How to Measure Your Current Plug Size at Home

So, you’ve been stretching your ears for a while, or maybe you stumbled upon a rogue pair of plugs in a drawer and can’t remember if they are a 2G or a 0G. We’ve all been there.

Knowing your exact plug size is crucial for buying new body jewelry and, more importantly, keeping your earlobes healthy. Guessing can lead to painful micro-tears or jewelry falling out. Fortunately, you don’t need a trip to a piercing studio to figure it out. Here is how to measure your plug size accurately at home.

Method 1: The Digital Caliper

If you want absolute precision, a pair of digital calipers is your best friend. You can grab a budget-friendly plastic pair online or at a local hardware store. For anyone serious about ear stretching, they are worth every penny.

How to do it: Clean your jewelry first. Open the caliper jaws, place the wearable area (the flat middle part of the plug where your earlobe actually sits, not the flared outer edges) between them, and gently close the jaws until they snugly grip the plug. Read the measurement in millimeters for the most accurate sizing.

Method 2: The Sizing Card or Gauge Wheel

All of our orders from UBJ and shipped with a sizing card, or you can buy a metal gauge wheel.

How to do it: These tools have physical holes cut out to match standard gauge sizes. Simply try sliding your plug into the holes until you find the perfect match. The plug should fit snugly without having to force it through, and there shouldn't be any daylight filtering through the gaps. This method works best for straight plugs or single-flares; double-flares can be tricky to slide through a card.

Method 3: The Printable Size Chart

No tools? No problem. You can easily find a printable plug size chart online.

How to do it: Print the chart out at 100% scale. Ensure your printer settings don't have "fit to page" checked, or the proportions will be entirely wrong (most charts have a handy reference image, like a quarter, to verify the print scale). Once printed, place your plug directly onto the circles on the page until you find the exact match for the plug's wearable diameter.

Gauge vs. Millimeter

Body jewelry sizing can get confusing because the American Wire Gauge (AWG) system counts downward as the size gets larger, up until you hit 00G. After that, it switches to fractions of an inch. Because different manufacturers can vary slightly, always rely on millimeters for the safest bet. To see how millimeters convert to gauge sizes, check out our plug gauge chart here.