Why Do My Freshly Stretched Lobe Piercings Feel Warm?
It’s not uncommon for people stretching their ears to take extra precaution to avoid blowouts and infections. That’s why we recommend taking things extremely slow when choosing your plugs and jumping from size to size. However, have you just stretched your ears only to realize that they feel warm after? This could be due to two reasons.
Reason One: Natural Inflammatory Response
Although you aren’t actually piercing the area, you are causing minor trauma to your fistula. This causes your body to react and an inflammatory response will naturally occur. During an inflammatory response, your blood vessels dilate to allow for more blood flow to the area. Due to more blood flowing to the area, your freshly stretched lobe piercings will feel slightly warm and they might appear swollen and red. It’s important to remember that this is completely natural and you shouldn’t worry too much.
Reason Two: You’re Damaging the Tissue
When you’re stretching, it’s important that you don’t force it. When you’re stretching from size to size, it’s important that you give your lobes time for the tissue to recuperate and stabilize before you stretch them again.
If your ears feel extremely warm, it could be that you’re forcing the stretch when your ears aren’t ready. When you force the stretch, you’re damaging the tissue, which causes your body to react with a natural inflammatory response. However, due to the damaged tissue, your body will create more blood flow to the area than during a non-forced stretch that only causes minor trauma to the area. The increased blood flow is what causes your ears to feel warmer, more swollen, and more red. Damaged tissue could result in scar tissue buildup, ear lobe thinning, or blowouts.
When your ears are healed, which can take weeks or even months, be sure to check out our selection of wood jewelry. We have plugs made from a variety of wood types.
Written by Jackie Rachel
