Gauging and Stretching are merely terms used to describe the enlarging of a piercing to increase its internal diameter to be able to wear larger more prominent jewellery. This procedure can be done to most piercings with special care taken when dealing with cartilage piercings as these piercings take much longer to stretch and are more prone to keloiding and hypertrophic scarring. It is for this reason that dermal punches are used to rather remove the cartilage.

In order to safely stretch a piercing, one should only move up one gauge size per month. Better yet, wait more than a month between stretches. This is to prevent “blowout” or tearing of the fistula.

There are many methods used to stretch a piercing, the safest and most widely practiced by far is the Tapering method, which is the method Beyond Body Modification uses. It is a method whereby conical blunt spikes, known as tapers, are used to stretch the piercing. The tapers have one end that is the size or gauge of the current piercing and a thicker end that is roughly larger than the next gauge up, meaning slightly larger than the new Jewellery that is to be inserted.

The procedure is as follows: With the aid of a hypoallergenic lubricant, the taper is slowly pushed all the way through the piercing until just before the thicker end disappears into the piercing. The jewellery is then held firmly against the thicker end and chases the taper through the entire piercing.

The other method practiced by Beyond Body Modification is a cheaper but more invasive method, known as Scalpeling. This is where an incision large enough is made through the tissue in order to fit a considerably larger piece of Jewellery.

The Scalpeling method is usually used in conjunction with the taper method. Where, after the tissue is scalpelled the taper is then inserted and the jewellery is chased through. The reason for this is that the incision is made slightly smaller than the taper and jewellery, when the jewellery and taper is eventually chased through, it has to stretch the opening slightly to fit. This slight pressure exerted from the jewellery upon the opening actually acts as a pressure” bandage” and helps stop the bleeding.

It is suggested that anyone who is unsure of the length of time they want their piercings stretched for be advised that stretching beyond 6mm, will decrease the piercing’s chances of shrinking back to its original size. This is by no means carved in stone and is largely dependent on a person’s body.

Scalpeling beyond 3.2mm will also decrease the chances of the piercing back to the size of a standard initial piercing. Should the bearer of a piercing that is stretched too big decide they wish to no longer to have such large gauge piercings will have to have the tissue surgically reconstructed, which is a very costly procedure if done through plastic surgeon. But enquire with us about other options.

So be sure before you start stretching or commit to Scalpeling!