Is it okay to stretch lobe piercings with acrylic?

It's not a good idea at all. If you're looking for a cheap way to stretch your lobes, I say don't do it at all. Stretching isn't cheap. If you're going to do it properly, you need proper jewelry. The best is stainless steel or titanium.

"Many piercers may not want to use it for fresh or healing piercings based on the lack of comparable medical usage, no ASTM implant specs, inconsistency from plastic to plastic, and the inability to sterilize without melting. This last one is, of course, crucial to fresh piercings!"

From BMEzine

No, acrylic tapers aren't appropriate for stretching. They shouldn't even sell them.

The reason is that - as someone has already mentioned - acrylic cannot be sterilized in an autoclave. It would melt. And because acrylic is so porous there is nothing you can really do to get it well and truly sterile.

Your best bets for stretching are always surgical steel and titanium but you can also use silicone jewelry and glass. Both of those materials can be put through an autoclave. They are non-porous materials so they are easier to sterilize.

Good luck!

yea iv heard that it isn't a good idea but metal plugs cost more so i used mostly acrylic all the way up til i was at a 0 then i switched to silicone.

im at 1/2" now and i haven't had any problems

and imo metal plugs smell really really bad compared to both acrylic and silicone plugs

I went from the normal pierced hole to a 00 in 2 weeks no problem with acrylics.

I also didn't want to waste money.

Try ebay

I did it all for 30 bucks :)

Get plugs, dammit!

Anything else is incredibly stupid.

well it hasn't bothered my ears. try minkymonky.com for cheap gauges.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsZDK...