What is your advice on how to keep your stretched ears from getting infected?

Go slowly to stretch. If there is stinging or prolonged pain, you are going to fast, and the skin will tear. You want your skin to slowly stretch and rebound to eliminate blow-outs, or puckered out earhole edges that pop out of your larger gauged jewelry. My favorite way to stretch is with single flared glass jewelry and inexpensive plumbers tape. Wrap the plug slowly to increase the size. When your ear has settled into the size, increase again. Change to larger jewelry once the hole is large enough to accomodate it.

Clean bedding and clothes is important with a fresh stretch, or any new piercing. It’s also important to be careful not to get any stray hairs caught in your plugs or tunnels when stretching or switching plugs. Also the chances of infection are a lot higher if you rush things and blow out or Tare your ear.

When sizing up on fresh skin I always use Dial Antimicrobial soap to clean my gauges, tapers and holes. Since using it I haven’t had any issues or blowouts. Hustle bitter is a great moisturizer as well.

Don’t wear acrylic until you’re fully healed at the size you wear!

Clean clean clean! Everyday even if you don’t think it’s necessary. And moisturize your ears. As weird as that sounds, it definitely helps.