My Findings on Body Art and Modification

Is this picture of a pierced fish an example of animal cruelty? Is it really obscene and horrible to the animal, because they cannot speak up and refuse to be pierced from their owner?

Is piercing a fish any different from when a farm animal has a tag pierced through their ear, like this cow? Also, is it worse than cropping pet’ ears, removing its dew claw, or neutering it?

Piercing a fish seems just about the same, if not better than, some of those animal modifications.

The modern hardcore body modification scene did not just start by itself. It took dedicated people trying new ideas and techniques until they got things to where they are now. Steve Haworth is said to be responsible for most modern, hardcore body modifications.

Steve Haworth is the founder of subdermal implants, transdermal implants, laser branding, and many other things. He is a former piercer but according to his website his current occupation is 3D Body Modification and Human Evolution Artist. He has also done wonderful work with things like suspension, surface bars, and ear shaping.

Haworth owns Haworth Tech Companies (HTC Studios), Kaos Software (silicone body jewelry manufacturing), and New Hole (piercing products). He is the Co- Founder of Horns and Halos (they put on the Phoenix Fetish Ball), and Life Suspended (a group that performs Suspensions).

Steve lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his partner, Cookie

I decided to make a post for a little entertainment during this holiday season. I even found a Jewish tattoo, but only one good one. If anyone has anymore holiday themed tattoos, piercings, or other body modification pictures post them as a comment or email them to me and I will post them in follow ups. Also, if there are no pictures just describe it. Don’t hesitate to send stuff from holidays like Easter, or Halloween, or even Arbor Day. I will use all  I receive no matter what holiday they come from.

Remember, National Piercing Day is on May 16,  so if you want a cool piercing, save some Christmas or Hanukkah, or even Kwanzaa money for a cool,  new piercing.

Amputation, when a body part is removed or cut off, is not usually something people have any control over. But, believe it or not, there are people who do this on their own free will. It is not something done on impulse usually either. The voluntary amputee has, in most cases, been unhappy with the appendage for some time, if not for their whole life.

It can be done a number of ways from surgery to just a quick and dirty and knife job at home Some people say  that no self respecting surgeon will remove a body part that they believe is “perfectly fine” but there are reports of people having working body parts being removed. One Florida man had tried to shoot off his own leg. He was brought to a hospital and was told that his leg was salvageable. The poor man had to beg the doctors to remove his leg. He got his wish and reported being much happier afterwards with just one leg. He said he had always wanted to have only one leg while growing up. Other cases of voluntary amputation have been recorded, mostly in Europe.

Voluntary Amputees are argued to be psychotic. However, once the amputation process is over, the so called psychotics are much happier and no longer acting psychotic. Doctors are even starting to come around and see that amputation for some people might just be therapeutic. Also, the amputation is not normally done for sexual purposes. There is Nullification where a person has a sexual organ removed (such as nipples), but that is a bit different, (Post to come soon). There are however people who find amputees, whether they are voluntary or involuntary amputees, to be sexually attractive. This is called acrotomophilla.

I highly recommend any interested candidates seek the help of a medical professional for any amputation

Here is a news story from ABC on a voluntary double amputee

Sub dermal implants and tattoos are both very awesome things. But when combined they can be astounding and remarkable. An implant can bring your artwork to a whole new level. A tattoo could make your implant something that will anyone’s breath.

I myself had doubts when I heard about it. I thought, how can something like that even work? Wouldn’t the tattoo needle go into the implant and cause it to rupture? Au contraire my friends.

Implants are a usually few layers down into the skin and tattoo ink just goes into the first few layers. This gives you a  tiny bit of leeway. But it is recommended to get the tattoo first as not risk the implant moving or  tearing, incase it was not put in deep enough

Just imagine if you had a flower tattoo, but it didn’t look real enough for you. Or maybe you wanted somethingcompletely different from what everyone else has. Implants and tattoos combined can give you a 3D tattoo. Come on, who wouldn’t be awestruck when went out and show off a 3D tattoo.

I recently joined twitter and have found some good accounts to follow for body mods piercings and tattoos.

• BodyMod_
  • I think this is a general piercing/tattoo/extreme mod thing      
• Face_Tattoos
  • Basically good facial tats like the name suggests
• vegantattoos
  • for those wanting a more natural harmless tattoo experience
• TattooGallery
  • Just a bunch of different tattoo stuff but all very good and updated often
• TattooBuzz
  • About the same as tattoo gallery but with other cool stuff posted as well. Also, updated often
• tattoohelp
  • name says it all but not updated to often it seems

(To follow my twitter look up crazy0122003 in people find, click the follow me link on the About Ashley page or click on the twitter widget to the right)

Piercings, while fun, are a bit too permanent for some people. Especially the more outrageous things like piercings arranged to make a design. It is perfectly natural to want to just try something different but not have it all the time. For these daring times I suggest play piercing.

