Rook piercings! These popular ear piercings are relatively new as far as piercings are concerned. They were invented by Erik Dakota in the early 90’s. Very well known for pioneering unique ear piercings, the Rook, alongside the daith and industrial piercing were all invented and popularized by Erik. In issue 4 of body play magazine, we see the first printed, named rook piercing, published in 1992. Making the rook piercing younger than many piercers working today! This piercing goes through the anti-helix ridge usually just below or inside the triangular fossa depending on your ear anatomy. Rooks are more anatomy-dependent piercings, and have a bit of a reputation for being tricky healers. Once healed they can sport a range of gems and decorative jewelry, and add a unique touch to many ear projects. These can be trickier to heal, so today’s post will take a look at everything to consider when getting and healing a rook piercing!
Anatomy
Rook piercings are placed through the inferior crus of the anti-helix, the ridge that travels up the midline of the ear. Their exact placement is determined by the unique anatomy of your ear. Generally, we want to go through a spot where that ridge is the most well-defined, stable to support piercing, but thin and easy to heal. Everyone’s ears are different- some folk’s ridges are perfectly horizontal, but others will sit at upward angles, others still nearly vertical. Some folks have a very defined triangular fossa that the top can sit into, and others will rest below or outside that.
How these different structures come together and form the shape of our ear will greatly affect our placement for rook piercings. But it also affects our ability to get a rook piercing. If you don’t have enough of a ridge, if there is not enough space to place the piercing, or if the ridge isn’t protrusive enough, we may not be able to pierce your rook safely. Go into getting this understanding that while good anatomy for this is common, it’s still possible not to have the anatomy to get this done.
Placement
Placement on your rook is going to be entirely based on your anatomy. Where your rook is the most suitable for piercing, where it will heal well, and where will support the jewelry you want to wear. All of these factors depend on your anatomy. While with other piercings placement is more individual and up to the client's preference, virtually all of placement for rooks will be determined by your anatomy. Rooks should be placed fairly balanced in this ridge, we don’t want them to be too deep, but we also don’t want them to be too shallow. They should never exit through the middle of the ridge.
One major element of both placement and anatomy and the viewing angle for your rook. Because of where this piercing sits behind the ridge of our forward helix, many clients are unable to see their own rook piercings in the mirror. They tuck and hide behind that forward helix ridge, and are hardly able to be seen. But turn your head a little to the side, and there is your beautiful rook! Hanging out for everyone to see and admire- except the person who wears it. My right rook piercing is exactly like that- I can hardly see it in the mirror but everyone else can see it perfectly well and tells me how cute the jewelry is! It’s worth noting that this is a common experience with rook placements, and totally normal. I know some folks are bummed when they look in the mirror and it doesn’t look the way they envisioned, but I assure you it looks awesome from the side.
There are some less common placement variations with rooks such as a double rook. Having the correct anatomy to fit two rook piercings is fairly uncommon, but if you do this is a very cool very unique way to decorate this part of your ear! Double rooks need to be placed accordingly to accommodate for both, so you should let your piercer know ahead of time if this is something you are planning so we can place it to allow for this.
Initial Jewelry
Rooks initially are going to be pierced with a curved barbell, usually 16g or 14g. The exact length of the barbell will depend on your anatomy and jewelry preferences. Curves are arguably the easiest to heal with in this placement, as they sit perpendicular to the tissue, have plenty of room for swelling, and allow lots of decorative options to sit the way want want them to. You can keep things simple with two basic beads for the ends, or you can get fancy with something decorative on the top, bottom, or both. It’s worth noting that rooks can be somewhat difficult healers and that small space of your ear can be tricky to clean. Very large and decorative ends in initial rooks may be harder to maintain and clean during the healing process and can cause issues. If you don’t mind the extra care associated with decorative pieces- awesome! Let’s get fancy. But if you are like me and you tend to be a very crusty healer, and you know you don’t always stay on top of things, simpler jewelry will likely be easier to heal with.
