page_title: Stretching (body piercing)
section_title: History and culture
hierarchical_section_title: Stretching (body piercing) / History and culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Kayaw, The Big-Ear Karen women with her traditional jewelry.
context_page_description: Stretching, in the context of body piercing, is the deliberate expansion of a healed piercing for the purpose of wearing certain types of jewelry. Ear piercings are the most commonly stretched piercings, with nasal septum piercings, tongue piercings and lip piercings/lip plates following close behind. While all piercings can be stretched to some degree, cartilage piercings are usually more difficult to stretch and more likely to form hypertrophic scars if stretched quickly. Dermal punching is generally the preferred method for accommodating larger jewelry in cartilage piercings.
  Stretching is usually done in small increments to minimize the potential for damaging the healed fistula or creating scar tissue. In North America, most stretching methods go up by a single even-sized gauge increment at a time. 0g, is generally considered to be "the point of no return": a hole larger than this size will rarely close to a standard piercing size. Since each body is different, any stretched piercings, no matter the size, should be approached as a permanent body modification. In Europe and most of the rest of the world, jewelry is metric, but the increments between standard sizes are similar.
context_section_description: Many young, western people have adopted the practice of stretching ear lobes for aesthetic reasons. This seems to give the impression that this is a modern practice, however it is not. Ear stretching is a ritual that has been practiced by people all over the world from ancient times. Bone, horn, wood, and stone are generally carved for ear stretching, but other organic materials that have the right shape naturally, such as shells, teeth, and claws, have also been used.
  Historically, the practice has been used for the purpose of achieving social status, to scare enemies in war, and for aesthetic purposes. It has been and still is a common practice for people in many parts of the world, including Africa, Eurasia, America, and beyond.
caption: Karen woman with stretched earlobes
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