Recently I decided that I would like to add another piercing to my rather minimalist body mod collection. I knew I wanted something done with my ear cartilage but I didn't really know what. I have my outer helix pierced on my right side with a 16g barbell, and my ears are stretched to a modest 0g, so I wanted something equally dainty in my left ear. I read stories and looked at pictures on BME and decided that I would like to get either my tragus or my rook pierced.
At A Glance Author Kaity M Contact Kaity M@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Blair Studio New Tribe Location Queen West, Toronto ON I was absolutely terrified of what the rook would actually feel like because all the reviews of the piercing made it out to be incredibly painful and even worse to heal. The tragus didn't seem like it would be a whole lot easier. With the two ideas in mind, I ventured down to New Tribe in downtown Toronto. I hadn't gotten a piercing there yet but both of my tattoos were done there and my roommate had her lip pierced. I love the environment and the people that work there.
I walked in and was relatively calm about the whole thing. I told the girl at the counter that I was torn between the two piercings and she said she'd have Blair come out and let me know what he thinks. We both realized that while my tragus was small it was still pierce-able and we chatted briefly about what I wanted. I decided on the rook after all because it wasn't something I saw too often in person and I can always get the tragus done next time!
Blair took me into his little piercing room and explained a whole bunch of stuff to me, showed me what he would be using and chatted with myself and my boyfriend who had accompanied me down. We discussed the jewelry he would be using and luckily we both didn't like the idea of piercing with a CBR. Even though the piercing is relatively hidden within the ear it would still get knocked around during healing (and I'm not big on the way CBRs look, as I have stainless steel balls in all my other piercings). He explained what salts to use, recommended a soap and even got in-depth with what advantages all the different soaps have and what disadvantages they have. I chose to get a tea tree oil based soap as I know my body can handle it but was made aware that sometimes it's too harsh for fresh piercings. I told him I wanted the shortest barbell possible to still allow for swelling and he checked out my ear. The barbell he picked was perfect, with hardly any bits hanging out, yet long enough that while it was swollen it wasn't uncomfortable and I could still move it about.
After we were done chatting about it, he marked my ear and showed me where the needle would enter and exit, and explained the placement to me (less risk of migration, etc). I was told to lay down on the bed and he told me step by step what was going on. I knew when he was bending the needle, was told why the needle was a 14g even though the jewelry was 16g and when it was going to go through.
The piercing itself was a breeze. I exhaled as he pushed the needle through the super thick cartilage and felt an extreme amount of pressure on the side of my head. I didn't experience much pain though, and didn't even hear the cartilage "pop" like I'd read about! All I said was "well, that kind of sucked"! My ear had numbed by the time he took the needle out and put the jewelry in, and it smarted a bit when he made sure that the balls were screwed on tight. He made sure he told me that he threw the needle out, and then told me to have a look at my new piercing!
I loved it, and I adore the placement. The bottom ball of the barbell looks like it's hidden in the crevice of my rook and the top ball looks like it's just floating there. It's absolutely perfect and wasn't half as bad as I expected.
Two weeks later and it's healing very well. For the first few days I was unable to touch my rook without it really hurting which of course was no good for the salt soaks twice a day. I did them of course, and within the week it was much more comfortable. I can accidentally roll over in bed without it hurting, but I still try not to sleep on it because it's still fairly uncomfortable. I had some bleeding for the first day after when I cleaned around the top ball but nothing since.
All in all the experience with Blair was amazing and I totally recommend him to anyone wanting a piercing in the greater Toronto area. He was so informative and nice. And the piercing itself wasn't nearly as bad as the stories on here lead me to believe but everyone's tolerance is different of course. I say go for it because it probably won't be as awful as you expect and it's a really awesome piercing.
I hope to go back to New Tribe in the summer to get my tragus pierced ;)