At A Glance
Author	lucy
When	It just happened
Artist	Colin
Studio	Exeter Body Piercing
Location	Exeter, Devon, UK

I started getting really into piercing at around the same time that I convinced my boyfriend to get his helix pierced (I know it, you know it, we all know it, piercings are damn sexy).
Previously, I had two piercings in each earlobe (gunned at a department store - oh, the shame) and two rim cartilage piercings in my right ear, which was fairly unusual in both my school and my area, but even so, once Josh got obsessed with body modification, I followed suit. I wanted something a little more unique, so I started reading up on BME - and that's how I came to get my tragus piercing.

Anyway, three months after that incident, Josh and I were in Exeter, Devon yesterday. He'd decided to complete his 'triangle' theme in his right ear with an anti-tragus piercing, so we headed down to Exeter Body Piercing, where I've had five of my piercings done now and Josh's had three. Colin, my favourite piercer, was in, and he greeted Josh warmly while practically looking right through me - this is because last time Josh got pierced, it was with a monster bar from rim right through his snug, which I guess makes his ear a lot more interesting than mine! So we went in, Josh got a new piercing, finished up his right ear 'project' and practically skipped up the road when we left.
Well, damn if I didn't want some of those endorphins and my own new cute piece of metal. So it was a quick toss-up between a third RHS cartilage rim piercing or a rook. I chose the more unique option.

So I whined and nagged and forced Josh to traipse all the way back down to EBP, which was slightly embarrassing as we'd only left half an hour ago... so, I announced that I wanted my rook pierced with a curved barbell rather than a CBR (which is my only regret; I think a CBR would've looked nicer), Colin grunted a bit, and prepared everything while I filled out the familiar release form. Then it was back into Colin's piercing room, which is bigger and airier than my bedroom at home, so it's a far cry from when I got my lobes gunned in back of the Dingles beauty salon. Yech.
I was nervous because almost all the stories on here are of killer pain, but I like to think that I was more relaxed than Josh, who squeezed his eyes shut the entire time.

Anyway, Colin cleaned my ear, then marked it up and told me to check the placement in the mirror. All was good so he propped up the bed thing, changed gloves for the millionth time and positioned my head (no clamp). He also put some tissue into my ear in case the ball for the end of the bar got dropped. (Josh laughed at this point.)

"Okay, I want you to take a deep breath in... and slowly let it out."
So I stared at the light and did exactly that.
I won't lie, it was very painful. And I guess my rook is a lot tougher than my tragus, because this time I could really feel him putting pressure on the needle to go through. But there was no pop, no crunch, and as he put the barbell in I relaxed a lot. He didn't drop the ball, but cautioned me that it might come loose during cleaning because of the awkward position it was in. He also said that I'd need to get the bar changed because it's really too big for my ear - 1.2mm gauge x 10 mm, it sticks out quite a bit.

Finally he cleaned the area again, threw away the needles, gloves etc and sprayed everything down before we left the room. I then paid £16 (around $30) before we left the studio, which incidentally is APP registered, with my aftercare instructions and a new titanium addition. And my endorphin feeling.

Well, I got it pierced yesterday and so far I've had no complications except hiding it from my parents! I salt-soaked it when I got back and then cleaned it to get rid of the blood, and I did the same thing this morning. Unless I touch the back of my ear or the rook itself, it doesn't hurt, and it's tender rather than painful when I do.

I'm the only person that I know with a rook piercing, and this makes me feel special! If you have a low pain threshold, it's probably not for you, but otherwise I can't recommend enough what I've just done if you want to make people look twice. If you're ever in the Devon area, take a trip to Exeter Body Piercing. You won't regret it.