What has changed in Marc Greenleaf’s life in the year since he became a Guinness World Record holder?
“Oh, nothing,” Greenleaf said. “Not for me, really.”
To be fair, a couple things have changed: Greenleaf has stretched his earlobes about another half inch in the past year, and those earlobes have now been seen by millions and millions of people online.
That’s because the 39-year-old achieved something for the literal record books in April 2024 when he surpassed the prior Guinness World Record for the “largest earlobe flesh tunnel,” measuring in at 4.51 inches.
The “largest earlobe flesh tunnel” probably doesn’t mean much to most people, but it’s a way of describing the hole that once fit a pierced earring. For Greenleaf, jewelry can be big and bold: A few months ago, he wore a roll of blue painter’s tape in his earlobe, which is apt since he owns a painting business.
Call Of Curiosity
Since 1955, the “Guinness Book of Records” has served as a handy reference for the greatest feats achieved by humans and in nature.
While Greenleaf said his sister insists he’s had his eye on a Guinness World Record since childhood, he doesn’t recall his ambitions dating back that far. Rather, about three years ago, he was Googling what the record was for the largest earlobes (4.13 inches at the time) and realized he wasn’t so far off from surpassing that record.
“It was a personal thing, I was curious more than anything,” Greenleaf said. “I was curious, and I wanted to try for that.”
Becoming a record title holder is a feat unto itself, requiring a lot of paperwork, documentation and an application to even attempt for a record. In all, the process took about six months to complete before he earned his proverbial crown — actually, just a paper certificate.
Greenleaf recently learned that his name will appear in the 2026 edition of the book out this winter, but he was never doing this for the trappings of fame. Rather, 26 years since he began, he’s still “amazed” that people can get a body part to stretch so much and any competition was just one with himself.
“For me, it’s curiosity,” Greenleaf said. “I never would’ve guessed I would get to 5 inches.”
Human Hound
Greenleaf hasn’t let his world record title go to his head, though it’s hard to ignore the giant pieces of wood, now measuring about 5 inches and weighing in at a half pound or more, dangling from the sides of his neck.
“I’m pretty much a hound dog,” Greenleaf said, adding that living in Casper does present a downside for a guy with heavy saucers in his ears: When the wind catches just right, his ears flap in his face.
Windy days aside, for anyone wondering about such things, Greenleaf has been assured time and again by doctors that there aren’t any health risks associated with the practice of ear gauging or slowly stretching out one’s earlobes. “I think they’re as amazed as I am.”
As part of a “labor intensive” application process to become a Guinness World Record title holder, Greenleaf even had to enlist the help of a licensed physician to read the caliper measuring his gauge size — all of which was documented in the video that’s been shared online.
Cruel Comments
Even if there’s no associated health risks, people who gauge their ears often must contend with the opinions from just about everyone who doesn’t get the appeal of doing this. And people don’t seem particularly shy about sharing their opinions with Greenleaf.
That’s a lesser issue in Casper, where Greenleaf has lived since the age of six, and where many people have come to know him — and his big earlobes — and are often curious if he’s moved up to a bigger gauge since the last time they saw him.
But as the sizes of the gauges have grown, so too have the comments and looks from strangers who sometimes make all sorts of wild assumptions about Greenleaf. “If you could imagine it, I have been called it.”
Many men seem to land on a common threat — they’d rip his ears in a fight — though Greenleaf said those types of “unnecessary” comments have lessened as he’s gotten older.
“I’m a dad and a business owner, I just like to gauge my ears,” Greenleaf said, adding that his wife has commented over the years that she’s noticed he’s always mindful of being “super nice” in public, perhaps to overcompensate. “I’m always on my manners.”
Online Community
Ironically, perhaps, the online community is often kinder. There, people are more likely to say things like, “wow, that’s amazing,” rather than make rude comments.
Thanks to the virality of the video documenting his world record, some fans seek out Greenleaf. On his very literally-named Instagram account, @big_ass_lobes, he shows off new, custom gauges — they’re mostly made of wood since that’s what his ears seem to like — that serve as a way of charting his progress with time.
As is true with many hobbies, those who get it, get it and those who don’t, well…
Fellow ear gaugers understand the commitment it takes, and they’re impressed by Greenleaf’s feat. Non-gaugers, on the other hand, may be surprised by the diversity of people who practice ear gauging. “It’s really crazy how many different types of people do it.”
Getting Into Gauging
But what made Greenleaf do it in the first place? His mother deserves some credit for piquing his interest as a young teen.
“I remember coming home one day and my mom was watching some weird reality show,” Greenleaf recalled. “There was a guy on there who was all tatted up and had gauges, and I thought it was cool.”
As a kid in a small town in Wyoming, however, Greenleaf didn’t have a guide to tell him how to start gauging his ears and that meant he had to learn by trial and (painful) error.
This part might make some people squeamish: After initially piercing his ears with paper clips, Greenleaf eventually graduated to Q-tips, then Bic pens, then the skinnier version of Sharpie markers before one day shoving the fatter version of Sharpies through his earlobes.
“My whole head hurt,” he recalled, adding that this teenaged attempt at gauging was by far his most memorable and most painful in 26 years, with pain that started in his forehead and then radiated down into his neck. “That taught me to slow down.”
What Greenleaf knows now is you can’t increase gauge sizes too quickly, the lobe must fully heal before attempting it and he determines his readiness by whether a half crescent moon of light is visible at the top of the gauge or plug, as it’s also called.
For the past 10 to 15 years, he estimated he’s moved up in ⅛-inch gauge sizes about every four to six months.
Life With Big Lobes
Having spent two-thirds of his life committed to stretching his lobes, Greenleaf has for so long made slight accommodations for his ears that he barely notices he does so now. And he likewise doesn't notice the weight anymore — preferring, in fact, the durability and heft of solid pieces to anything else.
But he does take the gauges out to shower each day and he can’t just pull a shirt over his head, instead putting on shirts by first dipping one ear through a slightly-stretched-out neck hole.
There are other times when the gauges have got to go — riding a rollercoaster, for example, so as to ensure one doesn’t fly out and hit someone and occasionally for sleeping, though the feel of a pillow on his ear seems too soft now. “I’m just used to sleeping on a slab of wood.”
But none of those rituals compares to what Greenleaf does whenever he goes swimming: After removing the gauges, he twists his stretched-out lobes and folds them over the top of his ears. “It doesn’t hurt,” he assured.
A Lifer
As for why he’s kept at it all these years, Greenleaf doesn’t have a good explanation though he knows curiosity is key.
“I just started one day and I couldn’t stop,” he said. Sometimes, he added, he tells his wife he’s gone far enough only to backtrack a few months later when he spots that half crescent moon of light.
“She’s super supportive,” he said. “I’m very lucky.”
Greenleaf met his wife at the age of 19, back when he was wearing a comparatively tiny 1.5-inch-sized gauge. His ears offer a curious way to mark time, and one of his teenage daughters keeps his old IDs that show a big jump between pictures. “She finds it pretty funny.”
Were Greenleaf to leave the gauges out longer than a shower or a swim or a rollercoaster ride — say, more than 12 hours — the flesh will shrink a bit, but only so far at this point. The next day, he might need to go down one gauge size.
While he’s not sure he’ll stay at the current size forever, he doesn’t foresee ever taking them out permanently.
“I’m a lifer,” he said. “I’ll die with these plugs.”
