Branding
Human
branding is the process in which a mark, usually a symbol or ornamental
pattern, is burned into the skin of a living person, with the intention that
the resulting scar makes it permanent. This is performed using a hot or cold
iron. It therefore uses the physical techniques of livestock branding on a
human.
Subdermal
Implant
A subdermal
implant refers to a kind of body jewelry that is placed underneath the skin,
therefore allowing the body to heal over the implant and creating a raised
design. Many people who have these implants use them in conjunction with other
types of body modification to create a desired, dramatic effect.
Earlobe
Stretching
Most people
can stretch to at least 2ga (1/4″) and still have the tissue return to normal
when they remove the jewelry, but there really are no guarantees. Don’t stretch
your ears unless you are certain you’ll be okay with it forever. Once the
elastic limit of the skin has been passed, or a large amount of additional
tissue has been built up, the hole will not close again completely. A person
who is either obsessed with stretching their piercings, or with showing off
their many stretched piercings, is known as a “Gauge Queen”. Some wear this
term with pride, others use it derisively.
Tongue
Splitting
Tongue
bifurcation, or tongue splitting, is a type of body modification in which the
tongue is cut centrally from its tip part of the way towards its base, forking
the end. In most cases, the split is created through scalpeling or surgical
laser. Self modifiers often choose to achieve a split by gradually tightening
nylon bindings inserted through an existing tongue piercing over a long period
of time. This method is long, arduous, and requires a high pain tolerance.
Tooth
Filing
Tooth
filing is a form of body modification in which people file their natural teeth
to create a desired look or shape.
Tightlacing
Also called
corset training and waist training, this is the practice of wearing a
tightly-laced corset to achieve extreme modifications to the figure and posture
and experience the sensations of a very tight corset. Those who practice
tightlacing are called tightlacers. Some tightlacers call the corsets they wear
training corsets.
Pearling
This is the
practice of permanently inserting small beads made of various materials beneath
the skin of the genitals–of the labia, or of the shaft or foreskin of the
penis. As well as being an aesthetic practice, this is usually intended to
enhance the sexual pleasure of partners during vaginal or anal intercourse. The
practice seems to have been fairly common across world cultures and is still
done today. You can see a VERY Not Safe For Work image here.
Corneal
tattooing
Eyeball
tattooing has been around for a long time; in the 19th century it was commonly
used to correct cosmetic defects in blind eyes. The procedure can be performed
with traditional tattoo needle or a syringe. The eye is simply held open while
the pigment, which is the exact same type used in a regular tattoo, is injected
into the eyeball.
Anal
stretching
The process
of anal stretching is a lot like earlobe stretching, except you don’t wear the
“jewelry” around the clock. Like stretching a piercing, it involves slow and
increasingly larger play over an extended period of time. The image above is
for “tools” to aid in this modification.
Extraocular Implant
The
implantation of jewelry in the outer layer of the eye, this is one I must admit
I had not heard of. Apparently first done in the Netherlands, it has come to
the US. According to Dr. Christopher Rapuano, a corneal surgeon at
Philadelphia’s Wills Eye Hospital, “You can think of it as crazy. I mean this
is invasive surgery where you are cutting the surface layer of the eye open to
put a little piece of jewelry in. The first time I read about this I said, ‘Oh,
my God, who is doing this?’” The safety of this procedure will have to prove
itself over time, since it hasn’t been performed on many people, but the
possibility for infection and complications is definitely there.