My Rook Piercing: 5 Months Later

I can already tell this is going to be a very short and unspecific post, but considering I blogged about my rook piercing when it was first born, I figure I should at least give a final update now that it has healed!

The Week of My Rook Piercing, August 2012 vs. 5 Months Later, January 2013

So I've made it: five months into my rook piercing! According to the person who pierced it over the summer, in theory, it should be completely healed. I can now take the jewelry out, if I so desire. I don't think I ever will though; my whole attraction to the rook piercing was the look of the simple, silver barbell. But most importantly, it never hurts anymore! Now that my rook piercing has healed, I hardly notice it. I clean it with a Q-Tip and Bactine, as I explained in a update post months ago, every few days or whenever it's looking a little worse for wear. It's been months since I've done a salt soak or washed the area four times a day. The maintenance level is now next to none. And, as you can see from the photos above, the swelling has gone down considerably. No more throbbing or monitoring what side of my body I'm allowed to sleep on!

     Overall, I am very happy with my rook piercing. I'll admit, the pain was a bit much at the beginning, especially about five days after getting my ear pierced. I did considering taking it out within the first few weeks, but I'm quite relieved that I didn't. The barbell looks sick, and I still get comments about it all the time! I especially like the look with dangling earrings on the lobes. You've just got the deal with the pain for a little bit, and then, I promise (unless it gets inflected... lord jesus I cannot imagine haha) everything will get better!

I don't know what else to say really... obviously it's not a necessary purchase to make in your life, but I'm glad I chose to do so! I love the way it looks, and I love it even more now that I don't have to baby its growth any longer. Plus, knowing I was able to handle one of the most painful ear piercings is pretty cool, honestly :P 

♥ Happy Piercing ♥  

Captain Rook: Week #3

Flower stud set from H&M, $5.95.

I don't have a lot to remark upon this week. My rook piercing has evolved from an exertion of adult freedom to a painful possible-regret to, now three weeks in, a really cool piece of jewelry that I forget I have 80% of the time. Sometimes I will answer the phone and accidentally slam the handset into my ear, which I come to resent a half-second after I do it. And, on occasion, brushing hair behind my ear causes a bit of a twinge. But these days, anytime there is pain with my piercing, it is a direct result of my own neglect or mistreatment. Mostly, I've reached the plateau of satisfaction. Today I even went out a bought a few sets of earrings. I find that just placing two round studs on the lobe looks a bit odd on the same ear as my rook; it's too symmetrical. And so, while picking up my liquid eyeliner from Sephora, I stopped by Forever 21 and H&M to do some hunting for interesting pieces. I also got some sunglasses out of the deal, so here we go, down the rabbit hole:

 Peach Heart earrings, $3.80 at Forever 21.

Silver "BURN.S" earrings, $2.80 at Forever 21.

Two pairs of Forever 21 Sunglasses, $5.80 each.

However, I am debating whether or not to return the black pair, because of some white marks on the side. I'm not sure exactly what it is... I can't tell if there is some white paint added, or if the black paint had been scratched off?? I'm not sure if it's even worth the effort. But considering that I am down to my last few pairs of sunglasses, I suppose I should just trek back to the mall and ask for an exchange. Sigh. White people problems.

Next, I really want to write a review of the stop-motion film ParaNorman, which I saw last Sunday. It's absolutely incredible. As soon as I find a link to rewatch the magic, and the time to put all of my feelings into words, expect a movie review to come flying at your face. Stay tuned!

The Rook Diary: Week #2

.:Originally posted at my old blog on August 31st, 2012:.

Pain has certainly gone down A LOT in the past week. I am very surprised... one of my friends got a helix piercing last year, and she shared with me that it still hurts when she touches her ear accidentally. So I wasn't expecting to be nearly pain-free two weeks later. But my rook piercing has been doing very well!

• Over the past week, I've gotten a bit lazy with cleaning. I absent-mindedly have been reducing my cleanings down to three or even two times a day.
• However, I am going to work on that because last night I was watching Greek and non-chalantly trying to scrape away crusties from my barbell (I've gotten a bit paranoid about them... they've become a lot more present now... the first week, there was no crust around the piercing at all, but now I extract little bits every time I clean) when I pulled my hand away to find blood all over my finger.
• MORAL OF THE STORY: keep real cleanings at four times a day, and keep unclean hands away from the piercing. also, using a mirror is always way easier when trying to deal with my rook piercing.

I still find a Q-tip and Bactine (or, in my case, the CVS generic brand of "Pain Relieving Antiseptic Liquid") to be the easiest and most thorough way to wash my rook piercing.

• Very little of my ear hurts to the touch anymore, and I can finally lay on my right side again! PRAISE BE I CAN WATCH TELEVISION UNTIL I FALL ASLEEP ONCE MORE!!
• My ear now only grows red when I push around the barbell too much. But, on the plus side, it's no longer a big deal to move the jewelry back and forth during cleanings.
• I can also now use soap and fingers to clean my ear piercing in the shower, but I try my best not to let that be the first cleaning of the day, for fear of not getting all of the dreaded crusties that have accumulated through the night. When you are without a mirror, the details become important.

Wow, I didn't think I had anything to write about for my second week sporting a rook, but I kind of did?? Whoops. There you go. Doing research on how to take care of my piercing kind of scared me about the pain I'd naively signed myself up for. But it's been more than manageable; I love it so much! I haven't met a person yet who didn't think the rook looks wicked. Not a regret or care in the world.

One Week With A Rook Piercing

.:Originally posted at my old blog on August 24th, 2012:.

So I’m thinking about doing a series about the progress of my rook piercing. Once a week for the first month, than maybe some short, monthly updates for however long…

IN THE ACT: I was not really nervous going into the experience, but watching my friend writhing in pain as her belly button was pierced moments before I was to have my own ear done,  I did get a little jittery. But the rook piercing was actually not nearly as painful as I was expecting. It’s mostly just a feeling of extreme pressure, more than a stabbing pain. Though my hands and feet did express a fair bit of anguish, I managed to keep my head and face still. My eyes didn’t even tear up, which many people seem surprised by? It honestly wasn’t that bad on contact. And hearing the piercer screw on the end of the barbell was pretty sick.

WEEK ONE: The morning after getting my rook piercing done, I found this excellent video about the cleaning process, which definitely cleared a few things up:

When I can, I try to clean my piercing four times a day. Usually two sea salt soaks a day, and then I’ll use Bactine in morning and at night. I’ve tried to use soap in the shower, but it’s still too sensitive to clean well with fingers and no mirror.

• My piercer told me to use a tissue dipped in sea salt water to do my soaks, but I’ve found that holding my ear in a full dixie cup is a lot more satisfying. My piercing actually feels clean after ten minutes.
• The pain wasn’t too bad until the fourth day… On Days 4 through 6, my ear would be throbbing when I woke up. I would take a few Ibuprofen in order to deal with the pain, and whenever I attempted to clean the damn thing, I couldn’t even touch the barbell without cringing and instinctively pulling my fingers away. On these days, Q-Tips are a friend. Soaking a Q-Tip in Bactine and gently cleaning the metal was about the only way I could even dream of touching it.
• I’ve noticed that bending the outside of my ear forward is a lot more painful than pushing it back, against my head. Brushing the top of the ear at all is still quite painful. But the lower part of the year is 100% fine.
• However, I’m on my seventh day and things certainly seem to be improving. Today was the first day I noticed crust around the base of the piercing, and had to scrape it away. But cleaning today was a lot less painful than it has been over the last week. Didn’t need any Ibuprofen. Also, I’ve actually been able to push the barbell up and down without the feeling of imminent death, so that’s a plus.