I finally turned eighteen. I had wanted to get a piercing since about the eighth grade, but parental reasons seemed to prevent it. After my birthday, I began to research different piercings, and all of the shops in my area. I had always wanted an eyebrow piercing, or an anti-eyebrow...but my mom always came up with the argument..."I gave birth to you and your face was perfect then, don't ruin it with metal!". So the eyebrow piercing was out. Considering I was rowing at the time and sweated profusely at practice and wiped my face fanatically, I didn't think this was a good idea.
At A Glance Author Tracey Contact Tracey@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Paco Studio Hot Rod Piercing Co. Location Pittsburgh PA So I started to look at ear piercings. I thought industrial piercings looked nice, but I was worried about it collapsing, or the size of the bar. Plus taking care of two holes was considerably harder than one! I didn't want to stretch my lobes because I thought that would be a very jewelry-intensive piercing, and I'm not so hot with changing jewelry. Finally, I saw the rook piercing. I was enamored. It was small, noticeable yet not noticeable, different, but stylish. I wanted it bad. Every weekend, my boyfriend and I would drive past Hot Rod Piercing Co. on the South Side and say..."I should just go and get it done...but my mom would kill me". It went on like this for almost 4 months.
It was a week before I was supposed to leave for college in Columbus OH. I had been moping about the house for days, dreading leaving home and my boyfriend. Then I got the itch. I sat at work for five hours saying..."I should get my ear pierced tonight". I went home and talked to my boyfriend, saying how much I wanted to do it. He came over to my house, and we decided we'd talk to my mom, and try and reason her into it. We went down to the basement and I bombarded her with my reasoning.
1) It's in a place where no one will see!
2) It's just my ear!
3) If it gets infected, I can just take it out!
4) If I have to take it out, the hole will be tiny and in a place no one can see
5) I'm 18! At least I'm telling you about it!
She never actually consented to it, but she gave her permission with a "Well, I don't like it, but you're 18 and it IS your body. Just don't let it get infected". Jumping for joy, my boyfriend and I hopped in the car and took off for the South Side.
We walked into the store, which was slightly crowded with people waiting to get jewelry changed, or to have their bodies adorned with a new hole. I hesitantly walked up to the counter and explained to the guy behind what I wanted. I told him that I was considering a rook in my right ear. He got all the paperwork and walked me through the cleaning procedure. He answered all my questions patiently, even my questions regarding the healing and my diabetes. Finally, I was ready to go.
When it was my turn, my boyfriend and I went into the small back room adjoining the waiting area. I met my piercer, Paco. Paco was very nice, and also very patient. He explained to me what was going to happen. He told me that it would feel just like a lot of pressure and that it may bleed a touch. He had me lay down on the table and he cleaned my ear out and got ready. I gripped my boyfriend's hand tightly. Paco started to push the needle through my cartilage, and I could hear it crunching slightly...yet it didn't hurt. It felt like a lot of pressure being put on my ear. Before I knew it, the needle was through. It was time for my first ring.
I chose a very small silver 18 g ring so that I could clean it better. The ring slipped in, but the ball took a few minutes to screw in. Soon, I released my boyfriend's hand, and held up a mirror to look at my new adornment. It was great! Small, sparkly, sort of hidden in my short messy hair. I still wasn't feeling much pain as I bounded outside to the car, all smiles and adrenaline.
My boyfriend and I rushed home to show my mom. She thought it looked very painful, but cute. That night, I showed off to everyone at a party. So many people exclaimed ..."you finally did it!" .
I tried to follow the cleaning directions religiously. I used diluted Dial soap and hot water for the first two weeks. After that, I used a hot salt water soak to clean it. I conditioned myself to not touch our play with the ring unless I was cleaning it. Recently, I bumped it really hard while talking on the phone. It got a little swollen on the top. I called Hot Rod in a panic, afraid that I infected it. They explained to me that it was just inflamed, and that a simple aspirin past or salt paste would clear it up.
All in all, I am extremely glad I had it done. I get a lot of comments on it. People say that it looks very tasteful and very pretty and feminine. I am really glad I had it done at Hot Rod because they were very good at answering questions and the shop was very very clean. I anticipate having more work done there very soon, probably my left rook!