Teenagers & ear expanders

Make-it-3

My niece (aged 14) has been talking a lot and posting photos on facebook of her expanding her ears. (I think she has forgotten she friended her ancient old aunt!)

Anyway its all new to me and suddenly I thought where is she going to stop. So I've been googling today about it. Now I have read that anything larger than a 6mm hole is past the point of no return and she's up to 8mm already. Now I don't want to seem an old fuddy duddy but she wouldn't be allowed to have other permanent body alterations at this age (ie tatoos). Is this slipping under the radar of parents? Should I tell her mother? I would imagine she is even more clueless than me as to what her daughter is doing.

Ears are pretty much permanently on display, what if this affects her job prospects when she is older.

Or am I just completely out of touch on this?

thatlemming

I did mine to 8mm when I was that age, and they're perfectly normal holes now with simple studs in. Tell her not to take it above 10mm else it will be pretty permanent.

balletshoes

her mum will have already seen the 8mm holes in your niece's ears if her ears are pretty much always on display, won't she?

there was a great thread about this a few months ago -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3533403

nothing to worry about Auntie make-it-3, as far as I can tell .

Ravenlady_2

You can get fake plug which to be honest unless she choses to use see through plugs or have the holes on display you cant tell the difference.

If she wants to stretch them tell her to do it properly and not to exceed 10mm, dont go for the quick option of getting them 'stamped' at the parlour, they will never shrink back evenly.

Make-it-3

Thanks for the link balletshoes, I'm obviously over the hill when it comes to young peoples fashion choices.

She seems to be doing it DIY, I would like to think that a parlour would require proof of age for something that sounds as aggressive as stamping.

I went thru the goth stage, wearing daggers etc and agree with you Ravenlady that there are plenty of ways to fake it, but I think there's a bit of teenage bravado/rebellion at work here especially with the ability to brag to all your facebook pals with pics these days.

Well that's my delve in the world of teenagers for the day, back to managing my differently troublesome one year old!

ellay864

My (now 17) is up to 10mm and says that's where he was always going to stop...I was mortified when he first mentioned stretching but he did it very gradually and I'm now used to it. Mostly he wears a plain silver tunnel and I don't really notice it now if I'm honest.
My DSD had hers stretched too and that bothered me more as she was at 12 or 14mm and wore some ghastly contraptions, and she was my bridesmaid! She did assure me her long hair would cover it but a few months before the wedding she was also job hunting and decided she didnt want to present herself with the big stretching. She took them out and her ears have gone back to not far off normal, even with the size she'd got to before, so it's not all as bad as you might think.

prosaver

thatlemming wrote: »

I did mine to 8mm when I was that age, and they're perfectly normal holes now with simple studs in. Tell her not to take it above 10mm else it will be pretty permanent.

i know mse says be nice to people but you really are mental
putting big holes in your ears ....
never mind youve grown up a bit now..good girl:T

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Only one thing comes to mind with teenagers with stretched lobes. The smell _pale_ . Tell her to stay well clear of the natural materials, as they seem to harbour far more ick than the synthetic ones.

If she is going to a proper place, they'll be able to give her loads of advice on hygiene and the like. And how to make sure it isn't done too quickly/the flesh isn't stretched so thin that it dies.

I don't think I've noticed any particular dislike or hatred towards them from employers - you'll always get the ones who hate tattoos, piercings and stretching, they will never change, (usually won't notice a thing if the person wears a longsleeved top, skin coloured retainers and wears their hair down) - but most of the time normal people just don't notice them if they're kept clean.

Or they are noticed but the person is not prejudiced against them.



[btw, the best way to discourage a teenager from doing something is to suggest you do it yourself - the prospect of auntie having tunnels is so shocking that it's not rebellious anymore, or you get advice not to go above xmm, or it'll look weird, that kind of thing - one of my girls thinks she might have a tattoo when she's older, but not anything that is too visible, the other took out her earrings and has nothing now]

Metranil_Vavin

ugh...sorry if anyone is offended but I think those big stretched ear holes look totally horrible.

I remember my mum went mental when I pierced my nose at 20, but at least it was a tiny hole and if I take it out, you can't see anything.

kingfisherblue

I'm with you Metranil vavin - a really awful look IMO

balletshoes

takes all sorts though eh ? the world would be a very boring place if we all had the same thoughts and opinions.