Jr. Suarez is an average teenage student who walks down the halls of Penn Manor. There are just a few exceptions, he has quarter-sized ear holes, known as gauges and two lip piercings.
Although not entirely comonplace, these types of piercings are becoming more of a trend at Penn Manor. It is not unusual now for teens to sport all kind of piercings which, years earlier, may have been considered weird.
Suarez doesn’t just have one gauge and one lip ring, he has two along with his statement: “two is always better than one.”
It took Suarez a minimum of four and a half months to go from an 18 gauge to a ¾-of-an-inch gauge. He now has ¾-inch gauges and double lip piercings known as snakebites.
Jr. says about his gauges “I wanted them since the seventh grade.”
Why would someone go through the pain of having a needle through their face or stretching of their ears?
“I got my eyebrow done because I want to be different and not a lot of girls have them,” said Genny Leonards, a junior at Penn Manor.
Although Adrienne Herr, a senior, doesn’t have facial piercings, she has an opinion about people who do.
“At a first glance, facial piercings may seem scary but if you judge those who have piercings without getting to know them, then maybe you’re the one who needs to change,” said Herr.
Ear Stretching is the means by which one can gradually stretch their ear piercing. A normal pierced ear is a 18/20 gauge.The largest gauge to stretch to, without the capability of returning to the normal size, is a two gauge also considered the“point of no return” according to www.earstretching.net.
The correct way to stretch your ears is one gauge at a time (14-12, 12-10), the lower the number the larger the piercing, according to www.onetribe.nu.
If someone really wants to fix their ears from having an oversized hole they can have surgery but it shouldn’t be done until the deformity stops improving, according to www.arka-shop.co.uk.
One of the downsides of gauges is they stink.
Travis Healy said, “If you like moldy cheese then get gauges, because that’s what they smell like.”
A majority of facial piercings consist of nose, lip and eyebrow [most noticeable type of piercing.]
Work can be a problem when having facial piercings and gauges. Some work supervisors tell their workers that they will not accept any types of piercings.
Adrienne Herr said “The biggest downfall to facial piercings might only become evident later in life when students start their job search.”
Another downside is they can interfere with day-to-day activities like eating with a tongue piercing.
Genny Leonards said, “when I sleep, it [eyebrow piercing] sometimes gets caught on my pillow and becomes sore.”
Jack Gunzenhauser doesn’t see any end in sight for his gauges. He already has stretched his ear lobes close to an inch.
“Go bigger, go, go!”
By Stephanie Herr
I strongly advise against the piercing of ears through the use of foreign objects penetrating the inner ear membrane as it can induce infections of terrible nature such as the highly revered Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection.
Grats on your first story Steph 😀
I like it, I like it a lot.
:d
Nacho, do have any idea what you’re talking about? The inner ear membrane is ~inside~ your head, and Staphylococcus aureus is a weak bacteria that already lives on the skin and, on it’s own, only causes pimples.
“years earlier, may have been considered weird.” – It is still considered very weird to ruin your ears.
i think it is a personal preference it is your choice to do whatever you want
piercings are sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?
been there and done that, and everything went back to normal
I love trying new things and being different. I used to have my ears gauged to a double zero and mine still closed. In this article it says 2? I hope jobs soon realize that there is nothing wrong with piercings and so on its just a way of expressing yourself
yep i had mine at zeros and they sealed up when i took them out so good page. :0
I have to say Brian Gorski’s gauges are by far the best
I myself have piercings, but only basic piercings through the ears. I refuse to gauge them, and I will most definitely not get any other piercings. While I think that, yes, it is a way of people expressing themselves, no, people should not gauge their ears or pierce random things. You were made with the body you have, and doing such things would simply be defiling it, and often such things can be grotesque. I have a friend that has her nose pierced, and it is constantly getting infected since there isn’t a very easy way to clean it. I knew another girl who had her tongue pierced, and she was constantly swallowing the balls on the stud, having to replace them frequently. My sister will not get her ears pierced, and is going the safe and smart road by using clip-ons. You can get earrings, belly-button rings, and liprings that are clip-ons. They are much more sanatary and safe, and if you change your mind and don’t want them anymore, they won’t leave any type of scar or hole what-so-ever.
Courtney, If you have something against piercings, then don’t get one, its your choice just as well as theirs.
Infections suck
No, I do not like most piercings, but yes, people like to expres themselves. Hence the segment on the safeness of clip-ons. Piercings can be very distracting, very distracting, indeed.
I have my lip pierced (which is my favorite piercing) and many other piercings as well. I love it! Believe me..getting piercings in your ears,lip, and nose are painless, it’s ridiculous how unnoticeable they feel.
people who said they had there’s at a bigger size then 2, notice it says according to http://www.earstretching.net , they may state that fact because that’s the norm, some of you who had bigger have a different body and ears so i suggest reading before criticizing.
I think that piercings are a normal accessory right now. They are very popular. Saying you were born with the body you have would also suggest that you shouldn’t cut, style, or dye your hair, try to lose weight, wear nice and fancy clothes, or wear any makeup. There is no issue with having metal in your face. I do not think that it is a distraction at all, more of a body enhancement.
Yes, I cut my hair. Otherwise I’d probably be walking on it. I don’t really style it often, just leave it au natural. I don’t dye it. I don’t wear makeup. I’m happy with my body weight, I am an average weight, not overweight, not underweight. I more often than not wear t-shirts and jeans with converse. I dress up for formal events, true, but I don’t dress up just to go to church. And I’m not talking about al of those things. Things such as piercings and tatoos are permanent. Although piercings will close, there will always be a scar. Tatoos never wear off, unless you get laser removal, in which case there is still a scar. You are free to express yourself, but these things that I am refering to are permanent. I don’t think you should permanently alter your body. True, I did, but there are more sterile, healthy ways to express yourself than that.