How To Clean Rook Piercings

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The Pros And Cons Of A Rook Piercing: Is It Right For You?

Angle down icon An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. A rook piercing sits in the cartilage fold above your ear canal. Anetlanda/Getty Images

A rook piercing is a type of ear piercing that goes through the uppermost cartilage fold that lies between your ear canal and the top rim of your ear.

The rook piercing is one of the most painful ear piercings because it passes through a double layer of cartilage — this means it may take extra long to heal too.

G Rook Cuved Barbell Earrings/ Gold Rook Piercing Jewelry/ Eyebrow Jewelry/ Curved Barbell Jewelry/ Eyebrow Ring/ Vertical Labret/ 1.28mm

Since a rook piercing is more involved compared to your typical lobe or helix piercing, there are some key facts you should know before getting the procedure.

There are a few important steps you should follow to make sure your rook piercing heals well and doesn't develop any complications like infection.

The most difficult, but most important part of healing any piercing is leaving it alone! McGaffney says. Touching, twisting, and picking at a new piercing can lead to complications like infection, says McGaffney.

Everything You Need To Know About The Rook Piercing

It's also important to follow a cleaning routine about three times per day for the first six months after getting your rook piercing. To clean your rook piercing. Fox recommends following these steps:

Quick tip: Try to avoid loose fiber products such as Q-tips, cotton balls, cotton rounds, etc., Fox says. These can leave behind excess fibers that can disrupt the healing process.

It's important to avoid sleeping on the piercing for the first four to six months. Travel pillows are helpful for keeping the pressure of your head off the piercing, McGaffney says.

I Have Had My Rook Pierced For About 5 Weeks Now. The First Photo Was Taken Probably Around 2 Weeks After It Was Done. The Second Was Taken Just Now. What Can

You should also be careful to keep the piercing clean — pillowcases should be changed regularly and wet hair should be dried or tied up before bed, McGaffney says.

Once your piercing is fully healed, you can change out the jewelry. Changing a rook piercing can be very tricky, even if it's fully healed, and should be done by a professional, Fox says.

Certain types of jewelry can put you at greater risk of injuring a piercing. Dangly jewelry or snug fitted rings should be avoided. We recommend waiting a year for this type of jewelry, Fox says.

Rook Piercing 101: Everything You Need To Know

Once these symptoms fade, you may develop some itching and the piercing may secrete a whitish–yellow fluid that forms a crust on the piercing. This is normal and a sign of healing, but you should resist the urge to scratch it, as this can interfere with healing or increase your risk of infection.

If you see any of these symptoms, call your piercer or see a doctor as soon as possible. Leaving an infected rook piercing untreated could lead to an larger abscess filled with pus or a systemic infection, in which the infection spreads throughout your body]

Rook piercings are a type of cartilage piercing that can take a long time to fully heal. Taking proper care of your piercing can help the healing process and prevent complications like infection.

Rook Piercing Aftercare Guide

As with any piercing, people should look for a professional, knowledgeable, and skillful piercer, Fox says. The APP member locator can help connect you with qualified professional piercers — you can find someone in your area on their website.

Madeline Kennedy is a health writer for Insider covering a wide range of topics including reproductive and sexual health, mental health, nutrition, and infectious disease. Before joining Insider, Madeline worked as a health news writer for Reuters, and a domestic violence therapist. She has a master's degree in social work from UPenn and is interested in the intersection of health and social justice.We and our 1609 partners store and/or access information on a device, such as unique IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data.

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How To Take Care Fresh Tragus And Rook Piercing.

Amy Lawrenson was the Editorial Director for UK and has worked as a freelance beauty and health journalist for over 13 years.

The rook piercing is one of the more unusual inner-ear piercings. The tragus and the daith tend to be more popular choices, but who wants to look the same as everyone else? Besides looking fresh and delicate, the rook piercing is versatile, and it's having quite a moment right now.

We are finding that after our customer has his/her first few lobe piercings, they then look to something more creative and the rook is now one of their favorites, says Nadine McCarthy Kahane, founder and CEO of Stone and Strand, a fine jewelry and piercing shop in NYC.

An Introduction To: Cartilage Piercings

No piercing is pain-free, but we wanted to find out how painful the rook piercing is, how long it takes to heal, what types and materials are best, and whether it will suit you. We called on a piercer and dermatologists to educate us on everything you need to know about this cool and niche piercing. Keep scrolling!

Aftercare: Wash the piercing area gently with water and soap twice a day. Dry it with paper towels, if needed, to keep the potential bacteria from normal towels away and avoid going into public bodies of water such as swimming pools and hot tubs.

A rook piercing is a cartilage piercing in the uppermost ridge of your inner ear, located above the tragus in the antihelix. The piercer uses a hollow needle to go through the cartilage of your rook and then insert the jewelry. Rook piercings are safe as long as they are done by a professional using a sterile technique.

Rook Piercings: Pain Level, Healing Time, Cost & More

According to Rhianna Jones, a London-based piercer at The Circle London, the piercing is suitable for most, but as each person's ear anatomy is different, a small number of people may find they are not able to get it. I will always work with each client to try to position jewelry to best complement both their anatomy and any existing piercings, she says.

When we think about having a piercing, one of the first (and common) worries is if it hurts. Although pain is relative, medical and cosmetic dermatologist Gary Goldenberg, MD, of Goldenberg Dermatology alerts: This type of piercing goes through a very thick layer of cartilage, which is usually more painful and takes a little more time to heal. For example, lobe piercings that don’t involve cartilage take about six weeks to heal, while cartilage piercings like the rook or snug may take six months or longer before it’s fully healed.

The procedure is definitely more high risk than a lobe piercing because of a much higher risk of infection, says Goldenberg. The sequelae of infection of cartilage is also a lot more serious than the earlobe and treatment is more involved.

Infected Rook Piercing Symptoms Treating With Salt And H2ocean Aftercare Spray

Where you live and where you get it done will determine a price range, but it's usually between $30 and $80 (plus the jewelry). I charge the same for any ear cartilage piercings with the actual cost depending on the jewelry you choose, says Jones.

For example, at Studs, New York’s Kaia Gerber-approved piercing studio, the service fee is $35 plus the cost of the jewelry you'd like. At Stone and Strand, the service is complimentary with the purchase of jewelry (it starts around $60 and goes up to three-digit options).

As with any piercing, this is dependent on how well you follow your aftercare and your general health. Aftercare should be followed until the piercing is fully healed as recommended by your piercer. It is always advisable to try to avoid sleeping on any new ear piercing until fully healed as it can cause problems and delay the healing, notes Jones.

How To Take Care Of A Rook Piercing

When it comes to proper cleaning and care, dermatologist Kristina Goldenberg, MD, says that one of the most common mistakes is using hydrogen peroxide or alcohol on the area. Washing the area gently with soap and water two to three times per day suffices. If there are any signs of infections I recommend adding a topical antibiotic right away, she says.

The best thing you can do while the