What is an anti-rook piercing?

Have you heard of the anti-rook piercing? Would you like to know where it sits?

At Solstice, we've specialised in ear piercing jewellery for years, and we're happy to explain it.

Despite its name, the anti-rook piercing does not sit opposite a traditional rook piercing. It is an alternative style that can create a similar look.

In this short article, you will learn:

• Where the anti-rook sits
• Useful information about this piercing: pain, price and more

Let's explore!

Where is the anti-rook or faux rook piercing?

Before looking more closely at the anti-rook piercing, let's briefly revisit the rook piercing. The rook sits in a small fold of cartilage, above the daith (and therefore the ear canal), near the antihelix. Curved barbells or hoops are worn here.

Not every ear is suited to this placement. There is an alternative: the anti-rook or faux rook piercing.

The anti-rook creates the illusion of a rook piercing. To achieve this, the piercer pierces the cartilage just above (in the flat) and just below (in the conch) the rook cartilage fold. With two small studs in place, it looks as though you have a rook piercing! 

 

Anti-rook piercing: pain, price, healing and jewellery

At French piercing studios, the two-point anti-rook described here can cost around 50 to 70 euros. As the two holes are placed apart on the ear, the piercer may use two separate needles, which can affect the price.

Pain is personal: cartilage thickness cannot guarantee that it will hurt less than a traditional rook piercing (see the IASP definition of pain).

Healing varies from person to person. In all cases, follow standard aftercare advice (daily cleaning with saline solution and a compress), take care with snagging, external irritation, sport and swimming, and seek medical advice promptly if you think the piercing is infected.

Whether this placement suits you depends on the shape of your ear and the look you want. It can be an option to consider alongside a helix or tragus piercing, depending on your anatomy.

For jewellery to wear in a healed anti-rook piercing, choose a stud. It can be simple (gold-tone) or more distinctive (with stones or unusual shapes). Our catalogue jewellery is for healed piercings.