Let me first shout out to Paul and the other guys at Flesh F/x in Mentor, Ohio. You guys are very respectable and you rock! You guys have a way of making your customers comfortable in your shop and thats really important when you are getting something done that could last forever.
At A Glance Author Kait Contact Kait@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Paul Studio Flesh F/x Location Mentor, Ohio I was bored one day so I set out to go to the tattoo shop. I currently have my nose pierced, and my navel, and three in each ear. There is just something about piercings that I can't get enough of. I took my boyfriend and his little sister. Their mother came as well. His sister wanted to get her lip pierced, and her mom came to give her permission since she is only 15. I didn't think that Paul would pierce her, due to the fact that she is so young and still growing. I was right, and he apologized but he said he wouldn't do it. She was really disappointed and she ended up going to one of her mom's friends that does permanent cosmetics to get it done.
I was going to get something done even though she couldn't. I felt bad. I had wanted to get my tragus done but my boyfriend thought the rook was a lot cooler. I liked it too but it looked hard to do so I wasn't sure. I also have really tiny ears and I wasn't sure the jewelry would fit.
I went in and asked Paul the piercer if he could do it. He said yes. I filled out the necessary paper work and then I went to the bathroom so that nothing bad would happen during the piercing. I noticed how clean the shop was. The guys that work at Flesh F/x are very professional and nice. Paul took my boyfriend and I back to the room. He put me at ease by telling me about himself and his piercings. He had me lay down on the cot thing. He cleaned my ear, and got all me all calmed down. I said I was probably going to cry, but that if I did not to worry because one of the reasons I get piercings done is for the pain. He cleaned and clamped my ear, and he bent the needle to the correct shape.
I was busy staring at the ceiling tile. He told me to breathe in and out and he pushed it through. It hurt really bad, and my eyes started to tear up. He inserted the jewelry and just told me to relax because I was bleeding a lot. He kept swabbing the area for 10 minutes until finally it stopped bleeding. He told me to sit up slowly and I was dizzy from loosing so much blood. He sat with me for a while to make sure I was ok, and then I paid him and left. All in all it was a very good experience.
Later at home I sea salted it a few times a day and I used dial antimicrobial to wash it. At one point it became very painful but I stuck it out and now its almost healed. It is kind of a pain to take care of and I've now had it for 3 months. I have found that the less I play with it and clean it, the happier it is. It got a lot of crusties at first and it still has some, but the best advice I can give is not to pick at them at all. Leave them be and your chances of infection go down dramatically. It is an awesome piercing to have because its relatively rare and people always give me compliments!
Sleeping on it at first really sucked. Now I can sleep on it but sometimes the jewelry presses on some part of my ear that makes the whole thing ache. Thats the only obnoxious thing. In February I can change the jewelery. Paul recommended that I come in for the first change and I will because the balls on the barbell are so tiny that I can't even hold them. The top one fell off about a month after I got it done and I tried to get it back on but I couldn't so I had to go into the shop. Putting it back on hurt really bad too.
I now have this weird little bubble at the top of the piercing, but it's mostly hidden by the top of the barbell. I am hoping it will go away, because when I got my nose pierced I developed one too. I have started the sea salt regimen again because the salt pulls out the infection and the bacteria that might develop.
Don't let my experience sway your decision to get a rook. Everyone experiences it differently. Happy piercing!!