So over the years, I've had my share of ear piercings. In high school, I had 3 traditional lobe piercings in each ear, and a few cartilage piercings (though stupidly done at the mall with the dreaded gun). Hey, I was young and didn't know much better. Over time I grew tired of them because most didn't heal properly and always looked bad/hurt.
At A Glance Author xcurseddiamondx Contact xcurseddiamondx@bme.anon When A week ago Studio Body Designs Location Bay Shore, NY I took them all out and let them close up with the exception of the first and "traditional" lobe piercing almost everyone has. However, I still don't really wear earrings. About 5 years ago I had my navel pierced and that worked out great. But I never really had much of an urge to get more piercings after that.
That is, until a few months ago when I thought perhaps a rook piercing would be cool. I'm 26, and my little sister who is 18 went all out and got her tragus and rook done. I figured hey, if she did it, I can probably handle it. I did a little research and it ::seemed:: like it was a tricky piercing. I read stories of profuse bleeding, very painful piercing procedures, hard after-care, etc. Now I wasn't too sure. After all, if I was going to go through with it, I wanted it to look as good as possible, and heal properly. My sister had good luck though, so it made me think I might be okay after all.
This past weekend I was out visiting my family, and my sister and I schemed to go get our ears done that night. My little brother also came along for the trip, but he's only 17 so he couldn't get anything done. We went to Body Designs, which isn't too far from the house. She had already been there for her rook and could attest to their professionalism. I felt better about it - nothing worse than someone who doesn't know what they're doing, or a dirty place.
We arrived late (around 10:15 pm on a Saturday night). We met with the piercer and discussed the options. He checked out my ear and said I'd be a fine candidate for a rook piercing. We decided on a 16 gauge captive bead ring - I could have gotten 18 gauge, but I wanted it to be small.
He brought me into the piercing room and had me sit down in the chair. He put on his gloves, took out the needle and clamp, sterilized the area and asked if I was ready. I said yes of course. He clamped my ear, which he mentioned he couldn't always successfully do with people. Here came the needle. I was so afraid I'd hear the "crunch" I've heard people describe, but I didn't really. I am not going to lie - it hurt. But nothing terrible. Nothing worse than the worst pain I felt when getting my tattoos, anyhow. Putting the ring in hurt as well, but it was all done within a minute and when I looked in the mirror I fell in love. It looked great and I was very happy with the placement. It hardly bled at all.
They discussed aftercare with me, I paid my money (it was only $35 which I thought was more than reasonable), tipped the man and waited as my sister got her anti-tragus done. She originally wanted a vertical tragus, but the piercer advised her against it after looking at her ear. I think that was a wise choice - that piercing seems like it would be difficult to deal with.
It's been 5 days now since the rook piercing, and I think it looks good. There is hardly any crusting, and there was only a small amount of dried blood the first day. My ear is sore, but only if I touch around it. I assume this is normal and may take a few weeks to really go away. Nothing some ibuprofen can't help. I have been extra careful not to touch the piercing during the day and I think it's working out well.
All in all I was really pleased with the experience, and am surprised to see people say they had a hard time with theirs. I suppose every person is different, though. I hope that the piercing continues to heal up nicely and doesn't develop any problems. I'm optimistic! The studio was cool - they were friendly and didn't make you feel like you "weren't cool enough" to be getting work done. I would recommend it to anyone on Long Island or in the general area.
I have even thought about getting something else done for the future, but we'll have to see about that. If I do get anything else, I will be sure to go back to the same place.