Stretching (body piercing)

[3] Stretching is usually done in small increments to minimize the potential for damaging the healed fistula or creating scar tissue.

Stone, fossilized materials, wood, bone, horn, amber, bamboo, silicone, and glass are not uncommon in stretched piercings.

[6] These materials not only have microscopic holes that will trap bacteria and can cause infection, but also cannot be autoclaved or properly sanitized, and are therefore unfit for a fresh stretch or piercing.

The best materials for a fresh stretch that are not vulnerable to bacteria are implant grade steel, titanium, and glass.

Ear-weights in varying degrees of size are also worn, commonly made from silver or bronze, though other metals such as copper or brass are occasionally used.

Ear cuffs (such as the gold ones utilized in South India provinces) or wrapped bead work (common amongst the Maasai of East Africa) are other options, though are not usually seen in modern Western contexts.

Bone, horn, wood, and stone are generally carved for ear stretching, but other organic materials that have the right shape naturally, such as shells, teeth, and claws, have also been used.

[citation needed] The Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun is one of the earliest known rulers to have stretched ear lobes.

He wore heavy gold earrings or precious stones as a status symbol, and the weight stretched his ear lobes dramatically.

[citation needed] Stretched earlobes can be found on the heads of the giant statues (moai) on Easter Island, giving them the title 'Long Ears.'

[18] The Mursi are a Nilotic people inhabiting the Nile Valley, known for their women decorating themselves with wooden plates in both their ears and bottom lip.

These women will stretch their ears to a smaller diameter, unlike the Mursi and Maasai tribes, so that they can wear hoops and large gold domes.

The Aztecs crafted plugs from gold and silver for the higher-class men whereas the lower class wore materials such as shells, wood, and copper.

[23] Another example of this occurs in the Moche culture of Northern Peru, who used similar techniques and jewelry to stretch their earlobes as a symbol of status and strength.

[24] Taíno men and women of the Greater Antilles were recorded by explorer Christopher Columbus as having stretched ears.