Trying to stretch my ear lobes, but the tapers just won't go!?

I'm currently at 5/8" and I'm trying to push to 11/16" but the stretch is very painful. Much more than normal. I've tried multiple times but to no avail. I've had the 5/8" holes for 3+ months now. I've lubricated the taper with vaseline (i know, tisk tisk), vitamin E oil, and regular soap. I've successfully gotten the tapers through on multiple occasions but never left any jewelry in because on the backside of my ear the skin had followed the jewelry to back and out of my ear hole. I don't know how to move up. I've considered Kaos software, but stretching with those can cause problems that I just don't want to deal with. I REALLY don't want to scalpel either. Any advice?