At A Glance
Author	jennjenn
Contact	jennjenn@bme.anon
When	Three months ago
Artist	Kelly
Studio	Wild Ink
Location	Oshawa

As I sit here with a hot facecloth pressed to the side of my ear and popping ibuprofens like they're candies I feel the need to tell you all the story of my rook.

It all started about a year ago, I saw the piercing on a friend, and I fell in love with it right then and there. Being that I was underage I needed parental permission and automatically got the well known "NO." I can say that this did not surprise me in the least, but I did not give up.

Eventually (about 6 months later, yes it took that long for me to convince my parents) I finally got a "YES." To say the least, I was super stoked. After a couple of scheduling conflicts, I could finally get it done.

I must say, the piercing itself was not too bad at all, I don't remember any pain during the procedure, perhaps a little bit of pressure at one point, but I don't remember exactly. I do remember feeling light headed after rushing out to the front of the studio to show my disgusted mom, but I'm sure that was from the sudden adrenaline drop. I guess the pain first started in the car ride home, it started as a dull ache and progresses from there. By the time I got home I had to lie down on the couch as I felt like I was going to be sick. I'm not sure if I have a low pain tolerance, or if I was just totally unprepared for the aftermath seeing that this was my first "real" piercing, besides me lobes and helix (which sadly, was gunned). But after a couple of ibuprofens I was good to go.

The few days were great. I loved my piercing, and I showed it off to absolutely everyone. It looked great, not swelling or redness, everything was amazing. It was sore though; don't get me wrong, it hurt. More so when I banged it or would roll over on it during the night, that sucked. I guess the real story begins about a week and a half after I got it pierced, I noticed it was starting to swell and it was tuning a little bit red. I kept on with my SSS and it got a little better. The I started noticing that there were more 'crusties' than usual, so once again I just kept on with the SSS and hoped for then best. Then, it stated swelling like a balloon, seriously. I had to go back to my piercer and get a bigger hoop put in to accommodate for the swelling. It eventually got better. But once the swelling had gone down I noticed a big red bump near the bottom hole. So, being totally new to the piercing scene, I had no clue what to do. During my regular cleaning regime after school I took one of my q-tips soaked in sea salt and pushed on the bump. It burst. Puss and blood were everywhere, and it kept bleeding and bleeding and bleeding. It eventually stopped, and went back to normal, I went back to my piercer and had her check it out, she said it looked fine.

Well, the swelling and the crusties came back... everything was not fine.

My next little speed bump... the ball fell off. It was about 9:30 at night and I was brushing my hair before I had a shower and I decided to turn the hoop. Well, I touched the hoop, and the ball fell off. To say the least, I freaked out, tears and all. I didn't know what to do, I searched the house for balls off old spacers but none of them fit, I tried erasers and beads and just about everything I could think of. I finally decided to find some pliers and try to close the hoop. I closed it a bit but then I caught my ear. So now I had a ball-less hoop, bleeding ear, I was crying, and my mom was freaking out, it was quite the night. Then my mom got the idea t tape the hoop, tape it so it couldn't turn and come out, I thought It was a good idea, so that's what we did. I went to the piercer the next day and she freaked, I guess he tape residue would get in the hole if the hoop turned at all, well I hadn't thought of that. She took me to the back room and she began her work. About an hour later I came out tears still streaming down my face, with a new hoop in my ear.

The swelling came back, as usual, along with the crusties, but this time it was accompanied my some pain. Pain like never before. I lived off Advil for a while and the pain finally went away.

Besides the swelling and occasional crusties my ear has been ok up until a few nights ago. I was tucking my hair behind my ear when I felt it, a bump. But this was on the back of my ear; the piercing doesn't go through the back of my ear! I went to my piercer and she said it had nothing to do with the piercing, so I thought it was okay. But today, it has been absolutely throbbing and if I tough the area anywhere near the bump, puss come out of both holes. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to find out what's wrong with it. So here I sit, facecloth pressed to the side of my head, telling you my story.

*note: my experience was a total fluke, my sister had it done a week after me, same piercer, same studio, and she has had no problems with hers. It's me, maybe it wasn't meant to be. I also want to say that I have no problem with Wild Ink or Kelly; they're very professional and clean... I went back there to get my eyebrow done about 2 weeks ago, they're awesome. It really is just me and my bad luck.