Would you like a lox schmear with that bagel in your forehead?
Club kids in Japan are kicking extreme body modification up a notch by having lumps and bumps injected into their foreheads (and other body parts) via saline inflations or injections of saline into bags that are inserted under the skin. These self-inflicted deformations (like the bagel face saline implantations above) look insane, but they can be deflated by the next day. Want to find out about other body modifications? read more.
Extreme body modification isn't new. A search led me to an illuminating list of body modifications, illuminating because they range from the mainstream and mundane to the culturally specific to the OMG they do not do that! You might be surprised, for example, that getting your ears pierced or practicing body building is considered body modification, but technically, that's what those are.
Culturally specific practices of body mods include the old Chinese practice of foot binding or Kayan women with stacked neck rings. And then there are modern body modifications I'd rather not think too much about: scrotal implants, eyeball tattooing, tongue-splitting, and the baffling practice of trepanation, or drilling a hole into the skull.
We live in a world where people have plastic surgery to conform to certain ideals of beauty, so even though I would never have a saline inflation put in my forehead to look like I have a bagel in it (and I would probably gasp if I saw someone who did), I think there's something interesting about body modifications to debeautify or to look nonhuman (like the horns or wings you can get through plastic surgery to look like devils or angels).
Is all this too freaky for you, or do you think it's cool?
Laura Clement
Coggles.com
Twenty8twelve
EEEEEEEEW!!!!!
1I believe the words I'm looking for are What The F*%&?!
2So not impressed. I did see a documentary once about brothers in LA who had these type of implants put in to have pronounced chins and cheeks. They looked hideous!
3almost everyone i know, including myself, are avid body modifiers! implants can cause a lot of problems, including infection, but the pros often outweigh the cons. im getting my snakebites re-done tomorrow, and my best friend is getting her "horns" implanted...though we dont use saline. i think its a wonderfully addictive way to express yourself, exude individuality and glorify your body!
4Job- killer. Also people perceiving you as intelligent- killer.
5Whoa. This is extreme.
While I understand appreciating one's body by adorning it with jewelry and tattoos, this is too much.
6To each there own.
7EEEK!!! Hideous.
8yes ridiculous.
9Insane! Looks like something out of Hell Boy.
10HOLY SH***!
Huh. Well, if that's what they wanna look like, then by all means they can get bagles implanted in their face as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else.
But dang, for me that looks pretty sick. (not in the good way)
11This is just nuts.
12I am more concerned about the cost so it would be a no go. Besides the bagel thing is not really attractive to me.
13but the pros often outweigh the cons -- I'm honestly curious - what are the pros ?
14No. Just no.
15@Corduroy: What are snakebites?
16Yes, cordoroy. We'd love pictures!
17Ick! I just looked up extraocular implants from that list...
Get something implanted in my eye?? No thank you!!
I'll stick with coloring my skin and piercings... But to each their own. Can't promise I won't have nightmares though.
18piercings arent really body modifications to me. to each their own, but are you doing it to impress or to express?
19Smacks - snakebites are two piercings on your lower lip, one on either side, IIRC.
20Oh, I like those! Always wondered how girls managed to keep their lipstick off the rings though. A girl I used to play derby with had those.
21That's disgusting >.<</p> 22
Okay EEEWWW!!!
23I think that is just plain NASTY!
24How is trepanation a "modern" body modification ? That's what funny about the Wikipedia list, by the way: whatever f***ed up thing we think our contemporaries have come up with, it seems likely our ancestors invented it a good while ago. OK, not eyeball jewellery, apparently...eyeball tattoing, on the other hand...
25Dinghy, I went to a talk a few years ago on the subject of extreme body modification (I think it was one of the Re:Search writers of the Modern Primitives book) and she was talking about how people still do it. That's how I heard about it in the first place! Also, read the voluntary trepanating section on this link. Pretty odd...
26Yuck! I cant even click on those links, I'm already grossed out.
27What the &*^*%*@!*^$!!!!?????
28At first I saw the pic and thought, "Oh that's horrible! The afflictions that people can have! Is there any cure??" Then I read the caption and was just HORRIFIED!! To do this sh*te on purpose is just sick and pointless and STUPID!
How is this even attractive in any way???
To be fair neither of those dudes look like the sharpest nail in the box to begin with. I guess they really think they now look like pure awesomeness.
29Ew ew ew ew ew ew
30The horns *might* look cool if they looked like real horns, but the pic in wikipedia just looks like two bee stings. Saddly, I am almost sure that there is someone out there who can stick real horns into your head. Ugh.
31Why would someone do that on purpose to their face?!
32Eek!!
33That is really crazy. I don't get why its cool to look like you have a bagel on your forehead.
34Isn't injecting saline directly into the body incredibly dangerous?!
35that looks painful...and gross
36To answer a few questions...
1. Saline is absorbed into the body. That's why when SOME breast implants pop, it's not THAT big a deal (besides looking lopsided), since the body can absorb it. Saline is used in medicine a lot as just a basic way to dilute something (Cell membranes try to keep their concentration of water the same as their environment, so putting them in a too salty situation makes them shrink, and putting them with too much water makes them swell up and burst... why you get pruny in water, or slugs die when you put salt on them... saline solutions mimick a healthy environment).
2. The implants are NOT permanent, necissarily. Not all body mods are permanent (something some people really need to learn). These look like temporary ones. Tres even mentions that they can be popped. Like a set of corset piercings (a set of ring surface piercings, usually in the back or sides, that are laced up to look like corset lacing. Like most surface piercings, they are almost certain to reject and aren't meant to be worn for more than a day) in terms of permanence. So, NOT a job-killer (unless you get the implant before your interview).
3. Eye tattoos aren't the type of thing you'd go to a tattoo parlor for. Their main purpose is to make an eye that has a non-removable cataract (or other eye-changing medical condition) look normal by tattooing on an iris and pupil. I'm sure some people have gotten them done just because they wanted a new eye color permanently, but it's primarily for medical reasons (like breast reductions, as another example).
4. Eh, to each their own. And as far as piercings and these types of implants go... it's not like it's going to be there forever (like a tattoo, for example, or some dermal implants... though implants can reject, and tattoos fade). Why not? I have six piercing holes total and want at least 3 or 4 more [spiral helix with 2 holes, and a regular helix piercing, and a labret]).
37Ew.
38Oh um...strange. Ew
39The guy on the right looks like he's got cervical dysplasia on his forehead.
40Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.