Play piercing is when a piercing that only stays in for a little while. It can be done for a number of purposes. Such as rituals, sexual pleasure, self discovery, entertainment, or just when you are so bored you just need to pierce something. Usually long needles with plastic looking tips are inserted for the piecing.

Anyone who has seen the MTV Jackass shows and movies will know the Jackass tar Steve-O. Steve-0 once got a play piercing on camera for entertainment purpose. He had his but cheeks pierced together. He had it pierced for all of a few minutes.

Ritual play piercing could be a number of things. Such as ritual lip and or eye lid sewing. These play piercings will be done for a short period of time. It is said to help people clear their minds. The lack of sight and not being able to talk allows them to focus on other things such as current problems in their lives. Another ritual piercing is suspension hook piercings. People get this done for a number of reasons, such as enjoyment and personal discovery, or to reach a spiritual enlightenment

Some “extreme” BSDM lovers will get piercing for an erotic bit of fun. They find the piercing to be a turn on. I can only guess they enjoy the pain, or they like the look of the jewelry in the hole. Some people are also said to get aroused by the endorphin high they get from a piercing whether the piercing be permanent or just in for a little while. This endorphin high can even bring on a climax for some people.

Play piercing is done at home by many people. There are even kits that can be bought online that include all materials to make sure piercings are done safe and clean.

Click here to buy a play piercing kit.

A few weeks ago I wrote about ritual lip sewing. Now I think it’s time I write about this ritual counterpart, ritual eye sewing.

Eye sewing is about the same as lip sewing. However, it is just a bit more risky due to the fact that it is on your eye lid right over your eyes. This of course is why any interested candidates should seek a professional for this procedure.

Reasons for doing this are about the same as getting ones lips sewn together. It can be relaxing. It can help someone focus on problems they have without worrying about what is in front of them. Also, if someone is upset with how they see things this could help make them relax as well.

I was not able to find much on this ritual so I cannot pinpoint when it first came about in history. I can only guess it has been around for a while but it was never a mainstream thing.

Many people like to wear cat head bands or elf ear headbands for fun. But what if there was a more permanent way to have pointed ears. Of course there is movie make up techniques one could use to achieve the pointed ear look, but this can be annoying and time consuming to apply. There are fake ears you can put over your own ears, but these could alter your hearing and be very uncomfortable. Then we come to the best way to get pointed ears, having your own ears modified with an ear point procedure.

Ear pointing is a somewhat simple body modification. It basically is just removing tissue from the tip of the ear and connecting the two edges with sutures. Some people attempt the procedure on their own but it is best to seek a professional. A bad ear pointing could lead to ear collapse. And, as with any botched job, infections.

Pointed ears are nothing new. Dennis Avner, most commonly known as “Stalking Cat,” has had his ears modified to look like that of a cat for some time now.

Fans of Star Trek will recognize this look from the Vulcans and Romulans. But, for the Vulcan and Romulan actors I’m quite sure it was just clever make up.

There are lots of ways to alter ones state of thinking. The most common way would be to take drugs and get high. But, next time you’re looking for a new high, maybe even one that will last longer than a few hours, look beyond the local drug dealers. Try instead something more along the lines of a body modification, or to be more specific skull modification.

Trepanation, the oldest surgery on the block, is when a hole is made in one’s skull and is said to give them a feeling of a permanent state of enlightenment or being permanently high. Trepanation is also said to relive stress, brain trauma, and I can only assume other mental issues if performed correctly.

When I first read about this, all I could think of was a lobotomy. But then I looked more into what a lobotomy was and what a trepanation was. A lobotomy is when connections in the brain are cut. Trepanation is just a hole drilled into the skull. The hole is said to allow more oxygen and blood flow to reach the brain making one feel enlightened.

One man by the name of Dr. Bart Hughes is one person to have has the procedure done, not only that he is the one who performed it on himself in 1965. He came up with the idea that it would work after discovering standing on his head could get him high. He figured to stay permanently high he would have to increase blood flow to his brain so he could get the same feeling he got while standing on his head and decided he had to relieve pressure to his head. Luckily, he was right and did not seriously damage himself. He said he felt fourteen again.

Hughes was not the first to use trepanation. It can be dated back to around 5,000 B.C. due to a trepanated skull being discovered in France dating to around 5,000 B.C. Trepanations are still said to be given in ceremoniously Africa even.

I myself have many days where frustration gets the better of me and drilling a hole in my head sounds like it would be a good way to take the edge off. While it may sound like a great idea to lead someone to enlightenment make sure further research is done and you do not do it on your own or just have a friend take a drill to your head. Like with any modification, piercing, or tattoo, GO TO A PROFESSIONAL! I will not be to blame if you hurt yourself trying to get high.

A fun less permanent idea