Silicone plugs are soft and malleable, allowing a relatively large plug to be inserted into the ear. Once folded and inserted into the ear, they expand, stretching the earlobe. And this in part is what makes it dangerous. Its not recommended to use silicone plugs to stretch, due to the tacky, porous surface. The stretched ear can adhere to the silicone and an airtight seal can be created, trapping infection and causing it to spread internally. Also because silicone expands and contracts in temperature change, they can swell and potentially blow out a newly stretched ear. It does not provide an even stretch and it can also push out all of the oil from between your lobe and the silicone causing your ear to grow into the porous silicone, same with acrylic, not to mention it can cause lobe splitting, tearing, blowouts, ripping, anything you can think of when trying to use to size up. If you’re using a taper you can stop if it hurts or is difficult, but silicone doesn’t give you that option.  We have seen people come in because they tried stretching with silicone and their ears were swollen and painful, and when we take a look, their ear has adhered/attached to the silicone, needing to be cut out of their ear.  Stretching with and/or wearing anything that is porous is very bad.

Why it’s bad for long wear: Silicone can swell and is not always accurate to size, which can cause very small tears in your lobes that you can’t see, which can cause infection and bleeding, and as opposed to organic or steel plugs, instead of absorbing or just pushing out the natural sweat, and ear gunk your ear produces, it pushes it (as well as bacteria) back into your lobe, again, causing infection.(Pretty much same reasons it is bad to stretch with.)

How do I recommend stretching?  Go to a reputable professional piercer and have them do it.  After all they are professionals. At the shop I work at we stretch/taper for free with the purchase of jewelry (if it is your own jewelry it is a $10 charge).  We do that because we don’t want to see people damaging their ears by doing things like stretching with silicone and acrylic, or wearing tapers in their ears.  Tapers are a piercing tool, they are not made to be worn in the ear.

I hope this helps.  The important thing is to educate yourself as much as you can about any type of body modification you get.  For piercings, and amazing book to read is the Piercing Bible by Elaine Angel. It explains why things are done certain ways and what to look for in a piercing shop, and why there are piercings that aren’t recommended, and more.  I almost think it is something everyone should be required to read before they get a piercing.