What Are Ear Gauge Sizes? Safe Piercing Stretching 101

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Learn the best earring styles to use while stretching

Co-authored by Trinity Kesterke and Elaine Heredia, BA

Last Updated: August 18, 2026 Fact Checked

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Ear Gauge Sizing Explained

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Ear Gauge Progression

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Gauge Types & Materials

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Ear Stretching Methods

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Safe Ear Stretching

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Stretching your earlobe piercings to fit larger gauges is a slow but rewarding process, and many people really dig how they look when they're done! If you're interested in how big you can go or what type of earrings to buy for your next stretch, we can help. This article will explain how ear gauge sizes work, what ear gauge progression looks like, and the best gauge earring types and materials for stretching. We also spoke exclusively with piercing experts to advise you on the most popular ear stretching methods and how to stretch your ear piercings safely. Let's go!

Ear Gauge Size Chart

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A chart showing ear gauge sizes in guage, inches, and millimeters.

Ear piercings are sized in gauges, inches (in), and millimeters (mm). Gauge is a measurement of the thickness of the jewelry that can fit inside your piercing. The higher the gauge, the smaller the piercing. The smallest gauge is 20g, and the largest is 00g. Sizes above 00g are expressed in inches and millimeters only.

Section 1 of 5:

Ear Gauge Sizing Explained

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Ear piercings are sized in gauges (g), inches (in), and millimeters (mm). A gauge is basically just a measurement of the thickness of the jewelry that can fit through your piercing. The bigger the gauge number, the thinner the earring. For example, the smallest ear piercing size is 20 g. Then, as the gauge number gets smaller, the earring gets thicker. This is a little confusing to some people, so many piercers and jewelry companies convert gauge to inches or millimeters. After 00G, which is equivalent to about ⅜ in (10 mm), the sizing switches from gauge to inches and millimeters only. Here's a breakdown of how the 3 different ear gauge sizing standards correspond:^{[1]
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- 20 g: 1/32 in (0.8 mm)
- 18 g: 1/32 in (1 mm)
- 16 g: 3/64 in (1.2 mm)
- 14 g: 1/16 in (1.6 mm)
- 12 g: 5/64 in (2 mm)
- 10 g: 3/32 in (2.4 mm)
- 8 g: ⅛ in (3.2 mm)
- 6 g: 5/32 in (4 mm)
- 4 g: 3/16 in (5 mm)
- 2 g: ¼ in (6 mm)
- 0 g: 5/16 in (8 mm)
- 00 g: ⅜ in (10 mm)
- 7/16 in (11 mm)
- ½ in (12.7 mm)
- 9/16 in (14 mm)
- ⅝ in (16 mm)
- ¾ in (19 mm)
- ⅞ in (22 mm)
- 1 in (25.4 mm)
Meet the wikiHow Experts

Trinity Kesterke is a piercing expert with over 9 years of experience. She specializes in maximal ear curations.

Brian Thompson is a piercing expert and the CEO of The World Famous Body Electric Tattoo. His shop has been featured on hit reality TV shows.

Section 2 of 5:

Ear Gauge Progression Overview

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The minimum amount of time you should wait to move up to the next gauge size is 4-6 weeks. However, many tattoo artists recommend waiting 2-3 months (or more) between stretches. The goal isn't speed, but rather giving your earlobes plenty of time to heal and adjust to each new gauge size. Sizing up quickly is not recommended because it can lead to serious health problems like blowouts, tears, and infections.^{[2]
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Section 3 of 5:

Best Gauge Earring Types & Materials

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Wear glass or surgical steel single flare plug earrings while stretching. Glass and surgical steel are both hypoallergenic, non-porous materials that won't hold onto bacteria. This means you're more likely to avoid an infection while your ears are healing. Choose a single flare plug, which fills the piercing and has a flare on one end and an O-ring on the other to keep it in place. It's easy to insert and remove, and it won't irritate your lobes.^{[3]
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- Once your earlobes are healed, you can switch to organic materials like wood or stone, or silicone (provided you're not allergic or sensitive to any of these materials). But as soon as you start stretching again, go back to glass or surgical steel!
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Wear stone, wood, bone, or silicone earrings in different styles when your lobes are healed. Once your ear lobes are completely healed after a stretch, you can start experimenting with a wide range of earring materials and styles. Stone, wood, bone, and silicone are all great earring choices that won't break down easily (and look cool!). You can continue to wear single flare plugs, or you can graduate to one of these options:^{[4]
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- Double flare plug: This style is like the single flare plug, but with a flare on both ends. You'll have to stretch your lobe just slightly to fit the flare inside it, which is why it's important to only wear it when your ears are 100% healed.
- Tunnel or eyelet: This style is basically a ring that sits inside the edge of your piercing, so you can still see the hole in your earlobe on the inside of it.
- Hangers: This style hangs freely from your piercing, like a normal dangly earring. It can come in just about any shape you want. Because hangers can be somewhat heavy, they're not safe for piercings that are in the process of stretching.

