Fantastic characters in real life

Imagine seeing the characters from your favorite fantasy novel walking around the street. It’s unusual to see a human with elf ears or blood red eyes, but people are investing in these physical alterations. Whether you see it as an abnormality or an art form, extreme body modification is an interesting phenomenon. Body modification is an ancient practice that continues to evolve. Today, body modification reflects medical advances and modern culture as men and women look for new ways to transform the standards of beauty.

Bagel heads

Japanese bagel heads have become an internet sensation. People inject saline into their foreheads as a form of extreme body modification in this rare procedure. These saline inflations are temporary and only performed for special occasions. To create the bagel head look, a saline drip is inserted into the forehead to start the swelling. The middle of the round formation is pushed down with a thumb. The whole process takes about an hour and lasts up to 24 hours before your skin returns to normal.

Saline injections

Japanese bagel heads are not the first form of body modification to use silicon injections. Silicone subdermal and transdermal implants are another new form of body modification. Subdermal implants are inserted completely under your skin and transdermal implants are partially covered and partially exposed. Both kinds of implants come in a wide variety of shapes. Patients have inserted horns to look like dragons and spider outlines on their calves. It can take months to achieve the desired effect. The process begins with a small implant and gradually increases the size with bigger implants.

Eye tattoos

Eye tattoos are a recent form of body modification that injects color directly into your eyeball. The pigment stays under the conjunctiva, the thin top layer of your eye. It doesn’t take very much ink to permanently color your eye. Opticians are concerned about the potential risks involved in eye tattoos, including blindness. Concerns surrounding eye tattoos are magnified by the fact that people are attempting to color their own eyes without professional help. The procedure can easily go wrong if you inject too much ink, insert the needle too deep or use unsanitary equipment. Experts recommend colored contacts as a way to get a similar effect without the risk of vision loss.

Cosmetic eye injections

Cosmetic eye implants are a way to insert jewelry into your eye. The platinum implants are placed just below your conjunctiva in a matter of minutes. Patients often request small hearts, skulls or moon shapes. Opticians discourage this form of body modification because the procedure can put people at risk for vision problems from the bacteria and scar tissue. The jewelry can also move around causing irritation and eye damage. Once implanted, the jewelry is very difficult to remove.

Elfin ears

Pointed ears are no longer exclusively for mythical elf creatures. Body modification technicians offer ear pointing procedures to sculpt the upper ear for a unique look. Elfin ears are said to make people appear more whimsical and attractive. The effect is created by either inserting a small wedge or cutting the ear and reshaping it. Many board-certified dermatologists and plastic surgeons refuse to perform this operation. Pointed ear operations can be very difficult to undo and have the potential for infections that can cause permanent ear damage.

Extreme body modification allows people to express themselves in individual ways. This phenomenon has evolved with cultures throughout history. These physical alterations are seen as either an art form or an abnormality, sometimes the modifications are both. Body modification procedures allow people to live a unique version of fantasy-inspired reality.