People have been stretching earlobes and other piercings for thousands of years. The tribes of Africa, South America, parts of Asia, and other continents view stretching as a large part of their culture. So why is it still shocking and taboo for some people? In the United States and most other developed countries, body piercing is a fairly recent trend. Earlobe stretching has entered our society as part of this trend, and more people are stretching than ever.

So how do you explain those huge holes in your ears to your mother and father, who are so used to 20G earrings being the norm? Many adults still flinch when they see a pair of stretched ear lobes up close. However, none of us were born knowing about stretching, so the only option is to educate them! Stretching may seem scary, painful, or even gross at first, but you can help convince your parents or anyone else that it isn’t.

With stretching, you have a couple of options: you can warn your family before you begin, or you can start and wait until they figure it out to explain yourself. To some extent, solid ear plugs can seem like standard earrings to the untrained eye. When they get noticed, simply explain that it is a gradual process to expand the size of an ear piercing. Tell them that it is perfectly safe and that it is not painful or harmful to their ears in any way. They may be curious and ask you a lot of questions, love them or get upset and tell you to take them off. Wait for them to cool down and reason with them as much as possible; try to agree on a size that they are comfortable with. If you have strict parents, it’s probably best to wait until you’re an adult to stretch your ears. While it can be frustrating to stop stretching or put it on hold, parents will be parents. Meanwhile, some stores now sell fake earplugs, fake tapers, and fake crescents that stretch in sizes like 16G for non-stretched piercings.