body modification Body modification (or body alteration) is the deliberate altering of the human anatomy or human physical appearance. In its broadest definition it includes skin tattooing, socially acceptable decoration (''e.g.'', common ear piercing in many s ...

, an implant is a device that is placed under the human skin for decorative purposes. Such implants may be subdermal or

transdermal Transdermal is a route of administration wherein active ingredients are delivered across the skin for systemic distribution. Examples include transdermal patches used for medicine delivery. The drug is administered in the form of a patch or ointme ...

. In the context of body modification, some may consider injections of

silicone A silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer made up of siloxane (−R2Si−O−SiR2−, where R = organic group). They are typically colorless oils or rubber-like substances. Silicones are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medicine, cooking ...

and other substances a type of implant as well. Some types of implants may be performed by doctors or other medical professionals, while others are performed by body modification artists.

Implants and procedures

Clavicle or collarbone piercing

A very deep piercing that passes beneath the

collarbone The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the right ...

, and therefore enters the body cavity. These are highly prone to rejection as the collarbone placement is a high movement area. Also, because of the depth of the piercinggoing deep under the collarbone and through a large amount of flesh and musclehealing is difficult. With all the movement in the area the fistula cannot heal properly, and will hurt far worse than a hip piercing.

Deep chest piercing

A deep chest piercing is a long piercing that passes under the skin of the chest and may be several inches long.

Eyeball implant

An eyeball implant, or

extraocular implant An extraocular implant (also known as eyeball jewelry) is a cosmetic implant involving a tiny piece of decorative jewelry which is implanted within the superficial, interpalpebral conjunctiva or sclera of the human eye. History and culture Eyeba ...

, is a cosmetic implant involving a tiny piece of decorative jewelry which is implanted within the superficial, interpalpebral

conjunctiva The conjunctiva is a thin mucous membrane that lines the inside of the eyelids and covers the sclera (the white of the eye). It is composed of non-keratinized, stratified squamous epithelium with goblet cells, stratified columnar epithelium ...

of the human eye (the covering of the white of the eye, in the area that is normally visible between the eyelids). Such implants are illegal in the United States.

Flesh stapling, flesh plating and pocketing

A flesh staple is a type of piercing jewelry or implant in which the middle rather than the end of the jewelry is exposed when worn. The jewelry resembles a staple, the ends of which pierce the skin and hold the item in place. A flesh plate works on the same principle, but has a different shape, resembling a flat plate rather than a staple. Flesh pocketing resembles flesh stapling, but instead of staple-like geometry, small "pockets" under the skin hold the ends of the jewelry in place. Pocketing has a lower rate of success than stapling.

Genital beading and genital ribs

Genital beading Pearling or genital beading is a form of body modification, 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 ...

(also known as

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

beads, love beads or pearling) is a process in which beads or other small objects are implanted beneath the shaft skin of the

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males do n ...

, Genital ribs are short, slightly curved rods of various materials such as stainless steel, titanium, teflon, or silicone placed under the shaft skin of the penis.

Horn implants

In this modification, small pieces of

Teflon Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene that has numerous applications. It is one of the best-known and widely applied PFAS. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemou ...

, coral or silicone are inserted beneath the skin of the forehead, giving the appearance of small horns. These can be gradually replaced with larger and larger pieces as the skin stretches, creating larger horns. Coral is no longer used for larger horns, as it tends to be too brittle. The first set of horn implants were done by

Steve Haworth Steve Haworth is a body modification artist based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is responsible for the invention and popularization of subdermal implants, subdermal and transdermal implants, such as the "Metal Mohawk". He designed specialized medical i ...

on The Enigma. Steve Haworth invented this type of modification. He currently uses silicone for his horn implants.

Magnetic implants

An experimental procedure in which small

neodymium magnets A hard_disk_drive.html"_;"title="Nickel-plated_neodymium_magnet_on_a_bracket_from_a_hard_disk_drive">Nickel-plated_neodymium_magnet_on_a_bracket_from_a_hard_disk_drive_ file:Nd-magnet.jpg.html" ;"title="hard_disk_drive_.html" ;"title="hard_disk_d ...

are placed under the skin (usually the fingertips) mostly for the purpose of sensory experimentation, in which the movement of the implant in the presence of magnetic fields can be felt by the individual. Such implants can, in this way, be employed to convert non-human sensory information, such as

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

/distance, into touch. They have been proposed for attaching objects such as eyeglasses or jewelry to the skin, but in practice this has turned out not to be feasible, as the skin is damaged by being crushed between the object and the magnet.

