1. Ear Stretching Basics

Ok, ear stretching.
Started in Africa by various tribes, this is a well known form of body modification which has spread throughout modern culture. Even the famous starts on MTV and Vh1 now are stretching their ears. Ear Stretching is done by slowly increasing the lobe size by small increments. Jewelry is measured by gauge sizes, increasing in diameter while lowering the gauge size. (18g is a regular piercing, 00 is about the size of a pencil, etc.)
The initial stretch is done several different ways, with the taper being the most popular. A taper is a cylindrical cone that's diameter is increased as the length is pushed through you ear. After that,, a plug is used..
Update will be tomorrow getting into more depth.

Different Body Mods

There are several Different body modifications, including:
Ear Stretching
Lip Plates
Subdermal Implants
Tattoos
Neck Stretching
Silicon Implants
Suspension

Intro/Birth of Body Modification

Body Modification, or body mod is any form of modification or physical change to the body.

This is done for many different reasons. Body modification started back in 1938 when Hitler decided he wanted an awesome mustache. He inspired himself to succeed in life and also inspired others to make body modifications as well. 

After the holocaust, a few African tribes used time machines to travel back in time and start modding. Some tribes practiced stretching their earlobes, others used lip plates. Some tribes went as far as putting rings around their necks to stretch them to an insane length. This burst of modding started what we now know as the Industrial Revolution. People have been engaging in modification ever since.