Rook piercing: What you need to know about the ear piercing
Rook piercing is currently more popular than ever. Here you will find all the important information about pain, risks and the correct care of rook piercings.
Table of contents
- How to do the ear piercing
- How painful is the piercing?
- Getting a rook piercing: These are the risks
- How much does a rook piercing cost?
- Everything about Healing and Proper Care
- This jewelry is available
Ear piercings are very popular at the moment. So-called curated ears are particularly trendy. This means that we get all sorts of places on our ears pierced as the mood takes us. The more, the better. The ear holes are then decorated with beautiful earrings and piercings that are coordinated with each other.
Alongside helix , conch and snug, the rook piercing is also particularly popular. This ear piercing sits vertically in the middle cartilage fold between the inner and outer auricle, the antihelix.
It looks super stylish, but the bad news is that, like the daith piercing, the rook is also a very painful piercing because it pierces through very firm cartilage tissue. In addition, it takes a long time to heal.
We’ll tell you what you should definitely know before getting your rook piercing.
Important: The rook piercing should – like all other ear piercings and holes – only be done in a professional piercing studio. Amateur piercings could lead to severe infections.
You should also first check with a piercer whether the rook can be pierced on your ear at all. The rook piercing is pierced in the small fold directly above the tragus. And not everyone has that, or it is not strong enough for everyone.
By the way: The ear piercing was named after the piercer Rik Dakota, whose nickname is “Rook”. The American is said to have been the first person to pierce this cartilage piercing in 1992.
Rook Piercing: How to do the ear piercing
As with other piercings, the ear is first thoroughly disinfected before the actual treatment and the puncture site is marked with a pen.
Since the cartilage tissue on the antihelix, where the rook piercing is located, is extremely thick, a curved needle and/or a so-called receiving tube is usually used for piercing.
A receiving tube is a small tube that is closed at the end and is held behind the ear during piercing so that counter pressure is created. The tube thus protects the surrounding tissue from injury.
How painful is the piercing?
As beautiful as the rook piercing looks, the pain during the piercing is unfortunately not without its problems. The cartilage tissue in this area is extremely thick and is criss-crossed with many small nerves. This is why the rook piercing is one of the more painful ear piercings. How much pain you feel depends on your own pain sensitivity.
But: The piercing only takes a few seconds, so the pain is bearable. After the piercing, the ear usually swells up a little, throbs or feels hot. However, these symptoms also subside after a short time.
Getting a rook piercing: These are the risks
The rook piercing is pierced through relatively thick cartilage tissue and therefore carries some risks. The healing process is also not always as quick and straightforward as with a traditional ear piercing. If
your piercing often gets caught in clothing or hair, for example, or if a lot of pressure is applied to the area, e.g. when sleeping, wearing headphones or making a phone call, then you may experience very severe pain. In addition, new tissue can form during the wound healing process. The body forms this tissue to fight the injury.
If the piercing becomes infected, you should immediately see a doctor or piercer. If an inflammation or infection spreads to the facial nerve via the lymph vessels and the inner ear, in the worst case scenario this can lead to facial paralysis or impairment of the facial nerve.
How much does a rook piercing cost?
It is not possible to say how much it costs to get a rook piercing. The costs usually vary from studio to studio and from region to region.
As a rule, however, you have to pay between 30 and 80 euros for an ear piercing. The price usually includes not only the piercing itself, but also the initial jewelry and care products.
Rook Piercing: Everything about Healing and Proper Care
It usually takes three to six months for a rook piercing to heal completely. In some cases, however, healing can take longer. To ensure that the piercing heals as smoothly and quickly as possible, you should pay attention to the following things after piercing:
Keep your hands away from the piercing! The more you move it or play with it, the greater the risk of infection. If you still have to touch it: wash and disinfect your hands thoroughly beforehand.
Spray the piercing site three times a day with disinfectant spray
During the first few days, avoid blood-thinning medications (e.g. aspirin) and protect the piercing from soap, shampoo and hairspray.
During the first two weeks, avoid visits to the swimming pool, solarium, and sauna as well as certain sports (ball sports, gymnastics, etc.).
Avoid strong pressure on the piercing (e.g. from hats, headphones or lying on it).
Any crusts that may form can be carefully removed with warm chamomile water.
Piercing should not be removed under any circumstances.
Rook piercing: This jewelry is available
As soon as your ear piercing has completely healed, you can have the medical stud replaced with other earrings. Small rings are usually used for the rook piercing.
All types of piercing rings are suitable, for example classic ball closure rings, segment clickers or horseshoes. Eye-catching gold rings or rings with glitter stones are particularly popular.
If you don’t want a ring, you can of course use a banana, i.e. a curved barbell, for the rook. These are also available in all colors and designs.
Make sure you choose high-quality jewelry. Piercings made of titanium or PTFE are best. Piercings made of surgical stainless steel, on the other hand, contain nickel and can therefore cause allergies and inflammation.
What is daith piercing?
