Ear Gauge Sizes: The Complete Chart in mm and Inches

Ear gauge sizes run from 20g, thinner than a standard earring post, down through 00g and on into fractional-inch plug sizes past half an inch, and the whole scale runs backwards: the bigger the number, the thinner the jewelry. This page converts every gauge to millimeters and inches in one chart, shows what the common sizes look like against everyday objects, and covers how to stretch through them without tearing your lobe. Gauge (the thickness of the jewelry, measured on a numbered scale) is the single measurement that decides which plug, taper, or tunnel fits your ear.

Gauge size chart

Here is every standard ear gauge from 20g down to 00g, with the millimeter and inch equivalent for each. The millimeter values are the body-jewelry standard, and the inch values are converted from those millimeters, so the two columns match.

Gauge	Millimeters	Inches
20g	0.8 mm	0.031”
18g	1.0 mm	0.039”
16g	1.2 mm	0.047”
14g	1.6 mm	0.062”
12g	2.0 mm	0.078”
10g	2.4 mm	0.094”
8g	3.2 mm	0.126”
6g	4.0 mm	0.157”
4g	5.0 mm	0.197”
2g	6.0 mm	0.236”
0g	8.0 mm	0.315”
00g	9.3 mm	0.366”

Two notes on this chart. Standard stretching jewelry skips the odd gauge numbers, so you go 4g, then 2g, then 0g, not through 3g and 1g. And the jump from 2g (6 mm) to 0g (8 mm) is a full 2 mm, larger than a comfortable single step, so many people stop at a half size around 7 mm before going to 0g.

How gauge numbers work

Gauge counts backwards because it started as a wire-thickness measure, where the number represents how many times the metal was drawn through a die to make it thinner. More passes meant a higher number and a thinner wire. Body jewelry kept the convention, so a 20g nose stud is thin and a 0g plug is thick.

The scale only runs down to 00g (pronounced “double zero”). After that there is no 000g. The numbering stops and sizes are quoted directly in millimeters or fractional inches, which count up in the normal direction as the plug gets bigger. That switch is why a size chart looks like it changes languages halfway down, and it is the first thing that confuses people buying their first plug past 00g.

Sizes in real life

The fastest way to picture a gauge is to hold it against something you already own. These comparisons are approximate, but they get you within a size when a photo online is scaled wrong or a listing gives millimeters you cannot visualize.

Size	Millimeters	Roughly the width of
14g	1.6 mm	two credit cards stacked
8g	3.2 mm	a coffee stirrer straw
2g	6.0 mm	a standard drinking straw
0g	8.0 mm	a wooden pencil barrel
00g	10 mm	a bubble-tea (boba) straw
1/2”	12.7 mm	a Sharpie marker barrel
3/4”	19 mm	a US penny across
1”	25.4 mm	a US quarter, a touch larger

The two people ask about most are 0g and 00g. A 0g plug (8 mm) is about the width of a standard wooden pencil across the barrel. A 00g plug is about 10 mm, close to a bubble-tea straw or a pencil measured across the eraser end. Neither is as large as first-timers picture, which is worth knowing before you set a goal you do not actually want.

Where gauges stop

Past 00g, sizing leaves the gauge system and runs in fractional inches and millimeters. This is the range of larger plugs and tunnels, and the chart below continues from where the gauge numbers end.

Size	Millimeters	Inches
00g	9.3 mm	0.366”
(no gauge)	10 mm	0.394”
7/16”	11 mm	0.437”
1/2”	12.7 mm	0.500”
9/16”	14 mm	0.562”
5/8”	16 mm	0.625”
11/16”	17.5 mm	0.687”
3/4”	19 mm	0.750”
7/8”	22 mm	0.875”
1”	25.4 mm	1.000”

Sellers often label the same physical plug as “00g” and “10 mm,” because 00g on the true scale is about 9.3 mm and the next stocked size up is a round 10 mm. When you order in this range, buy by the millimeter measurement, not the gauge label, so you get the size your ear is actually ready for.

Before your first stretch

Do not stretch a piercing that is not fully healed. A lobe pierced at 20g, 18g, or 16g needs to be healed all the way through before you touch the size, which means no soreness, no redness, no crust, and no discharge. For a fresh lobe piercing that is usually around 6 to 8 weeks, but a piercing you have had for years is the safe starting point, not a recent one.

Check the tissue first. Pinch the lobe and feel whether it is supple and even. Thin, tight, or scarred lobes tear more easily and stretch more slowly, and if you are not sure yours are ready, a professional piercer will tell you in a two-minute look. Stretch after a warm shower, when the skin is at its softest and most pliable.

Taper vs tape

A taper is a cone-shaped rod, thin at one end and full size at the other, that you ease through the piercing to open it one size. You lubricate the lobe with a body-safe oil, push the taper through slowly, and follow it straight away with a plug of the same size, because a taper is a tool for stretching, not jewelry to leave in. Insertion tapers are the standard method for one clean size at a time. You can buy quality stretching tapers here.

The tape method builds the size up in tiny increments instead. You wrap a thin, non-adhesive tape (PTFE or bondage tape are the common ones) around your current plug, add a fresh layer every few days, and let the hole grow around it until you reach the next size. Taping is slower and gentler than a taper, and it lets you creep across a big jump like 2g to 0g in stages your lobe can keep up with. Avoid the cheap acrylic taper kits sold as “gauge kits,” which push you up several sizes fast and cause most beginner tears.

Whichever method you use, move one size at a time. Skipping sizes, or forcing a taper that does not slide with gentle pressure, is the fastest way to injure the lobe.

The routine at every size is the same five moves.

