Congrats On Your Rook Piercing! Here Are 6 Ways to Reduce Healing Time & Stress
Let’s face it, a rook isn’t exactly the lowest on the pain scale of all the ear cartilage piercings. This is because the piercing goes through the thick cartilage rim just above where a daith piercing would be. However, getting the piercing is just the easy part. It’s truly the aftercare and healing of the piercing properly that’s more difficult. In fact, a rook piercing takes anywhere from six to nine months to heal, or longer.
So, if you’re curious about how to reduce stress on the piercing as well as healing time, keep reading.
Don’t Touch Your Healing Piercing
No touchy! We mean it. Do not touch your brand-new piercing. You do not need to rotate or twist the jewelry. The unnecessary movement can irritate the healing piercing, slowing the healing process. Additionally, touching your healing piercing with your bare hand can introduce bacteria and cause the fresh piercing to become infected.
Clean Your Piercing Regularly
Now, we know we just said to not touch your brand-new piercing. But you will need to clean it regularly.
To clean your rook piercing:
- Wash your hands before you touch your piercing
- Spray sterile saline solution (the one labeled wound wash) directly onto it
- Pat dry with a piece of gauze or a paper towel
It’s important that you only pat it dry with gauze or paper towel. This is because the new piercing could potentially snag on a cloth towel, irritating the piercing and causing you great pain. This is especially possible because the initial jewelry will be a little longer to account for any swelling. Additionally, using any cotton products, such as a Q-tip or cotton pad, to pat the area dry could also irritate the piercing. These products have a tendency to get tiny excess fibers caught on the jewelry.
Avoid Sleeping On It
As you’re healing your rook piercing, a travel pillow is going to be your best friend. You want to avoid sleeping on the side that you have your rook pierced. If you position your ear in the center of the travel pillow, the pillow will help alleviate some of the pressure that you’d be putting directly onto your ear.
Hygiene Is Important
In addition to regularly cleaning your new piercing, it’s also important that you practice good hygiene when it comes to your linens. Make sure you’re frequently washing your pillowcases. This will help prevent any spread of bacteria to your piercing.
Be Careful When You Wear Headphones
When healing a rook piercing, you want to avoid any unnecessary pressure on the healing fistula. Therefore, you want to avoid any headphones that would press up against it when you’re wearing them. This is especially true if you have to wear a headset all day.
No Swimming!
We know how tempting it is to jump into a pool or the ocean, especially during the warmer seasons. The chlorine in pool water is too harsh on the healing piercing and will irritate it. Additionally, you’re going to want to avoid going into any public body of water. This is due to the potential for bacteria to be in the water and thus get into your fresh piercing and infected it.
The Main Point
The rook piercing has been around since the 90s and is only growing in popularity. Once your piercing heals up, you can play around with all sorts of jewelry options. Be sure to check out our large selections of curved barbells and various ends.
Written by Jackie Rachel
