At A Glance
Author	Kara
Contact	kara419022@hotmail.com
When	A week ago
Artist	Luis
Studio	New Age Piercing
Location	Miami, FL

So it was a Sunday afternoon, exactly a week ago. My roommate Ashley had a friend, Coni visiting from PA, so the three of us were sitting in our tiny dorm room in Miami thinking of what to do. We somehow decided to go down to New Age Piercing (VERY highly reccommended... see Luis) in Coconut Grove. Ash and I had been there once before. Luis had done my tragus piercing and Ash's cartilage.

My original idea was to get my tongue pierced... or repierced for that matter. I had it done once before, but it ended up closing. It hurt a lot and I decided that I didnt really feel like dealing with a swollen tongue for the next few days, so that idea was out. Coni was getting her cartilage done, and Ashley was piercing her tragus.

I already had quite a few piercing in my ears. There were three holes in each of my lobes, a tragus and cartilage on my right ear, and two cartilage piercings on my left. I had never heard of a rook piercing before, but while looking in the mirror examining my left ear, I thought that it might be a cool place to have an earring.

At New Age Piercing, I pionted to my rook (unaware that it was actually called a rook), and Luis said, "Oh, your rook, OK got it." He pierced Ashley's tragus first because she seemed the most nervous. Coni went next and ended up getting her cartilage pierced as well as her nose.

Then it was my turn. I can handle pain pretty well, so I wasn't terrified, but it is a pretty thick piece of cartilage, so I figured my rook my hurt a lot. I sat in the chair while Luis joked around and cleaned the area with antiseptic. Then it happened. I clentched my fists and my teeth and shut my eyes while the needle quickly went through my rook. It definitely hurt more than my tragus, but it wasn't completely unbearable. I think I handled it pretty well (as in, there wasnt TOO much swearing and Luis never got a punch in the face or anything).

Next, Luis put the jewelry in. The hardest part was waiting for him to clamp the ball into the earring. He is very fast and this only took about 20 seconds. I would reccommend to anyone considering this piercing that they make sure their piercer does not take long clamping the earring closed, as this is the most uncomfortable part. Once, my friend pierced her tragus and said that the guy took like 5 minutes to clamp the earring closed, which must have been hell for her. I can only imagine that situation with a rook piercing...

At first I had wanted a small barbell, but Luis warned against it and said that a small ring identical to the one in my tragus would look better because my ears are small and it would be more balanced. I conceeded and decided to trust his judgement.

Once he was done with my rook piercing, I jumped out of the chair to look in the mirror. It looked awesome. It was perfect and exactly how I had pictured it. It was a little bit sore, but really didnt bother me that much. I took some Aleve before I went to sleep that night and sleeping on my ear didnt hurt much because the piercing was inside my ear.

Against Luis's instruction, I am using Bactine to care for my rook. The only reason is because I have used it in the past for most of my ear piercings, including my tragus, and I have always had no infection and a very fast healing time. It has been a week now, and my rook feels fine. It is slightly sore, but only if i am playing with it. I have gotten several comments on it, and everyone thinks I am so badass for handleing the pain.

As soon as I left the New Age Piercing, I began thinking about what my next piercing would be. I need to even out my ears a little bit, so I think that I have decided on a snug piercing for my right ear and to repierce the cartilage higher up. I can't wait. I am trying to restrain myself until my rook heals because I know how addicting piercings can be, and I am trying to space it out a little bit. Hopefully in another month or so, I will see Luis again for my snug and repiercing of my cartilage.

My rook experience turned out so well. For a spontaneous and random piercing decision, I am completely satisfied with the results. I would reccomend this piercing to anyone who can handle pain (we aren't talking anything too extreme here) and does not get infected too easily. It looks great, and I love my rook.