Scrotal implant

A scrotal implant is an implant placed into the scrotum. The implants may be designed for this purpose (for example,

Neuticles Neuticles are prosthetic testicular implants for neutered dogs and other domestic animals. The implants may be made of polypropylene or silicone. History Gregg Miller developed the idea for Neuticles after his bloodhound, Buck, was castrated ...

), or be of any implant-grade material.

Subdermal implant

Subdermal implants, objects inserted under the skin, are used in medical applications such as

pacemakers An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a Implant (medicine), medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the Heart ...

and the

Norplant Levonorgestrel-releasing implant, sold under the brand name Jadelle among others, are devices that release levonorgestrel for birth control. It is one of the most effective forms of birth control with a one-year failure rate around 0.05%. The d ...

contraceptive. There is also historical evidence that some tribal cultures would insert stones or metal underneath the skin for ritualistic purposes. In the early 1990s, body modification artist

conceived of inserting 3D art implants in various shapes under the skin to create a decorative appearance. He started with surgical steel and moved on to

teflon Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene that has numerous applications. It is one of the best-known and widely applied PFAS. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemou ...

and then carved silicone, and now uses injection-molded implant-grade silicone that he produces. Other artists have since manufactured silicone implants using water jet cutting or "cookie cutter", but these often have undesirably sharp edges which can damage the skin. Subdermal implants are usually installed by creating a hole in the skin which is expanded to allow insertion of the object, and then sutured closed. Magnets and

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

transmitters (like in the case of

Kevin Warwick Kevin Warwick (born 9 February 1954) is an English engineer and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Coventry University. He is known for his studies on direct interfaces between computer systems and the human nervous system, and has also done ...

) have also been implanted in humans using this method.

Surface piercing

surface piercing Surface piercings are piercings that are found on flat parts of the body, giving a double-pierced look that sits flat against the skin. A surface bar follows the plane of skin, while a standard piercing is pierced through the plane. Standard pierc ...

is a piercing that travels beneath the surface of the skin (on the arm, for example) rather than through a protruding portion of the anatomy such as the earlobe. Surface piercings can be placed on nearly any area of the body, provided they are not subject to too much movement or the risk of impact damage or infection from contact with contaminants such as dirt. A surface piercing should be done with high grade titanium in a staple shaped bar. Curved barbells or straight barbells put too much pressure on the entry holes to be suitable. Once a surface piercing bar is in, it is recommended that you not attempt to remove or change the staple shaped bar yourself; this should be done only by a highly trained and experienced piercer. The balls, however, are safe for the wearer to change. Surface piercings can be more or less prone to rejection, depending on where on the body they are situated. For example, the

nape of the neck The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is also called the nucha (from the Medieval Latin rendering of the Arabic , "spinal marrow"). The corresponding adjective is ''nuchal'', as in the term ''n ...

is less likely to reject a surface piercing than the

sternum The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. Sh ...

. Microdermals (see below) and Skin Divers are becoming more popular than surface piercings, as they last much longer and are less likely to be rejected.

Transdermal implant

transdermal implant Transdermal implants, or dermal piercings, are a form of body modification used both in a medical and aesthetic context. In either case, they consist of an object placed partially below and partially above the skin, thus ''trans''dermal. The skin ...

(or percutaneous implant), also known as a microdermal implant or surface anchor, is an implant incorporating a flat plate that sits beneath the skin with an externally visible portion incorporating a bead, spike or other item that appears to float on the surface of the skin. Due to the fact that the skin is held open by the metal and a fistula must form around it, similar to a piercing on a larger scale, healing can sometimes be difficult or lengthy. If the practitioner is skilled and the person receiving the modification takes good care of it, it can have a high success rate. The first transdermal implant was a "Metal

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

" performed on Joe Aylward by

in 1996. Aylward retained his transdermal "mohawk" for almost a decade, until, for personal reasons, he asked Haworth to remove it.

References

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