Taking body modification to the extreme

Remember when tattoos and nose piercings were extreme? Today they’re passé compared to what’s happening in the body modification scene. In piercing parlours across the country you can have your tongue split in half, silicone shapes inserted under your skin, tattoos on your eyeballs and designs cut into your flesh. Stephanie Coombes went under the knife herself, getting a magnet implanted under her fingertip.

I have never fainted in my life. But as I sat in a body piercing parlour, waiting for a large, sharp needle to be shoved into the fleshy pad of my finger, I was desperately hoping that I would.

‘Come on brain,’ I thought to myself, ‘just turn off for a couple of minutes. Look how pointy that needle is. Think about the pain.’

But for all my shallow breathing and willing the blood to rush out of my head, I was terribly awake and aware. A small magnet was about to be shoved under my skin, and I was going to feel every second of it.

I was ruing the day I had decided to get a body modification.

A ‘body modification’ (in the manner that I refer to it) is a broad term for a procedure that alters a person’s body in an unconventional way.

For example, you can have silicone shapes inserted under your skin. Hearts, skulls and fake horns are all common choices. Scarification is another increasingly popular practice. Designs are cut into the skin using sharp knives, resulting in permanent, artistic scar tissue.

Or if you would rather a tattoo, your eyeball is as good a canvas as any. The whites of your eyes can be coloured however you like. Make your baby blues all blue, or go for black and scare off children and future employers.

Lastly, if you’re not satisfied with your tongue as it is, you can have it split in half. The added bonus of this operation is that the two forks will be able to move independently of each other. Expect a slight lisp, however.

These alterations to normal physiology have in common a visual dimension. They sit outside of the mainstream and appeal to an aesthetic many would consider grotesque.

Recently, however, there has been a new wave of body modifications. Changes are being made for practical, non-aesthetic reasons. Magnetic implants, for example. People get magnets implanted because it gives them a ‘sixth sense’.

When you put a magnet under your skin, it will spin when it comes close to magnetic fields. Security gates, computer hard drives, speakers and desk lamps are just some of the devices that give off a perceptible buzzing sensation.

Fingers are the most logical placement for the magnet, as the area is rich with nerves. This amplifies the sensation without being intrusive. However, some people do want the sensations to be intrusive… and a little south of the belt.
Before I was prepped to have a magnet inserted in my fingertip, I had a conversation with my piercer, Kyla Fae, about placement.

‘Where would you like it?’ she asked.

I had thought that the only possibility was the finger, but apparently there are many fleshy parts of the body that are viable placement options.

'I haven't performed any in genitals, but I'm well aware of people with them,’ said Ms Fae.

‘If you've got a magnet in your lady garden or whatever, it will vibrate away near big speakers.’

I, for one, now watch my fellow concert patrons with a new wariness. Here I was thinking that we were all there for the music.

Some enthusiasts are also starting to get magnets that act as mini speakers implanted next to their ear. All it takes is a magnetic coil disguised as a necklace, an amplifier and MP3 player to have music piped straight to your brain. You will never need headphones again.

Theoretically the same effect could come from any magnet implant, including in your extremities. The obvious disadvantage is that, for you to hear the music, you would have to walk around with your finger in your ear.

A magnet in my fingertip still seemed the best option for me, but I’m sure that anyone in the medical field would strongly attest that the real best option would have been to not have the implant at all.

Body modification procedures are risky. Tongue splitting, for example, has a high chance of heavy bleeding and infection. Magnetic implants are less studied and still somewhat experimental. What dangers we do know about are still alarming.

Dr Geoffrey Lyons, Chairman of the Australian Society for Plastic Surgeons, is familiar with the body modification scene. He has personally treated patients who want their body modifications reversed and is aware of the potentially dangerous conditions in which they are performed.

‘In my reading, there is an extremely high risk of rejection and infections,’ Dr Lyons said.

‘If you’re getting an infection in your finger, that can be very dangerous. I’ve had people with serious infections in their finger that I’ve had to amputate... at best it’s not ideal, at worst it’s crazy and stupid.’

For some reason, in the days leading up to my implant, it didn’t feel terribly stupid. But as Ms Fae perched over me, brandishing a needle a little thinner than a drinking straw, I was convinced that I was about to make a big mistake.

'Breathe in… and out,’ Ms Fae said.

On the outward breath I was warned that I was going to feel ‘some heat’. Heat, I now know, meant ‘intense pain from being stabbed in slow motion’.

I was very vocal about my pain and surprise.

For a long time after the procedure, I didn’t want to look at my finger, let alone think about the magnet inside it. The swelling had made it look like a purple, engorged snake and the pain was excruciating.

But slowly, as the finger halved in size and moving my hand no longer resulted in a stabbing pain, I started to notice the sensations. The first time I turned on my desk lamp, I was shocked and thrilled at the tingling movement in my fingertip. I could sense the magnetic field. It was exciting feeling something invisible to everyone else.

A week later, I felt my hard drive spinning as I opened up a large computer file. It felt like I was having a little conversation with my laptop. It was probably saying, ‘keep that thing away from me if you don’t want your files erased’.

Now that my finger has healed, you would never suspect that I had anything done. There is a tiny bit of bumpy flesh where the needle entered and if you push down on the area you can feel the magnet.

Usually, the only time anyone knows that I’ve had a magnet implanted is after I’ve had a couple of drinks.

I’ll pick up metal bottle caps and cutlery with a Houdini-esque flourish using only the tip of my ring finger. I always expect an avid audience and wide-eyed appreciation, but instead I am met with confusion tinged with disgust.

‘But, why?’ is the inevitable question I’m asked.

What, isn’t picking up bottle caps at bars enough?

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