When I was 10 years old I got dragged to the mall to get my first holes done.. And I cried the whole way there and back. I am now a 15 year old girl addicted to being poked with needles. I'm the proud owner of 10 piercings: 8 gauge tongue, 14 gauge eyebrow, self-done nostril [it hurt like a bitch and was a really bad idea], three holes in each lobe [two are retired 10 gauges], and my most recent hole, a 16 gauge rook. My rook is probably my favorite piercing so far.
At A Glance Author Beena Contact bandagesx@yahoo.com IAM Beena When It just happened Artist Garret Studio Big Kahuna Location Boca Raton, FLA It'd been a few months since I had my last piercing, and it was only my third holes in my ears. I was getting bored and simply itching for something new. I knew I wanted something in my ear, so I started to look on BME for ideas. I came across the industrial and remembered how I had seen it on my friend Jennie before and absolutely loved it, but I had read about how much it hurts and bleeds and stings and oozes and what not - So I was kind of turned off. 'It's adorable,' I thought. 'But I'll check out a few more things.' I looked at tragus, anti-tragus, orbitals, and then I found the rook. I took one look at it and thought that was definitely the one for me.
I started hinting to my mom about how cute this thing called a rook was, and then finally I showed her a picture. My mom is pretty cool about my piercings, and I had told her after I got my tongue done that I wouldn't get my face pierced again for a while, so the rook piercing was perfect. She actually liked it, and told me to call up Big Kahuna in Boca [I had gone to them before for my eyebrow and they were extremely friendly and super sterile and they made my mom and I feel very safe] and see how much it would be. I called and the man said it would be 40 bucks. I was stoked, I had enough money to get it done.
The next day my mom called her friend and she drove us to the shop. It was about a 20 minute ride and I was nervous as all hell. I never get nervous for piercings, but for some reason this one scared the shit out of me. I had never had any cartlidge piercings before, and I thought this was a hell of a way for me to get the feel of it. And besides, if I could go through the pain of a rook - Then I could definitely handle an industrial later on. I kept telling myself to stay calm and breathe, but as we pulled into the parking spot two stores down from the big kahuna, staying calm was hard.
When we finally got inside, [that five second walk from the car to the shop seemed like it took forever], we talked to Garret. I told him I had been there before for my eyebrow piercing and he nodded. My mom showed him her ID and they took it to the back and copied it. They had my mom fill out a sheet with her signature and all of that jazz, and then it was time. I had butterflies like you would not believe.
I sat in the chair, took my moms hand, and he asked me which side I wanted it in. I told him my left. While he was preparing all of the tools, I was a total pain in the ass. "Is it going to hurt like hell?" "Are you sure you can do it fast?" "Will it bleed a lot?" "Is it going to be a pain in the ass to get that ring in there?" But Garret answered all my questions and didn't seem pissed off. I told him I was pretty scared and he said 'It only really matters if I'm nervous.. And I'm not' - And then he started shaking his hand all nervous-like. It made me smile and feel a lot more comfortable. He told me to breathe deep, and when I exhaled he pushed the needle through. Now, let me tell you - I was expecting the most excruciating pain ever. I was expecting to pass out from this pain. Or at least curse like a drunken sailor.. But it honestly didn't hurt that bad. There was more pressure than pain, and I only heard a faint crunching sound when the needle went through. But other t han that, it wasn't bad at all. When he had the needle in he asked me if I was okay, if I was light-headed or dizzy or anything. I told him I was fine. He took a minute to get the jewelry, a sterling CBR, and putting it in was the worst part of the whole ordeal, but even that was bearable. It was just a little tugging.
When it was all done he wiped the blood from my ear [there wasn't much of that either] and asked me again if I was fine. I told him yes, that I just wanted to look at it. 'I have a three minute rule,' he said. 'You have to sit in the chair and relax for three minutes, just to be safe.' I agreed with that. Everyone had a look, Garret, Mom, My mom's friend Debbie.. I was so anxious. I asked my mom if I had hurt her hand squeezing it, and she said 'No, but you did turn a lovely shade of whitish-green.' She didn't look all that well herself, though. She was squeezing my hand tighter than I was squeezing hers - And she wasn't the one with the needle in her ear.
After they told me the aftercare instructions, I finally got to the mirror and took a long look at my brand new piercing. I fell in love instantly. It was/is the cutest thing I have ever seen. I've been lucky so far, I've had it for maybe 6 hours now and I can't even tell that its there. The first couple minutes after it was done it started to sting a little, but it wasn't unbearable. And then after that, it was like I'd had it forever. It hasn't swollen or gotten red, although it is the slightest bit sensitive. I'd totally recommend this piercing to anyone - It's a cute, virtually painless, piercing. In fact, in another 2 weeks I'm going back to get my right rook done.
Or maybe I'll finally get that industrial...