smell them.

Ouch!
You guys don't gatta be so harsh! xD
I suppose this is just a different crowd <<

Well, i definitely didn't stretch my own to be rebellious, my parents actually didn't mind.

Like I said, I stretched mine because I like the jewelry of gauged piercings more then regular sized earrings, I just could never find ones that weren't so girly. @[email protected]

You guys are all entitled to your opinion, though.

BUT, Eserel, it doesn't matter when you're old and saggy.
If you take out the stretched earring, the piercing hole will go back to normal over a short amount of time.
I've heard that the limit to be able to go back to normal is 0 {hence why i've stopped at 0} though, I just recently heard it doesn't matter what size, they will always go back.
So... THEY AREN'T PERMANENT!

Oh, and like some of you had said, the larger ones, like... bigger then a finger going through, are absolutely gross to me too.
Especially when their so big, they look painful and like their just about to rip @[email protected]

._. To... Put... A... Finger... Through??

I understand if you don't want girly jewerly.

o_o; But that is where I draw the line.

If you can't find good jewelery unless you murder your ears to the point of tearing, there is a problem with this world.

If I can't notice the fact that they are gauged it really doesn't bother me all that much.

But the ones where you can see through the ear kind of make me sick, you know?

Its gotta be solid jewelry or it makes me queasy. Though I kind of makes me feel silly for feeling that way.

Well you asked for opinions. If you didn't want real opinions then you shouldn't have posted. It's not meant to be personal to you.

And no, not really. All through college my crowd was the mohawks and the plugs, and the facial piercings and the tattoos... So not the wrong crowd, it's still pathetically disgusting in my opinion though. Although I'm sure a few people would say the same about tattoos.

Also, they get infected easier than regular ear piercings AND they may not be permenant but if you go really big they do leave horrible marks which ARE permenant. Plus the chance of infection is so much higher while you let them heal. Your body was not made for you to abuse it and it doesn't handle it well.

I don't mind if other people have gauged ears, but I don't want them. I like wearing girly earrings I guess. Why do they smell though? I've never noticed that before.

Gawd angel, who crawled up your ass and started pulling things? Giving your opinion on gaged ears is one thing.... but your "Opinion" is starting to sound a bit like a personal attack...

They smell when they're infected. Which by the way is gross.

There's nothing personal about anything I've said, just generalizations and facts.

I'm considering getting small gauges, but I probably won't because they seem like a pain to take care of. When I got my lip pierced, I was good about rinsing the piercings, rinsing with mouthwash, and brushing my teeth alllll the time, but gauges seem so much more high maintenance. :P

I think people that get the really large gauges are kind of foolish. When you get tired of them you'll have floppy earlobes. It's kind of gross really...

But then again, it's their life, they can do what they want. XD And some people pull it off well.

Originally Posted by Jayms_fallen_angel

Well you asked for opinions. If you didn't want real opinions then you shouldn't have posted. It's not meant to be personal to you.

With all due respect, opinions on the subject at hand are one thing. Sometimes subjects of beauty can turn toward judgments on people. :3

I've seen people where gauged stuff well. And I've seen it look really tacky too. I wouldn't do it myself, but I have no issue with it.

High heels are probably worse for one in the long run anyway. And those are accepted, even with the horrible foot problems that come with them.

The little ones are alright. I wouldn't get my ears gauged... ouch.

But the big ones are absolutely fucking disgusting. Seriously, why would you do that to your poor ear?

personally I think they look disgusting D:
there's really nothing that makes sense to me in doing so.
really.. I'm sure someone thinks they are beautiful or something, but I don't see anything like that in them -.-

A friend of mine has gauged piercings. She uses tappers >w<

She has quite a big hole in her left ear, several mm wide, and a smaller but still relatively large hole in her right ear XD;

I wouldn't have them myself, but i do have three piercings in my left ear. And that's all I'll ever have! XD

But I think they look pretty groovy. And if I hear anyone else say 'Ew, but she'll have big floppy ears when she's 70' I might punch them. XD That's all I hear, and srsly, it's her choice. I'm sure she KNOWS she'll have that when she's 70, guys! XD;;

I think they suit some people.
I dont really care about the 'what happens when you're older' if we applied that to everything, we'd do nothing. They shrink when you take them out anyway..so you're probably not left with gaping holes, and you can always get them sewn by a doctor then they heal up.
One of my friend has a long purple curved spike through hers, it looks pretty mad. Her hole is fairly small, I dunno what gauge though.
I like the interesting ones, not just the silver holes, but they look good too.
I have three peircings in each ear, not sure that I'd stretch them ever though, I don't like pain much.
They're like super popular in the punky/emo/skaterish type groups over here in Australia atm too.
Each to their own. ^^

I know people that had to reconstruct their ears because they stretched them too far. The ear doesn’t always shrink back to normal when the gauges are taken out. Anything past a 0 is gross in my opinion. I don’t mind the smaller gauges, but I would never do it myself. It shouldn’t smell unless you have an infection going on and if that’s the case I wouldn’t keep the piercing in.