I recently got a rook piercing done at The Burning Image in NW Indiana. I'd wanted this piercing for awhile and I read about it and had read other people's experiences on it, and although most people said it hurt a lot, I went ahead and had it done anyway.
At A Glance Author Judie Contact CryThisMistOfTrs@aol.com When It just happened Artist not sure Studio The Burning Image Location NW Indiana At The Burning Image, after showing my ID and informing the piercer as to what I wanted done, she handed me a clipboard with a paper on it that I had to read and sign. It was a typical consent form, asking if I had anything wrong with me (HIV, AIDS, hepatitis ,etc.) After filling out my information and signing it, the lady took the clipboard from me and said to have a seat for a minute while she got ready for me.
She came back after a minute or two and told me she was ready, so we walked into her piercing room and she asked me which ear I wanted it done on. I told her that I wanted it done on my right, so she told me to have a seat on the piercing chair facing her. As I watched she put on rubber gloves, and got out a packet that had a sterilized needle in it, then she went through the jewelry to find they type she needed. She picked out a ring, and didn't ask me if that was what I wanted. I had wanted a barbell so I asked her if they had a barbell instead, and she looked for a few minutes before finding one and asked me if that one was okay, I said yes and she started getting the other things she needed out. She pulled a clamp out of the drawer, sprayed it with disinfectant and then wiped it off, she wrapped a rubber band around it so it would stay on my ear and put it on a tray with the packaged needle and barbell. Then she marked on my ear where she thought would be a good place to pierce it and told me to look in the mirror and tell her if that spot was okay, I did, and said it was fine and sat back down. She then got a tube of like Neosporin and squirted a little bit out on a paper towel that she had laid out. She opened the needle packet and put part of the needle in the Neosporin, I decided to ask what it was for, since I had heard you weren't supposed to put Neosporin on piercings. She said that it made the needle slide through easier because it wasn't so dry.
Then she put the clamp on the ridge of my ear, the clamp pinched and kind of hurt. She then picked up the needle, told me to relax and right before she shoved the needle through, she told me to take a deep breath. I took a deep breath and she shoved the needle through. Then she pulled the needle through a little bit more and put a cork on the end of it. It didn't really hurt when the needle went through but after the needle was in it just felt really comfortable and odd. She then took the barbell (she had taken off one of the balls beforehand) and put it on the end of the needle and informed me she was going to put the jewelry in. When she put the jewelry in it did hurt, but not too much. After that she put the needle in the garbage and picked up the ball and screwed it on the jewelry, that also hurt a little but only because she had to move the jewelry just a little so she could get a good hold on it while screwing the ball on. She told me she was done, and said that under no circumstances I put Neosporin or anything like that on my piercing, and not to put alcohol or hydrogen peroxide on it either because it might eat away at the good skin. She then cleaned the piercing and said I could look at it. I looked at it and loved it immediately. We went back out to the main part of the piercing/tattoo place and I paid her, and she gave me a card that had instructions on how to clean it.
So far I haven't had any real pain with my rook. It did bleed a tiny bit the first day, but after I cleaned it when I came home that night, it hasn't bled since. I slept on it the first night without any problems. The next morning it still didn't hurt although my ear was a bit sore. The soreness was gone by the third day, and I've had no problems with it at all. I wash it 2-3 times a day with Q tips and Dial antibacterial soap.
If you're interested in getting this piercing I recommend it, but remember everyone has difference tolerance to pain. The piercing artist who pierced me told me it would hurt a lot the next day, obviously it didn't. This piercing goes through two pieces of cartilage so most likely it WILL hurt if you don't have a high pain tolerance like I do. If you have any questions about my experience, feel free to email me at CrythisMistOfTrs@aol.com but please put something in reference to this in the subject. I hope my writing this was helpful to at least one of you.