Sitting here writing this, I'm adorned with three piercings in my mouth, ten in my ears and a tattoo across my stomach yet this is a tale of my only modification that ever bled.
At A Glance Author Caroline Contact punkposs101@hotmail.com IAM Momentary_Seizure When Six months ago Artist Pete Studio Kazbah Location Leicester, UK I can't quite remember why I decided to get my rook pierced. I always thought that it was a nice piercing (and had contemplated getting it just a year previously) but I didn't know if it would suit me. I know it's nothing as obvious or as likely to be unsuiting as some of the other piercings I have but I have odd shaped ears – so much so, I barely have an anti tragus or snug in either ear, snug especially in my right. I thought that if I got it pierced, you probably wouldn't be able to see it that much and thus rendered it slightly pointless.
My friend Amy and I wandered in to our local studio and looked at all the nice body jewellery and it suddenly occurred to me that I could get pierced. I had enough money and although I was pierced not even a month previously, I had the itch for something new. So just three days before Christmas I went to the counter and asked the lady if I could get my rook pierced. Nothing like a bit of pain as a Christmas present to ones self.
We then went upstairs to be greeted by Pete who took my slip of paper off me and asked for me to sit on the bench in front of him. Firstly he asked what gauge I wanted it pierced at and as I said 16g, he sighed and asked me to run down stairs and ask the lady behind the counter for some 16g curved barbells. I raced back upstairs, several packets of claved jewellery in hand and sat back down. He got out his purple marker and told me that there were two places that I could get pierced – the rook and one that apparently is also the rook but it just looked to me like a very forward helix. I told him his first mark was where I wanted it and he got out the 16g jewellery and a packaged needle. He told me that it was going to be a slow piercing and I had to keep still. I realised that the more I tried to keep still, the shakier I would be so I relaxed and tried to ignore it.
Considering I had had my conch pierced just a few weeks before, Pete pulling my ear about hurt quite a bit. He brought his face close to the side of my head and slowly pushed the needle up through my rook. I gripped the underneath of the table as the slow, dull pain spread across my ear. The jewellery was then put in place with slight difficulty and I was all set. It looked lovely. Admittedly, I wish I could have seen the bar a bit more but I figured that at least I knew it was there. I thanked Pete and Amy and I left to go have a drink in our favourite café. All the while walking there my ear felt like it was burning and had turned a lovely shade of scarlet. I tried my hardest not to smile as, because it was so close to my head, it made it ache somewhat.
Considering that it was pierced through a lot of cartilage I assumed it was going to take a while to heal. And I was right. All through my holidays I found it difficult to sleep on, not impossible, but just more uncomfortable than I would have liked. I tried to keep it clean and left it alone but it still wasn't doing as well as I had hoped. Then one night I saw it – the dreaded lump. Over the next few days it grew and me, being as meddling and stupid as I am, decided that if I prodded it, maybe it'd get better. Guess what? It didn't. Not learning from my mistakes, I continued to clean, prod and occasionally use the white powder I'd been given to help my conch. One evening I think I prodded it a little too much and it started to bleed. Not just a little bit of blood around the top ball, actually bleeding all the way down to my conch. I got worried that I'd messed it up as it didn't stop bleeding for quite a while but eventually it did and over the next week or so, the lump got smaller and smaller until I couldn't see it anymore.
All through February I watched it carefully, just to see if there were any sign of it flaring up again and to my delight, it was fine.
Like all good stories, mine ends with a happy ending. Now, on a sunny Monday afternoon on the 10th April, I can safely say that my rook is healing. It's not quite at the point of me being happy with it just yet but it's definitely getting there. I can move the bar with great ease and only the slightest pinch of pain. Considering how much cartilage it had to go through and how slowly I heal (though that's probably down to me prodding and poking it), I think it's doing pretty well and I'm glad you can see it more than I thought you'd be able to.
I think the only advice I can really give for this is do not prod your piercings. I'd love to say that I've learnt from my mistakes but I clearly haven't as my medusa bled all over my lips due to much the same reason just a few months later – though, that's healed perfectly now so I guess it isn't all bad.