I have never been very "extreme" in terms of body modifications (or the rest of my life), but recently I decided it was time to get the nipple piercing I had wanted for over a year, and started to do some research online. This is when I became nervous about the possible ramifications of my piercing- I saw pictures of women whose nipple piercings had gotten infected which were very scary; one woman even had to have one breast completely removed! I am very concerned about doing something to my body that has a chance of greatly affecting my general health, future, career, or ability to breast-feed, so I decided that nipple piercings (in addition to facial piercings, stretched lobes, and genital piercings, among others) were out. However, I still wanted to get something fun and unique, even if it wasn't quite as discreet. Enter the rook piercing, which I had never seen "in real life" but discovered on BME. I gathered from others' stories that this very cute piercing was generally less painful and became infected less easily than some other cartilage piercings such as a snug. Joby at Art and Soul Tattoos recommended House of Freaks piercing studio on Melrose. I looked it up online and read nothing but good reviews, so 3 weeks later, as a reward for finishing summer midterms as well as a 19th birthday present to myself, I walked into the piercing studio on a Friday afternoon with my boyfriend in tow, ready for a new hole.
At A Glance Author bridge Contact bridge@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Guy Studio House of Freaks Location Melrose Blvd, Los Angeles, CA My soon-to-be piercer, named Guy, was very helpful and nice, answering all of my questions in a friendly manner. He was also quick on the uptake when I mentioned I was "very concerned about sterility." He showed me the requisite autoclave and answered my "what type of needles do you use" question correctly (disposable, pre-sterilized, single-use). I signed the necessary forms, showed my ID, and was back on the piercing chair in the very clean piercing room in no time.
I felt relatively relaxed and not too nervous until I was told to lay on my side and Guy began to clean my ear. It was helpful and comforting that he talked the whole time about what he was doing and we chatted a bit about my job. When it came time for the actual pierce, my heart gave a little jump and I grabbed my boyfriend's hand, taking a deep breath in as instructed. The needle went in, but to my relief I hardly noticed any pain do to focusing on the funny loud crunching sound that my cartilage made! I was pleasantly surprised by this minimal amount of pain, but at the same time as I lay there feeling the funny sensation of having a large needle stuck in my ear, I dreaded the jewelry insertion as I had heard that this could be the most painful part. Thinking about this probably contributed to the increased pain I felt when he inserted the 16g CBR. This felt similar to scraping a fresh cut, but lasted only about three or four seconds. Once the ring was in, the pain ceased altogether! I would say that even after taking the jewelry insertion into account, the piercing hurt less than getting a shot in the arm at the doctor's, and definitely less than getting my lobes pierced.
Afterwards, I marveled at my new rook piercing in the mirror as Guy explained aftercare and told me to call him if I had any questions at all. I tipped him and we were on our way to a yummy sushi dinner as a reward. I was in such a daze that I ended up accidentally leaving my purse at the restaurant, so I would definitely advise keeping track of your belongings and trying not to space out too much if you have something important to focus on after getting your piercing!
In terms of pain after the fact, my ear felt slightly warm for about an hour, but that is the extent of the pain I have felt so far (I got the piercing yesterday afternoon). No soreness, inflammation, swelling... nothing, wow! My boyfriend commented that it looks healed already, but I'm not going to do anything risky (e.g. swimming) for at least 6 months even if it never hurts again and never gets infected.
The only drawbacks of my whole experience there were 1) House of Freaks does not have any titanium jewelry, which I had been planning on using (they have stainless steel), and 2) my boyfriend thought that Guy looked slightly "under the influence," though I hadn't noticed it and can't say that I agree, as he seemed very sharp and in control. I would definitely recommend this piercing to anyone who doesn't mind hearing their cartilage crunch. I would also highly recommend Guy and House of Freaks. I think it was a great first foray into unique piercings for me. All-in-all, the experience was highly enjoyable, barely painful, and I love my new piercing and am committed to taking care of it! Feel free to e-mail me with any questions or to see how the healing process is going.