After many months of expressing interest to my parents, last night I finally got my left rook pierced. For about a year I've been contemplating getting a piercing and gently coaxing my parents into accepting the fact that I was going to get one at some point. Before this piercing I only had double earlobe piercings. Though I had heard that getting your rook pierced was particularly painful and bled like gangbusters, I did not experience much of any of that, just a bit of light-headedness. The experience was very pleasant overall and I'm very glad to have it.
At A Glance Author Jane Contact Jane@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Sarah Studio Dansing Dragons Location Mississauga, Ontario Though at first I was planning to get pierced at Malefic Tattoos in Streetsville, a nice clean place owned by my friends' aunt and uncle, I was disappointed to find that they didn't pierce rooks because they didn't have the right curved needles for it. After looking around a bit more I found Dansing Dragons Tattoo and Piercing Parlour on Lakeshore Rd. E. A very nice woman named Sarah - who I had previously read about on BME - was my piercer. The shop was small and basic but quite clean and efficient. I had called ahead of time the day before to make sure she would be available, so things went quite quickly once I got there. I was impressed by how professional everything was and how they took my piercing seriously. It had the feeling of a doctor's visit. My mum was with me to make sure I wasn't getting myself into a situation I would regret and that the piercer looked 'normal.' She was against me getting it in the first place, but she said that she'd rather have me do it right, and that she'd support my decision. She was okay with the shop and said afterwards that she felt better about the piercers looking like 'regular happy people' instead of people wearing all black. :P I love my mum but she can be uneasy around things out of the norm for her. :)
At Dansing Dragons, before you can get pierced, you need to show them official identification with your picture and birth date and fill out a liability form. I was jittery so I made a few mistakes I had to cross out but it was fairly simple. I filled out a form with information on my medical history, contact info and whether I had eaten within two hours (to ensure I didn't faint) and I signed at the bottom.
She explained a bit about the process and had me pick out the jewellery I wanted; loop with ball, jewelled loop with ball, or curved barbell was what she recommended. I choose the curved barbell because it would lay flatter against my ear so I could wear my earmuffs when it's cold. 16 Gauge was the default option, I'm not sure if there was any alternatives.
The cost came to $61 Canadian for the piercing, the jewellery and the aftercare materials. I waited a few minutes with my mum in the front of the store while Sarah got set up and started reading over the aftercare instructions and looking over the bottle of "Dragon Mist" the topical healing liquid.
Sarah then had me go into the very clean, white back room and disinfected my ear with three different types of disinfecting wipes. Then she had me lie down on a medical bed with my ear towards the ceiling and my head on a pillow, so it was still and easily accessible. She made sure I was comfortable and told me to take deep breaths. I didn't see everything she was doing, but basically she clamped my ear and had a single-use curved hollow needle to go through my ear. Before she did it she asked if I was ready, I said I was if a bit nervous. She counted to three and punched it through. Despite what I had heard about rooks being particularly painful, to me it just felt like a heavy pinch really. She then thread the barbell in and screwed it on, this didn't hurt much either really so she must've had a lot of experience; I did feel a bit light-headed though. I'm not sure if she was just being reassuring or sincere but she said I barely bled at all and most people usually bleed more than me.
I continued to lie on the bed as she went over the cleaning instructions and do's and don'ts, and talked with her about what I should and shouldn't do. For instance I shouldn't sleep on it as much as possible, but I should be able to wear my earmuffs in a bit when it gets cold (though if I had gotten the loop I wouldn't have been able to because it would stick out more.) She also said that while it's healing I should never move it about because that would aid infection to get it, and that for the first 3-4 months I should dab the healing liquid above and below the piercing with a q-tip 4-6 times a day, and 2-3 for the few months after that until there isn't any more liquid left. And that's about it!
Since then it hasn't bothered me much at all, the only place that really hurts occasionally is where my glasses rest on the top of my ear. I didn't have trouble sleeping at all, I just slept on the other side. I'm very happy to have it, it feels right, and I'm glad I could get it with my parent's not being overly distraught. ^__^