A bit of light stretching

Based on various conversations I've had about getting my lobes stretched I think it is prudent at this point to provide a little clarification.  Having a lobe piercing stretched does not, contrary to popular belief, mean that I have large, gaping holes in my ears.  It is certainly the process by which people obtain large, gaping holes in their ears, but there is a great deal of middle ground to occupy.  The single flared tunnels I'm wearing right now aren't even distinguishable, upon a cursory inspection while I am wearing them, as being larger than a typical stud.

Moving on, I got the last of my ear lobe piercings stretched to 10 gauge today (I put up a page with a quick discussion of piercing sizes to give some idea of where 10 gauge lies in the aforementioned middle ground).  This piercing (the second one up my lobe) was done in 1996 ... with a gun, at a hairdresser if I recall correctly, just like the other lobe piercing that I'd already stretched.  The original studs were roughly 16 gauge (I haven't take a caliper to them yet), but over the years they'd loosened a lot so they went up to 10 gauge with just a quick stab with a taper and some new jewellery.  Here's a quick cell phone pic I took this afternoon (this way I also get to show off my daith piercing).

I bet it's not what you expect when you hear someone say "I got my ear lobes stretched today" ...