Since I was about 13 I have always loved the look of piercings and tattoos, now that I am 16 I can have any piercing I like (except from obviously genital piercings) without my parent's permission as I live in the UK.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Didn't get her name Studio Tattoo Crazy Location Cambridge, UK My piercings:
6 x earings
1 x belly button
1 x lip
1 x rook (hooray)
RIP
1 x nostril
I have read on here before that rook/snug piercings hurt quite a lot, but I wasn't worried about the pain as I have a fairly high pain threshold, and I needed to sort out my itch for a new piece of metal.
So, one Saturday me and a group of friends went into Cambridge with the intent on doing a bit of shopping and [hopefully] getting a couple of new piercings. The first thing we did when we got off the train was discuss what piercings we all wanted, 1 of my friends wanted her nose, another his tragus and me my snug. I love the look of the tragus but it is very common now, and I wanted something a bit different.
I was with 5 people that day, and me and my best friend (she was excited about it) went into the Tattoo parlour on our own at first because the boy's went to get some water. I inquired about the price of a snug piercing, £27.50 which took me aback somewhat as it's a lot of money. I asked the lady behind the counter how much a rook was: £22.50, so of course I chose the cheaper option as I am quite skint at the moment (but I will be going back to get my snug done on the same ear when I get some more money).
We went out of the shop and met up with our friend's again about half an hour later, we all decided to go back and get our piercings done. My mate went in to get his tragus and came out in a couple of seconds smiling and laughing. This made my nerve's calmer about getting that piercing (whenever I get one i do get slightly nervous which I love as it is a part of the experience). Me and my best friend went up to the counter and I filled in my forms while she chose her nostril stud and stood waiting for her to do her sheets and handed over her cash (£15). There wasn't a long wait because there was only about 1 person before us to get pierced. My best mate went in first and I waited for her, and again she came out smiling - thrilled to have got that piercing finally!
Now it was my turn.
I looked at everyone and took a deep breath. I walked into the sterile white room and I was told to sit on the bed. The girl who pierced me had many piercings herself so I had a little chat to her about my lip not healing properly (but she said it was all fine). She looked at my rook and said, "it's a lovely rook, I can pierce it very deep" this I was pleased about - I didn't want a migrating/rejecting cartilage piercing! She cleaned, then marked my ear with a black pen and told me to have a look, it was hard to see the mark as it was in an awkward place in my ear but I caught a glimpse and it was perfect. She got the clamps, but had to go and get another band for them which gave me a few seconds to compose myself. She clamped next to where she was going to pierce and I heard the universal phrase "Take a deep breath in and when you breathe out I'm going to do it" so I did this. The needle went through and I felt a sharp pain and a lot of pressure in my ear - quite painful but nothing unbearable. She found it tricky to get the through the last layer of cartilage, which made the last part of piercing painful "ouch!" I squeaked as it went through, finally. I was relieved, she popped the BCR through my ear which was a breeze and i stood up feeling a bit shaky as I always do. She told me the after care precautions: sea salt soaks twice a day, and I was told that it could take up to a year to heal. I then Walked out to my friends and showed them all my left ear, and gorgeous rook.
The after care of my rook has been quite tricky as it is very painful at times (the cartilage still hurts around the piercing as if it is bruised). I put a cotton bud into some warm salty water and clean it carefully rotating the BCR to clean inside as well as outside. It was hard to sleep on my left side for a while, it is getting easier but still hurts if I get it in a wrong place/catch it. I would recommend this piercing to anyone, because although it is quite painful it is so unique and I've been getting loads of compliments.
Haven't got that itch for a another yet, but give it a few weeks and I'll be back in that chair again.