Piercing for me has always been a bit of a taboo subject; my parents were very against it and until the age of about 15 the only part of me that had had a fleeting acquaintance with a needle was the lobes of my ears. This changed however when I came across sites such as BME when researching for an art project. After sneakily getting my upper ear cartilage done, as well as my navel (both of which led to much aggro from the parents), I decided that I wanted something a little more special done to celebrate my going away to university. Unfortunately I work in a bakery and therefore the lip ring I craved so much was out of the question if I intended to support myself through higher education.
At A Glance Author lola Contact lola@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Steve Studio Blue Banana Location Cardiff, Wales I came across a picture of a girl with a rook piercing by chance and from that moment I was constantly fiddling with that bit of my ear and imagining what it would look like with an ickle ring through it. I was hooked!! I thought it just looked so unusual but not too extreme to get away with at work and when the parents came to visit. What swung it for me was the thought that 'that little bit of ear? That's about the same thickness as my ear rim...it won't hurt that much...' So first chance I got I dragged my boyfriend down to the local Blue Banana to get it done. Originally I wanted it in my left ear as I already have a rim piercing in my right ear and was planning to stretch my lobes, so didn't want to look 'overbalanced'. However Steve, the piercer at Blue Banana, told me that although it was cheaper than I thought it was going to be (£15), he could only do it in my right ear as he couldn't clamp it and would have to do it freehand. By this time I was dead set on having it do ne, imagining myself with my shiny new piece of metal through my ear, that I just thought 'what the hell'.
After the usual forms to sign and waiting nervously, Steve got everything ready and I sat up on the little bed/couch thing ready to start. To be honest Steve wasn't too reassuring- he didn't mark out where the needle was going to go, like the other times I'd been there, and didn't warn me when the needle was going to go in. I'd recommend asking the piercer to do this as, to be honest, I think having teeth pulled would be less painful (I know, I'm such a wuss). I actually made some noise, which was quite embarrassing.Most posts I have read about this particular piercing go on about little pain and major crunch- well I didnt hear my ear making any crunchy noises but it felt incredibly slow and drawn-out, which I think was due to the piercers fingers getting in the way as he was trying to keep the needle steady due to the lack of clamp. After the jewellery went in it wasn't too bad, just bled on and off for about 15 minutes after I left the shop (which shocked the woman in Star bucks when it started oozing as I was paying for coffee).
The trouble with this piercing really started when I'd had it for a week and accidentally rolled over in my sleep on top of it. I woke up in the morning with a swollen, throbbing ear and lots of lovely crusty stuff around the ring itself. Although the tea tree oil I was given free by the studio helped slightly, the swelling didn't go down and made sleeping difficult. I really should have thought about which side I slept on most before having it done! Salt soaks didn't have too much of an effect either. I searched the Internet for advice and came up with a site that recommended antiseptic soap lathered around the jewellery, followed by salt soaking the ear at least twice a day. I tried this and 2 months later have a lovely healed rook, without any discomfort and only a slight amount of swelling around the exit point (but this is hidden from view anyway so isn't a problem).
I'd definitely recommend this piercing to anyone, but just bear in mind that it will make sleeping difficult (and, from personal experience is guaranteed to get slammed into by drunken idiots in clubs and caught by hairdressers despite you telling them that its there, which I think is just a law of the universe). It's a bitch to clean as well. Naturally my parents hate it, but it goes well with the rest of my ear and is just unusual enough to get noticed. Unfortunately its newly healed state has started the whole process off again...I'm back trawling through the picture sections on this site searching for a new pretty way of adorning (and possibly infecting) my left ear.