About three months ago I woke up one morning with the itch for a new piercing. I decided I would get one done as soon as possible. So about two days later when I was in Tamworth seeing Matt (as mentioned in my helix experience) I decided to get my rook done. I had wanted it done for ages, and my last piercing, my helix, had been the result of a choice between the two. So I went off to Nala, Matt in tow, to get some new holes made in my body.
At A Glance Author Claire Contact claire_is_gay@msn.com When Three months ago Artist Annette Studio Nala Location Tamworth, England I arrived at Nala, very nervous but excited about my new piercings. I spoke to Chris and told him that I wanted my rook done. But then I had a great idea. About three weeks before Christmas, I had lost the bar from my tragus. It had been growing out anyway, so I had decided to have it redone. But every time I thought about taking the bar out to let it heal up, I decided that I couldn't, as I loved it too much. Losing the bar was the incentive I needed and so I let it heal up. So while I was at Nala, why not kill two birds with one stone and get them both done?
I asked Chris if it would be ok to pierce them both on the same ear at the same time and he said yes, there should be no problems, although he went to ask Annette anyway, just in case. Also, because I was having two done at the same time, Annette would give me £5 off and throw in some free aftercare. How good does it get? So I filled in all the usual forms, and went to sit down and wait.
Eventually, Annette appeared from her little room and told me she was ready. I went into the room, and sat down, dragging Matt with me as I had a feeling I was going to need a hand to squeeze!
I sat down, telling Annette what I wanted. I was a little worried that my tragus would be difficult to do as I already had one hole in it, but she had a look and said it would be fine, as it had grown out so much anyway. She seemed really excited, telling me she loved doing rook piercings as they looked so good once they were finished. She did all the usual stuff, cleaned my ear, place the jewellery and checked it, checked it with me and then marked my ear, checking it with me again. It all looked fine, so she began to clamp my tragus. She said she was going to do them one after the other as it would be quicker and easier that way. I agreed.
When it was all clamped and ready, she picked up the needle and prepared to push it through my tragus. I closed my eyes (I always do, I'm not sure why) and imagined the needle going through my ear. I felt it touch my ear and slide through my tragus easily, no pain. Annette removed the needle, cut down the plastic and inserted the jewellery. Then she started to clamp my rook. I have quite small ears and she found it difficult to get it right, but eventually it was clamped. I closed my eyes again, holding Matt's hand this time. I felt the needle touch my ears and steeled myself for the pain. I won't lie; it hurt. Not a lot, but enough. Annette also had a little trouble getting the needle through my rook, which didn't help, but she made the best of a bad situation and talked me through it, which really helped to calm me down. The room was quite hot and I was in a fair bit of pain by the time she finally had the needle through and the jewellery in. I didn't feel sick, but I coul d feel my stomach going round and round and felt excessively hot. I told Annette, because I didn't want to just pass out or anything with no warning and she told me to take deep breaths and take off my jumper, which I did. I didn't lie down because I didn't feel dizzy, but I did have a sugary drink and eat a Mars bar, which really helped.
After I was feeling better I turned to the mirror to look at my new piercings, and I fell in love. My rook looked so cute, its definitely my favourite piercing, and all the pain instantly became worth it. I thanked Annette and left.
It's nearly three months later now, and my rook looks just as cute. Both piercings are healing really nicely, although my rook is taking a little longer than my tragus, which is pretty much healed.