The images of a Ukrainian model with some extreme modifications went viral recently. This leads to the question – how much is too much? Why do so many undergo such body modifications that go way beyond what could be considered aesthetic? Are there medical and health fallouts? And what do these say about the person’s mental state?
This Ukrainian model posted these before and after images of herself, showing how fillers had completely altered her looks. She loves this look, she says; a result of numerous procedures such as fillers, jaw reshaping, Botox etc. In spite of warnings from her doctors, she continues her extreme body modifications and keeps injecting her face with fillers. So, in spite of the possible impacts on health, she continues.
There are many who undergo procedures to sharpen their canine teeth to make them look like vampire fangs. Jason Luiz da Silva, from Brazil, takes it several steps forward. He had his eyeballs tattooed black (I must admit I did not know this was possible) when he was 18. He had his tongue sliced into two to make it look like a snake and now has had it fully tattooed in black in an extremely painful procedure. Porcelain implants elongate his teeth to make them look like vampire fangs.
Lil Uzi Vert is a rapper with a most unusual implant – a diamond in his forehead. He bought a $24 million diamond in instalments and then went ahead with the implantation process. This uses a special mounting system made of precious metals, that holds the diamond in place on the forehead. The jeweller who did this for the rapper believes that this could well become a trend in times to come.
Michel Faro do Prado has had many extreme modifications but this is the most extreme of all: he had most of his nose removed surgically to create that demon-like skull effect. Apart from the many piercings and tattoos he has had, he also has customised teeth and head implants.
Rolf Buchholz from Germany holds the world record for the most body modifications ever and he plans to break this record of well over 500 modifications. He started at age 20 and is 40 now. He has tattoos all over, a couple of horns (literally), tattooed eyes, hundreds of piercings, a forked tongue and magnetic implants in his limbs.
A Seattle based company appropriately called Dangerous Things is selling DIY microchip implant kits that consist of the implants as well as the tools for implantation. These subcutaneous implants flash and flicker beneath the skin and also function as an RFID or NFC device for the body.
Body modifications have been around for ages – many Indians have tattoos, most Indian women and some men will have pierced earlobes for instance. The Chinese used to bind the feet of little girls to keep feel small since it was considered aesthetic and a symbol of status. The ancient Peruvians would use devices to flatten and elongate the skull. There have been social, cultural, spiritual, aesthetic and even medical reasons for these body modifications.
Extreme modifications such as the ones above could be people wanting to express their individuality, because they see this as art, or simply want to shock. They may also think of modifications or as a sign of bravery --- I can endure pain, they seem to want to say. However, sometimes this urge transforms into an addiction: one leads to another and successive modifications become more and more extreme. Some of these people could actually be mentally unstable and may have issues such as body dysmorphic disorder where the person imagines invisible flaws in themselves. It could become a problem for people who feel the urge to keep getting modifications; finding that it becomes an obsession. The important thing is to realise when the expression of individuality draws perilously close to insanity.
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