BODY EXTREME

Improving Nature? The World Of Extreme Body Modification  

By Erin Kelly 

 Once upon a time, having a couple of tattoos was the definition of body modification, at least across the US and Europe. But extreme body modifications are growing in popularity, and those who claim it as a lifestyle choice are always looking for ways to take it to new levels.

Source: Gallery Hip

However, body modification isn’t something confined to grungier corners of San Francisco or New York. A number of cultures have practiced body modification since before the Magna Carta was signed. In Asia, for example, body mods have literally shaped society over the centuries, from foot binding to neck rings. In some areas, neck rings are still used today as a sign of marriage and social status. The more copper and brass rings are worn, the higher the social and economic standing within the tribe.
It appears that wearing these rings elongates the neck – but that is just an illusion. The added rings are actually pushing down the collar bones and ribs, eventually twisting them into an angle 45 degrees lower than what would be typical, visually suggesting that the neck has lengthened.

Source: Sad To Happy Project

Lip plates have been implemented by tribes in Africa for centuries, and are now being appropriated by the US body mod scene. Traditionally, the process of lip stretching would start just after a young tribeswoman reached puberty. The young woman’s mother would usually begin the process by removing her daughter’s two front bottom teeth, and then making an incision below the lip and inserting the clay disk into the hole while healing occurs.

Source: Sad To Happy Project

After healing, the young woman would replace the disk with a slightly larger one that she herself has created. Like with neck rings in Asian cultures, size indicates “worth” with lip rings. The larger the stretching of a young woman’s lower lip, the more cows her father would be able to ask for as dowry upon marriage.

Source: BME

Much like lip plates, ear gauging is all about stretching the body far beyond what would seem like reasonable parameters. Currently one of the most popular mods, ear gauging takes the long-since mundane concept of ear piercing to a whole new level. After a piercing, a small diameter ring is placed into the new formed hole. Every couple of weeks a larger circle is squeezed into the space slowly stretching the ear and creating an ever widening hole. At a certain point, some gaugers replace the open rings with ornamental discs or other decorative insert.

Joel Miggler, a German body modification enthusias,t takes the concept of gauge piercings to an extreme. He has gauged out his cheeks and nose – leaving open holes that glimpse into areas that (by all that is good and holy) were never intended to be seen by another.

Source: New York Daily News

Joel’s face gauging has created gaps large enough for him to stick his surgically split tongue through, a truly off-putting sight for most. He has plugs that he is able to insert into the piercings, which become especially useful when it comes time to eat or drink anything.

Source: Wikipedia

As recently as the 1990s, tongue splitting (also known as tongue forking or bifurcation) was nearly unheard of and unseen in society; now it is now considered to be common practice in the world of body modders. This alteration can be accomplished several ways – including cutting with a scalpel, piercing with the implement being moved nearer and nearer the end until the split is complete, or via cauterizing and tying off. By all suggestions, this procedure should be performed by a plastic or oral surgeon, but some choose to perform this very painful modification on themselves.

Source: Rising Fashions

Corset piercing is an extreme modification that uses multiple piercings lined up in such a way that when ribbon is looped through the rings it creates a corset of sorts.

Source: Deviant Art

Corset piercings can be done in various areas of the body; the most common of these being down the chest, back, or legs. For more…dramatic…members of the body mod community, corset piercings can also occur on or around the genital area.

Bagel heads are a mod subculture that (at least for now) seems to be most popular in Japan. Aptly named due to the bagel-shaped infusion prominent on the forehead, this modification is sure to be among the strangest to anyone outside of the mod community.

Source: Pixa News

The bizarre look of the bagel head is achieved by injecting a saline solution directly into the forehead of the individual Modder. The procedure itself is painful and takes approximately two hours. This seems like a lot to go through, especially for something that would not typically be considered either attractive or flattering among novice modders. Thankfully, the effect only lasts between 15 and 24 hours based on the skull structure of the individual.

Source: Big Shocking

Piercings are no big deal, right? Ear piercing has been one of the most common of practices for generations. But what about someone who has more than 4,200 piercings? Meet Elaine Davidson, a former nurse in the UK, who holds the record as the most pierced woman in the world.

Source: Medulous

Australian man Lucky Diamond Rich has one of the most modded bodies in the world. With an assortment of piercings, gauges, and a split lip he has most of the bases covered; however, his tattoos are what really separate him from the pretenders. Lucky has it all covered (literally) with 100 percent of his body splashed in tattoos. Yes, that includes foreskin.

Source: Gallery Hip

Last is the world’s most modified woman, Maria Jose Cristerna. Adding to the claim that most lawyers are blood sucking ambulance chasers, this former attorney has spent a great amount of time and money transforming herself into a ‘vampire.’ Sporting many of the other modification examples above, Cristerna also boasts several implanted objects under her skin as well as filed and sharpened teeth. She travels the world with DJ Gis Sanchez to perform for masses of exhilarated fans.

Ripley’s has recently immortalized Cristerna in wax, with a life size sculptures as a monument to her extreme modifications. Her likenesses are now on display in Ripley’s museums across the globe