But we can not discuss initial jewelry without discussing some alternative styles you may see used. First up is the J-curve. This style is shaped like the letter J and the lower end hooks forward allowing a decorative end or element to face the viewer better. I personally wear a J-curve in my rook and love it- it’s a very cute style! However, in a healing rook, the hook of the J can fall forward and pass through the piercing channel. This is not only quite uncomfortable but can cause a lot of irritation for the healing piercing. I will occasionally use these for fresh rooks, but I very much warn clients about the extra care needed to heal these.
And of course, the rare hoop pierced with a ring. I don’t suggest rings initially in rooks in 99% of cases. Rings need to be larger to account for swelling, and often can get bumped around more often because of how they sit in the ear. Most folks also don’t prefer the look of these larger rings, and try to get pierced with very small, very snugly fitting pieces which can embed and cause migration and rejection very easily. However, there is rare anatomy where it is viable to pierce and heal with a ring, and it usually does ok. This is something to be discussed one-on-one with your piercer, and to understand that trying to heal this with a ring may end up with more irritation, more issues healing, and potentially having to swap back to a barbell at some point.
Healing Expectations
Now that we know a bit about the anatomy of the rook, where it should be placed, and what styles of jewelry we can pierce it with, let’s get into the process of actually healing a rook. Like I mentioned above, rooks have a bit of a reputation for being more difficult healers, and I would say this reputation is fairly earned. Rook piercings can take 6-12 months to fully heal. Some people, due to climate, jewelry choice, or health conditions, may find their take even longer. I have both my rooks pierced and thanks to my psoriasis, they both took about 2 years to fully heal and feel comfortable. Don’t be discouraged if you are a slow healer- this is normal, and especially for this placement.
I have a blog post here that discusses how healing actually occurs in piercings which is very helpful when it comes to nostril piercings if you are curious about the specifics of the actual healing. I have another here that discusses aftercare methods.
So what makes rook piercings more difficult to heal? Why can they take so long to heal? Well, its a combination of factors. The first is the actual anatomy and location of the piercing. The rook passes through that interior anti-helix ridge, a slightly denser cartilage ridge on the inner ear. This denser cartilage can often experience more swelling than thinner cartilage like that of a conch or a flat. The other element is the location in the ear. The rook is tucked in an often tight space around the forward helix, conch, and triangular fossa, and there are lots of little nooks and crannies for debris to build up around the piercing. Because many clients can’t see their own rook well in the mirror, it can be easy to miss a lot of this while cleaning which can allow irritation to form from a build-up of debris. It’s also difficult to rinse this area, so cleaning it all around can be tricky. And of course like any ear piercing, the rook also struggles from occasionally being slept on, bumped or snagged, or irritated from headphones. Just life’s general accidents. This combination of factors can make for a fairly difficult healing process.
However, with a good piercer, good quality jewelry, and a good approach to aftercare, rooks for many people heal slowly but without issue. Some of my favorite considerations and tips for healing with these are as follows:
Simple Jewelry- I know, I know, we all love the fancy stuff. But simple pieces in placements that are trickier to clean are just easier to heal with. If you are someone who knows they struggle with healing some piercings or anticipates this being difficult, there is no shame in starting off with a very simple piece, letting it heal, and getting your fancy goal jewelry once it is fully healed. It just makes everything easier.
Pointy Makeup Q-tips- The use of Q-tips for aftercare is a debated subject in the piercing industry, and I am firmly team pro tip (you can learn more about why here). But full-size round q-tips often don’t fit well around some of the tight spaces near a rook piercing, and trying to use them can sometimes lead to more irritation as you bump and bash your jewelry around. Makeup q-tips have small delicate points on one end and are very tightly woven since they are designed for use near the eyes. These delicate pieces make getting around those tight spaces easy, and often make it much simpler to clean away crust or debris from around your rook.
Hand Mirrors- I like to keep a hand mirror handy in my bathroom so I can really visually check my rook and make sure its clean. Similar to using a mirror to check the back of your haircut, you can use a hand mirror to look at your rook from the side and ensure that you’ve got things clean and its doing well.
There you have it folks, everything I would suggest you consider when it comes to getting your rook pierced! These piercings are some of my favorites, especially considering that I have both my rooks done. There’s so many cute jewelry choices and fun ways to wear these. If you are considering a rook, hopefully, this blog helps you be more prepared for the process of getting and healing these fun, but sometimes fussy, piercings!