Hello...so you're considering a rook, eh? Well I'm going to tell you about my experience with this piercing, but a bit of background info about myself first: I'm relatively new to body modification, and up until three years ago, my only experience with piercing was having my lobes pierced – with a gun (eep!) – when I was seven years old. But, nearly three years ago I had my tongue pierced (and was practically disowned by my parents – heh) followed by my navel ten months later. I became addicted to piercing and found myself constantly pouring over the BME pages looking for what would be the "next big thing."
At A Glance Author Midori Contact Midori@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Jacqueline Studio Glasgow Piercing Studio Location Glasgow, Scotland In September 2002 I moved from New Jersey to Glasgow, Scotland, to pursue a masters degree in computer animation. Moving abroad was an incredibly big step for me, because I had never lived anywhere other than New Jersey my entire life; I even went to college there. I tend to get pierced to mark a milestone or accomplishment, and so I knew that I would not be leaving Glasgow without a piercing or two!
My birthday is in December, so the Saturday before my 22nd birthday I headed with my flatmate Maureen down to the Glasgow Piercing Studio, which I read good things about through the BME experience pages. I didn't really know what I wanted to get pierced, and I debated the pros and cons of each one I was considering during the walk to the Studio...a nape piercing would probably reject (although Jacqueline at the G.P.S. does use surface bars for this, I am happy to report), an eyebrow ring was too common, etc. I finally decided to get my left rook pierced, which would be my first cartilage piercing. I had read many of the rook experiences on BME, so I was a bit worried about the pain, but (almost unfortunately) this became irrelevant...
After a short wait, Jacqueline came out and called me into the piercing room, but unfortunately Maureen had to wait in the front as Jacqueline has a strict "no non-piercees in the piercing room" policy. Oh well, I'd have to tough this one out on my own. I took a seat and looked around...the studio was very clean, white and clinical, almost like a doctor's office in contrast to the heavily-postered studios I went to in the States. Jacqueline asked me "What did you want done?" and I pointed to my ear and said "Rook in my left ear." She laughed and said she thought I wanted my eyebrow done when I came in...phew, glad we cleared that one up right away! =)
So, she marked a dot and allowed me to approve the placement in the mirror before continuing. Yup, looks good, let's go! I was getting nervous because of all the things I had read about the crunching and popping and pain associated with this piercing, and I could feel the adrenaline pumping. But then Jacqueline said "OK, I'm just going to numb your ear now..." and before I could protest, my ear was sprayed with a numbing agent. Guh?! This sort of thing doesn't happen in the States...I had never been numbed before a piercing before, and to be honest I sort of felt cheated. I like the idea of having to "earn" a piercing by sitting through the pain, so having the area numbed felt wrong to me. Besides that, I have heard that many piercers use numbing sprays to mask poor piercing procedure, so I was really concerned.
As a consequence, I didn't feel a damn thing. I didn't even know she had stuck the needle through, when all of a sudden she said "You're done!" and when I looked in the mirror, there was a shiny ring hanging inside my ear. Despite my qualms, Jacqueline did a very nice job and the ring was just where I wanted it. I fell in love with it instantly.
Before I left, I paid for the piercing (I can't remember at the moment, but I think it was only £15 or £20) plus a big tip for Jacqueline, and she gave me her card with aftercare instructions on the back. I gleefully showed my ring to Maureen, who put her hand to her mouth and said it looked painful. She's a bit squeamish, I suppose =)
Things were fine afterwards. I could no longer sleep on my left side, and I occasionally forgot about the ring when I went to hug someone or brush my hair, but overall it wasn't that bad. I did have problems with the healing process, though, which I wasn't used to...both my tongue and navel had healed relatively quickly. Jacqueline recommended only using salt water soaks for healing, so I followed her advice, but it was still taking ages to heal.
After a few months (and many, many collisions between my rook and stupid people who kept forgetting I had it), my rook was very angry. There was a large red blister above the hole, and I had noticed that the piercing had migrated down a bit. I returned to twice-daily salt water soaks, but it wasn't helping much. I did some research on the net and discovered that what I had was a hypotrophic scar, and that effective treatments are hot salty chamomile tea bags applied to the area (did NOT work), and tea tree oil. The tea tree oil worked a treat...the hypotrophic scar was completely gone within a week, and my piercing was looking happier and happier every day.
But then...summer came. I visited home for a month and during that time I went to get my hair cut. The shampoo girl accidentally caught the ring and pulled it quite hard, which made me yelp and she was surprised until I pointed to the ring, and she apologized profusely. The stylist didn't do a much better job at avoiding the ring. My rook was slightly pissed off again, but the clincher was when I decided to visit a local amusement park a few days later. On one of the rollercoasters, the force made my head violently slam to the left into part of the seat, and I screamed with pain. My friend told me my piercing was bleeding a lot and I rushed to the bathroom to check it out once the ride ended.
Ever since that day, my rook ring has been determined to migrate out of my ear. I held on for as long as I could, but when I realized that the ring was – almost literally – hanging by a thread, I went back to the Glasgow Piercing Studio and told Jacqueline that my rook had to come out. She looked at it and said "Oh, it's really shallow, isn't it!" I explained about the rollercoaster incident, and she sympathized with me. She removed my CBR and gave it back to me in a little baggie, and I inspected the hole. It wasn't infected at all, just very low compared to where it was originally pierced. But what really struck me was how *empty* my ear looked. Since getting the rook I had also gotten a snug in my left ear (also done at the Glasgow Piercing Studio...unfortunately also done with numbing spray), and I had thought at one time that my ear looked crowded, but now that my rook was gone, I really felt naked.
I walked back to the underground station with the biggest frown ever; I'm sure people who passed me on the street must have wondered what had happened to make me look so distraught. I fully intend on getting my rook re-pierced as soon as I can. And in the future I will avoid rollercoasters...and I'll consider wearing a shirt that says "Be careful! I have cartilage piercings!!" when I go to the hair salon ;-) Or maybe not, whatever.
As for future projects: a nape piercing is still tempting though radically impractical, I know. I'm considering an industrial piercing (looking for more unusual variations though), and perhaps a septum piercing some day.
I fully recommend rook piercings to anyone considering them, but just be careful! Everyone WILL forget you have it, no matter how many times you tell them, and you WILL have collisions. But it's worth it to have such a lovely piercing grace your ear. I really miss mine, and I can't wait to have it back again.