Tapers are cone-shaped tools used to stretch ear piercings to a larger size. You insert the narrow end into your piercing and slowly push it through until the lobe accommodates the wider end, then immediately follow with a plug to hold the stretch. The process is straightforward, but doing it safely requires the right materials, proper timing between sizes, and knowing what to avoid.
Choose the Right Taper Material
Stainless steel is the best material for stretching tapers. It can be fully sterilized, and its polished surface slides through the piercing smoothly. Acrylic tapers are cheaper and widely available, but they can’t be sterilized and their surface scratches easily, creating tiny grooves where bacteria collect. If you do use an acrylic taper, inspect it for rough spots before inserting it, and never leave acrylic in a fresh stretch.
Stone tapers should not be used for stretching at all. Stone is porous and harbors bacteria, making it unsuitable for contact with freshly stretched skin. Stone pieces are meant to be worn as jewelry in fully healed stretches only.
Step-by-Step Taper Insertion
Start by washing your hands thoroughly and cleaning both the taper and your earlobe. Apply a lubricant to the taper and your lobe. Good options include jojoba oil, vitamin E oil, emu oil, or bio oil. Vitamin E is the most accessible since you can buy capsules at any drugstore and squeeze the oil out.
Insert the narrow end of the taper into your piercing and push gently. Go slowly. If you feel sharp pain or significant resistance, stop. That means your ear isn’t ready for this size yet. The taper should slide through with mild pressure and perhaps some tightness, but not pain.
Once the taper is all the way through, immediately follow it with a plug at the larger end. Line the plug up against the back of the taper and push it into place as you slide the taper out. This keeps the piercing from shrinking back. Repeat for the other ear, then leave the plugs in and let your lobes heal.
Understand Gauge Sizes Before You Start
Gauge sizing can be confusing because the numbers run backwards: a higher gauge number means a smaller size. Standard ear piercings are done at 20g or 18g (about 1mm). Sizes increase in even numbers from there: 16g, 14g, 12g, 10g, and so on. After 0g (8mm), the next size is 00g (10mm, pronounced “double zero gauge”). Beyond 00g, sizes switch to fractions of an inch, starting at 7/16″.
One critical detail: the jumps between sizes aren’t equal. Going from 8g to 6g is a 1mm increase. But stretching from 2g to 0g is a 2mm jump, twice as large. This is why larger stretches need more healing time and more patience. Forcing a bigger jump is one of the fastest ways to damage your ear.
How Long to Wait Between Sizes
Wait at least one month between stretches, though six to eight weeks is safer. The recommended timeline gets longer as sizes increase because the jumps get bigger and the tissue needs more recovery:
- 16g to 14g: 1 to 2 months
- 14g to 12g: 1 to 2 months
- 12g to 10g: 2 to 3 months
- 10g to 8g: 2 to 3 months
- 8g to 6g: 3 to 4 months
- 6g to 4g: 3 to 4 months
- 4g to 2g: 3 to 4 months
- 2g to 0g: 4 to 5 months
- 0g to 00g: 4 to 6 months
If the taper won’t slide through or you feel real resistance, that’s your ear telling you it needs more time. Waiting an extra few weeks is always better than pushing through and creating scar tissue that makes future stretches harder.
Never Wear Tapers as Jewelry
This is one of the most common mistakes in ear stretching. Tapers are tools, not earrings. The Association of Professional Piercers classifies tapers as professional instruments, comparable to piercing needles, and states they are not meant to stay in your ear.
Tapered jewelry like talons, taper pins, or spirals might look similar, but wearing them causes problems. Their uneven weight distribution puts constant pressure on one side of the piercing, gradually thinning the tissue. The O-rings used to hold tapered pieces in place add irritation on top of that. Over time, this leads to uneven stretching and weakened lobes. Once you’ve used a taper to stretch, switch to a flat plug or tunnel and leave the taper in your jewelry box.
How to Prevent and Spot a Blowout
A blowout is the most common complication from stretching too fast. It happens when the inner lining of the piercing gets pushed out the back, forming a ring of scar tissue that makes the hole look like it’s turning inside out. Blowouts typically cause sharp pain and visible inflammation.
Prevention comes down to two things: not skipping sizes and not rushing the timeline. Regular oil massages also help. Gently massaging your lobes for 5 to 10 minutes with jojoba or vitamin E oil breaks down scar tissue and keeps the skin flexible. This is worth doing a few times a week between stretches.
If you notice a ring of tissue forming behind your jewelry or feel sudden sharp pain after a stretch, act quickly. Downsize to a smaller plug to relieve pressure and let the tissue recover. Catching it early makes it far more likely to heal without permanent scarring. If the area shows signs of infection, such as spreading redness, heat, or discharge that doesn’t improve within two days, have a healthcare provider look at it.
Aftercare Between Stretches
After each stretch, treat your ears like a fresh piercing for the first few weeks. Keep them clean, avoid sleeping directly on them if possible, and don’t remove the plugs unnecessarily. Once the initial healing phase passes, regular oil massages become your main maintenance tool. The oil softens scar tissue that builds up during stretching and keeps your lobes supple for the next size up.
Patience is the single biggest factor in healthy ear stretching. Reaching a goal size of 00g from a standard piercing takes roughly two years when done properly. Rushing that timeline is how people end up with thinned lobes, blowouts, or tears that limit how far they can ultimately stretch.