Okay. To start off, my name is Aja (pronounced Asia), and I've been here before. Even though I am a fan of piercings, I don't have many (1 navel, 3 lobe in each ear, 1 helix, 2 cartilage, and 1 retired horizontal navel which migrated). So for all the people who want to read about cartilage, helix, or navel piercings you can read my previous experiences here. In the future I'd like to get my nape pierced and my horizontal piercing done again. So that's about it.
At A Glance Author Aja Contact trinity_148@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Mark Studio Elizabeth's Location Murphys, CA Anyways- onto my rook. I originally was going to have to wait until I was 18 to get it done, because according to my father I had "too many holes in my ear" already. However, I was talking to my aunt (who lives with us) about getting it done. Then she said, "I'll ask him" and right then and there she did and right then and there he said yes. So I was psyched. Since it was X-Mas break in two weeks, I figured I could go down to the Bay Area and get it done in a real piercing studio (since all my others were done in hair salons. No, NOT with piercing guns. They actually were done by a trained piercer with needles!) and have my sis-in-law and brother take me and count it as their x-mas gift for me. So getting all excited that I was actually getting it done, I began to want to get it sooner and sooner. Knowing I couldn't wait another two weeks, I was like, "Uh! I wish I could get it now!" and my aunt was like, "Well, how about we make appointment here at the salon and have your s ister-in-law pay me the money for it?" And I was like, "Okay!" So we called the salon, but she had never done rooks before, so we called Elizabeth's. Elizabeth's also kind of used to be a hair salon,but they moved and now it's a piercing studio that sells henna, insense, clothes, body jewelery, etc. So when we called Elizabeth's she said she didn't do the piercings, but her husband did (which we knew since he pierced my horizontal navel) and that they had done numerous rooks. Expecting my appointment to be sometime in the next week, she said I could come in that day at 5:30 (By the way, my aunt made this call while I was at school, so I found out all this out by calling her on my lunch break.) So getting all excited at school that I was getting it done, I rushed home and couldn't sit still. I was so excited to get it done. I ate, talked to my aunt and dad, sat around, and finally, it was 5:30!
So we drive 15 minutes to the piercing studio. When we get there I'm not nervous at all, but excited. I had read experience after experience on BME, so I wasn't sure what to expect due to pain since half said it hurt, and half said it didn't. My previous piercings didn't hurt, but all of them had some sort of numbing stuff on it. So I fill out the forms with my dad, and the piercer gives me a cleaning sheet. Knowing I had been through the procedure before, she didn't have to explain it to me. So I was like, "Okay, now what do I do?" and she told me to meet her husband in the back.
THE PIERCING- So I go to the back and it doesn't smell like a hospital, but that's okay. I then sit in this chair. I sit there not really nervous, but I put my hands under my thighs just in case it hurts. So my piercer (which was so nice, he talked to me while getting stuff ready and stuff) takes a pen and marks my ear. I look at the placement, not really liking how it was because the dot was basically behind my helix (I have a small rook). So then I tell him to move it over a little, and it was perfect. So he cleans my ear, and tells me to take a deep breath, and let it out. So then he gets the needle and puts it to my ear. I don't really get nervous, which is so weird, because I would think I would be freaking out, but I really wasn't. So then he tells me to take a deep breath in (uh oh, here it comes, in one second I'm about to get a needle shoved through the toughest part of my ear) and when he told me to let it out he stuck it through. And honest to God, I felt nothing. I didn't even feel "lots of pressure" as other people have felt. I honestly thought he couldn't get the needle in or something because I didn't even feel it go through. It kind felt as if someone was just pressing down on my rook, but painlessly. So realizing the needle WAS through, just halfway, he asked me how I was doing (in which I told him I was fine) and he told me to take another deep breath. So thinking maybe this was the part that would hurt so bad I braced myself. So when he told me to let it out I just felt as if he was pushing down on my rook again. I did however hear a little pop I guess, but barely. So then I could feel the needle and cork on the side of my ear. Putting in the jewelery didn't hurt either which surprised me, because it hurt like hell on my regular cartilage piercing. I guess my piercer is just good. I asked him if he put numbing stuff on it, and he said that he didn't. So I was really surprised, because I think this was the least painful pierc ing I've had. But let me tell you, it was the SLOWEST piercing I've ha d too. It wasn't one..two..three and it's over. This piercing actually takes more time since it has to go through tougher cartilage. But anyways- He then showed me the mirror. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. My ear was red, but duh. I expected it to bleed, and it didn't. So I got up out of the chair, and my dad paid the piercer's wife.
When I got home it started to throb a little, but it was your basic after piercing throb. It didn't hurt as much as my horizontal navel did. Like I got it done an hour and a half ago, and it feels completely painless. Now I'm not sure what it will feel like in a few hours or in a few days, but I'm expecting it to hurt because most of the experiences on here say it does after a few days. I'm hoping it doesn't. I'm also hoping it doesn't migrate or anything.
If anyone is considering this piercing, I don't expect you to take my experience into consideration on the pain factor. I'm completely blown away on the fact that it didn't hurt. I mean, I expected to feel a sharp pain, but I felt no pain whatsoever. It was as if my rook wasn't even apart of my body. So I guess either my piercer is really good, or I have a high pain tolerance. But if you want it done, GET IT! It's a cute piercing, and all the worth while if it does hurt.
Cleaning should be pretty standard. Dial soap twice a day and sea salt soaks if needed. Have fun piercing!
If you want to ask me questions, or ask how my rook has been in the next few days/weeks, e-mail me at trinity_148@hotmail.com or IM me on AOL: stillbreathing14