Section 4 of 5:

Ear Stretching Methods

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Tapering The most popular way to stretch your ear piercings is to use a surgical steel taper. Piercing expert Trinity Kesterke describes a taper as "a tool that starts off small and then slowly tapers in size to the point that it's the larger gauge that you want to have installed." She adds that tapering will give you a circular-shaped piercing.^{[5]
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Trinity Kesterke
Piercing Expert

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- To stretch your ear with a taper, Kesterke advises taking a hot shower and loading your piercing and the taper up with lubricant.^{[6]
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- Next, she says, slowly and carefully push the taper through your piercing, starting with the narrow end and ending with the thicker end flush against your earlobe.^{[7]
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- Lastly, press a single-flare plug in the next gauge size up against the taper. With one hand holding the taper and the other holding the plug, pull the taper out of your ear. At the same time, Kesterke instructs, slide the plug into your piercing.^{[8]
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- Pro tip: If the taper won't go all the way through your ear, piercing expert Brian Thompson says not to force it. Instead, he advises leaving it in your ear for another 30 minutes, then gently try to push it through again. If it still doesn't go, "that means your ear does not want to stretch anymore." Forcing it will only give you a painful blowout!^{[9]
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Taping Taping is the most affordable method of stretching your earlobes, as it only requires single-flare plugs and tape. All you have to do is wrap a layer of Teflon tape around the part of the plug that sits into your piercing. This creates another millimeter or two of thickness, says Thompson, which is a safe way to stretch your piercing. He recommends using Teflon tape because most people don't have an allergic reaction to it.^{[10]
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- To stretch your ears using tape, wrap the wearing surface of your single-flare plugs in Teflon tape until you've added 1- 2 mm of thickness (use a ruler to check).
- Reinsert the plugs into your earlobes and wait a minimum of 4-6 weeks for your ears to adjust to the new stretch. Then add more tape and start over.
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Stacking Stacking is when you stretch your piercing by gradually adding more thin ring-style earrings to your piercing. Kesterke notes that this will make your piercing look more elongated and horizontal instead of round.^{[11]
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Piercing Expert

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- To stretch your ears through stacking, start with a 14 g-10 g piercing and begin wearing two to three 18 g stacking earrings right away as the piercing heals.
- Let your earlobes heal for up to 2-3 months. Then, when you notice a gap in your piercing, you're ready to add another 18 g ring or swap one of your old ones out for a 16 g.

Section 5 of 5:

How to Stretch Your Ears for Gauges Safely

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Set a goal for how big you want your gauge size to go. The best and safest way to begin stretching your ears is to work with a professional piercer and choose your gauge goal. From here, you can make a plan and have a rough timeline for how long it's going to take to reach your preferred gauge.
- Pro tip: "If you're not sure if you want to live with plugs forever," says Thompson, "don't go past 2 g." He says that 2 g and below can go back to looking like a normal piercing. "Anything larger than that, you're probably going to have to have surgery to repair it one day."^{[13]
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Whatever method you decide to use, keep in mind that it will be hard to change once you've started. For example, stacking creates a completely different piercing shape than tapering and taping.
Avoid taking out the earrings you're using to stretch. Otherwise, you'll undo all the progress you've made. Piercings close up very quickly, so if you take the earring out before your earlobe is sufficiently stretched, you might not be able to reinsert it. Follow your piercer's instructions for how long to wear your earrings before switching them out.^{[14]
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Clean and soak your earlobes in salt water daily to promote healing. While your earlobes are adjusting to a new gauge size, clean around the outside of your piercings to promote healing. Put a few drops of antibacterial soap into a cup or bowl of warm water. Then dip a cotton swab in the mixture and gently rub the swab around your piercing. Pat it dry with a paper towel.^{[15]
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- To do a sea salt soak, mix ¼ tsp (1.5 g) in 1 c (8 fl oz) of warm water and soak each earlobe in it for 5-10 minutes. This will soothe your ears and prevent bacterial buildup.
Stretching feels a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn't hurt much, provided you're doing it properly. At most, you should only feel mild inflammation and some tenderness. If you experience extreme pain, tearing, or bleeding, you've overstretched your ear, and you need to go back down to the next smallest size. Continue cleaning the piercing daily, and see a professional piercer for guidance, especially if you don't want to lose your piercing.^{[16]
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The key to healthy and safe stretching is going slow. Your ear piercings should be completely healed and pliable before you try to move up to the next gauge size. If you're not sure if you're ready to increase sizes, ask a professional piercer.^{[17]
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