1. 1
   healed first
   Check the lobe
   No soreness, redness, or crust, and the tissue feels supple
2. 2
   day of
   Warm up and oil
   Stretch after a warm shower with a body-safe oil
3. 3
   one size only
   Taper or tape up
   Ease through one size, plug in straight away
4. 4
   4 to 12+ weeks
   Wait and massage
   The floor grows with the size; oil keeps tissue supple
5. 5
   if it protests
   Downsize, rest, retry
   Thinning or a blowout means drop a size, not push on

How long to wait

Wait times get longer as the sizes get bigger, because thicker tissue needs more time to rebuild. The table below is a floor, not a schedule to race through.

Size range	Minimum wait between sizes
16g to 2g	4 to 6 weeks
2g to 0g	6 to 8 weeks
0g and larger	8 to 12 weeks or more

Those numbers assume the lobe looks and feels healthy at each step. If it is still pink, tender, or tight, wait longer. Stretching is not a race, and the people with clean, even lobes at large sizes are almost always the ones who went slow. Massaging the lobe with jojoba or vitamin E oil between stretches keeps the tissue supple and helps it accept the next size when the time comes.

Why ears blow out

A blowout is a ring of scar tissue that gets forced out through the back of the piercing when you stretch too fast or too hard, leaving a lip of skin that hangs past the plug. It looks like the inside of the hole has turned itself inside out, because that is roughly what has happened. Blowouts are the signature injury of rushing, and they are far easier to prevent than to fix.

Three things cause them: skipping sizes, stretching before the last size healed, and pushing a taper through a hole that is not ready. A lobe that is stretched on schedule and with oil rarely blows out. If one starts, downsize immediately, give the lobe weeks to recover, and only then try the previous size again. A blowout that is left in place hardens into permanent scar tissue that never fully stretches evenly again.

Tears are the sharper version of the same problem: the lobe splits rather than bulging. A tear means jewelry out, gentle cleaning, and time, and a bad one can need a piercer or doctor to assess. If you want to tell an ordinary irritation bump from scarring you should worry about, our guide on telling a piercing bump from a keloid breaks down the difference.

The point of no return

Small stretches close back up, large ones do not, and the change happens gradually rather than at one exact size. Lobes stretched to around 2g or smaller usually shrink back close to their original piercing if you downsize slowly and stop while the tissue is still healthy. That is the reversible range.

Somewhere between 0g and 00g, most lobes cross into stretches that will not close on their own. The skin has thinned and remodeled too far to snap back, and the hole stays open even with the jewelry out. There is no single millimeter that applies to everyone, but many piercers treat 0g as the practical last exit if you might want your ears to look unstretched again someday. Past that point, closing the hole means minor surgery. None of that is a reason not to stretch. It is a reason to decide your final size on purpose, before you get there, rather than drifting past it.

Downsizing and healing

Downsizing means going back down to a smaller size, either to recover from an overstretch or to close a hole you no longer want open. To shrink a stretched lobe, take the jewelry out or step down a size, then massage the lobe daily with a body-safe oil to keep the skin elastic while it contracts. Warm oil soaks for five to ten minutes a day help the tissue relax and pull in.

Smaller stretches can shrink noticeably in a few weeks. Larger ones close slowly, unevenly, or not at all, and a lobe that has been at a big size for years may leave a permanent thin flap even after it tightens. If a hole you want closed will not come in, a doctor can repair the lobe surgically. Downsizing is also the right first move any time a stretch goes wrong: at the first sign of thinning, tearing, soreness, or a blowout, drop a size and let the lobe rest rather than pushing forward.

When something goes wrong

Some soreness right after a stretch is normal and fades within a day or two. What is not normal is spreading redness, heat, swelling that gets worse instead of better, thick yellow or green discharge, or a fever, which point to infection rather than ordinary irritation. Clean the area with sterile saline, leave the jewelry in unless a professional tells you otherwise (removing it can trap an infection inside), and see a doctor if it does not settle within a couple of days.

Uneven lobes are common and usually harmless: one ear often stretches faster than the other, so hold the slower one back rather than forcing the quicker one ahead. And if a lobe simply refuses to go up no matter how patient you are, that is your body setting the size. Forcing it only trades a stretch you wanted for scar tissue you did not. This is educational, not medical advice; if a stretch looks infected or tears badly, get it looked at in person. The Association of Professional Piercers keeps plain-language guidance on safe stretching and aftercare.

Jewelry for stretched ears

Once a size is fully settled, the jewelry you leave in matters as much as how you got there. Single-flare and double-flare plugs, tunnels (hollow plugs you can see through), and weights are all options, but material is the part that affects healing. For a stretch that is still fresh, glass, implant-grade titanium, niobium, and implant-grade steel (ASTM F-138) are smooth, non-porous, and easy to keep clean.

Save wood, stone, and organic materials for stretches that are fully healed, because they are porous and hold bacteria against tissue that is still recovering. Silicone is comfortable and flexible but traps moisture, so it suits settled lobes rather than new ones. Whatever the material, wait until a stretch is fully healed, usually the same 6 to 12 weeks the wait times call for, before you change the jewelry, and never force a piece that does not slide in with light pressure and a little oil.

Choosing where to stop

Pick your final size before you start, not one stretch at a time, because the scale is easy to keep climbing and the larger sizes are the ones you cannot undo. Decide whether you want a subtle 2g that reads as a slightly chunky earring, a visible 0g or 00g, or a large plug past half an inch, and let that goal set how slowly you can afford to go. The lobes that look best at any size are the ones that were never rushed, so if you are between two sizes, sit at the smaller one an extra month. Your ears will still be there when you are sure.