At the present moment I have a 14g navel piercing, two sets of 16g ear lobe piercings, a 16g tragus piercing, and as of today, a 16g rook piercing.
At A Glance Author Michelle Contact Michelle@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Chad Studio Real Tattoos by Zap Location Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada All of my piercings have been done on the spur of the moment, except for this one. My navel was done when I was working as a camp counsellor and a group of us wanted something exciting to do on our day off. I wasn't educated about piercings at the time, so I'm luckily that I had such a positive experience. After I had my navel pierced I started doing research on piercings and that's when I found BME. I've been an avid website visitor ever since then. As many people have said, piercing is addictive. After I got my navel pierced I went out and got my ear lobes pierced a second time. (I retired them after a couple of months, because they were crooked. I got them re-pierced later on though.) After my lobes I wasn't sure what else I wanted. So it was back to BME where I saw pictures of rook piercings. As corny as it may sound "I just knew I had to have one!"
Months later I ended up at Real Tattoos by Zap in Owen Sound, Ontario, where all of my piercings have been done. My friend was getting her ear lobes pierced, but when she passed out prior to them even being pierced I decided I may as well get something pierced. After all, we were already there and I had been thinking about getting something else done. I definitely wanted my rook done, but upon questioning the piercer, Deacon, about it, I chickened out. What? No clamps? Free hand? Bending the needle? I thought "Damn, I need to do some more research before going through with that." Something about rook piercings just had me really uncertain. So that day I had my tragus pierced.
It's now been 6 months since I had my tragus pierced and I swear a day hasn't gone by since then when I haven't thought about how much I wanted my rook done. My mom (not dad, he refers to piercings as "grotesque holes") and friends have heard about it constantly. There were a number of occasions when I almost couldn't hold back any longer and came close to getting my piercing. I resisted though, telling myself that I needed to allow my tragus to have more healing time and I also wanted to get pierced back home, as opposed to in Toronto, where I live for school. That's not to say that I think there's something wrong with the Toronto studios. I've seen sketchy ones which shall not be named, but I've also been to very good ones, such as New Tribe on Queen Street which I've visited frequently with my friends who were getting pierced. I've watched all their piercings be done! I waited because I prefer the familiarity of Zaps.
I finally made a firm decision that I would get pierced over my Christmas break, after I had done lots of research on rook piercings, had the time to care for my piercing and could go to Zaps. I knew that tonight (12/17/03) we were going Christmas shopping and I told my mother that I wanted to get my rook pierced while we were in the city. She gave me her "You had better not come complaining to me about the pain or problems" speech and I made sure to mention my plans of stopping by the studio, as often as possible so she couldn't say she had forgotten or bitch when I said "Hey, you just passed Zaps" and comment that we were there to do Christmas shopping and that I could get my piercing another time.
On the ride to Owen Sound I consumed a lot of sugar, as I always do before piercings to ensure my blood sugar isn't low. It's a good excuse to eat lots of candy. At 7:15pm I walked into Zaps and was hit with familiar smell of chemicals, or shall I say "clean-ness". I had called the studio prior and informed them that I wanted to get my rook pierced, so they knew what I was there for.
Deacon usually does my piercings, but it was his day off today. I was kind of disappointed because I had wanted him to do my rook piercing. That's not to say that I don't trust Chad, who did my piercing tonight. I do. Deacon has done all of my other piercings, so it just kind of became a habit to think of him doing my next one. I have no regrets that Chad doing my rook
Chad set up the piercing room as I filled out the consent form which asked when my last meal was, if I was allergic to shell fish or iodine, had any medical conditions and so on.
After filling out the form I followed Chad into the piercing room and hopped up onto the chair. Chad showed me that all his instruments were in sterilized bags and that he was using a new needle. He changed his gloves accordingly and did everything else that occurs each time I get pierced there. Next he cleaned my ear thoroughly, gave me a hand mirror and asked me where I wanted him to place it. I wasn't too sure exactly where I wanted it so I had him give me suggestions and ultimately let him do it wherever he thought it was appropriate. So he took some violet dye and put two marks as the guidelines for himself. He fiddled around for a couple of minutes trying to get the receiving tube placed properly in place in my tiny ear. He was going to be piercing from the inside out. He said he wouldn't pierce it unless he warned me. When he was ready he made me take slow deep breaths and then he did his work. I have read as many rook piercing experiences as possible and new it was g oing to hurt, but DAMN it hurt more than I expected and I showed that by saying a few choice words. Chad inserted the jewelry as he removed the needle and took a little while to get make sure the bead was on properly. Then I was all finished and he disposed of the needle in the sharps container, and set the instruments aside to be autoclaved.
After I was pierced I sat there for a couple of minutes to ensure I wasn't light headed and going to pass out. I've never passed out before, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious. As I was sitting there I took a look in the mirror. The placement was perfect. Eventually I headed out to the counter to pay. The piercing was $50 plus tax which came to $57.50. I gave Chad $65 and told him to keep the change as a tip as I appreciate his work on my rook. I would have given him more, but I'm a University student on a budget and it's close to Christmas, making money even tighter. Some people might be thinking that I should have waited until after the holidays to get my piercing, but I consider it a gift to myself for Christmas, and for just finishing my first semester of University.
It's only been a couple of hours since I was pierced. I can't even feel anything out of the ordinary right now, but later on I'm sure I will feel a little pain when I clean it and go to sleep. However, I'm optimistic that things will turn out well. I'm hoping for a quick healing time, no keloids, hypertrophic scaring, or infections. Perhaps I'll submit an update a couple of months down the road.
As for aftercare, I'll be using 1/4 tsp. of sea salt to 8 oz. (1 cup) of warm water. I'll do the soaks twice daily. Also, I have some ear care solution but I haven't decided if I'll use it as it seems too similar to Bactine for my liking. Some people say you have to rotate your piercings, others do not. When I got my tragus pierced it would not rotate. I tried everything and was frantic. However, upon getting many opinions I decided to leave the ring the hell alone; if it didn't want to budge, I wasn't going to stress over it. So I may or may not be rotating my CBR for this piercing, depending on how things go.
Near the end of their experiences many people say how they recommend others get the same piercing as they did. However, I will not. Just because a piercing is suited for me does not mean that it will be suited for those reading this. My advice is to do your research and do what you think will best benefit and suit you. On the other hand, I will recommend Real Tattoos by Zap to anyone who lives in the Owen Sound area. The piercers there are knowledgeable and they take the time to ensure you have a positive experience.
I'd like to say that I'm satisfied with the amount of piercings I have now, and that I won't be getting any more for a while, but that would be a lie. Once my rook has had sufficient time to heal I plan on getting 1 more set of 16g lobe piercings. After that? Well, who knows?