Body modification
Overview
Body modification is the deliberate altering of the human body
for any non-medical reason, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, religious reasons, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art
, shock value, or self expression. In its most broad definition it includes plastic surgery
, socially acceptable decoration (e.g., common ear piercing
in many societies), and religious rites of passage (e.g., circumcision
in a number of cultures), as well as the modern primitive
movement.
In contrast to the explicit ornaments, the following procedures are primarily not meant to be exposed per se, but rather function to augment another part of the body, like the skin in a subdermal implant.
Human anatomy
Human anatomy is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the human body. Anatomy is subdivided into gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy is the study of anatomical structures that can be seen by the naked eye...
for any non-medical reason, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, religious reasons, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art
Body art
Body art is art made on, with, or consisting of, the human body. The most common forms of body art are tattoos and body piercings, but other types include scarification, branding, scalpelling, shaping , full body tattoo and body painting.More extreme body art can involve things such as mutilation...
, shock value, or self expression. In its most broad definition it includes plastic surgery
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
, socially acceptable decoration (e.g., common ear piercing
Earring
Common locations for piercings, other than the earlobe, include the rook, tragus, and across the helix . The simple term "ear piercing" usually refers to an earlobe piercing, whereas piercings in the upper part of the external ear are often referred to as "cartilage piercings"...
in many societies), and religious rites of passage (e.g., circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
in a number of cultures), as well as the modern primitive
Modern primitive
Modern primitives or urban primitives are people in developed nations who engage in body modification rituals and practices while making reference or homage to the rite of passage practices in "primitive cultures" These practices may include body piercing, tattooing, play piercing, flesh hook...
movement.
- Body piercingBody piercingBody piercing, a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn. The word piercing can refer to the act or practice of body piercing, or to an opening in the body created by this act or practice...
- Permanent placement of jewelry through an artificial fistulaFistulaIn medicine, a fistula is an abnormal connection or passageway between two epithelium-lined organs or vessels that normally do not connect. It is generally a disease condition, but a fistula may be surgically created for therapeutic reasons.-Locations:Fistulas can develop in various parts of the...
; sometimes further modified by stretching - Ear piercing - The most common type of body modification
- PearlingPearling (body modification)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...
- Also known as genital beading - Neck ringNeck ringNeck rings are formed with one or more spiral metal coils of many turns worn as an ornament around the neck of an individual. In a few African and Asian cultures neck rings are worn usually to create the appearance that the neck has been stretched. Padaung women of the Kayan people begin to wear...
- Multiple Neck rings or spiral are worn to stretch the neck (in reality lowering of the shoulders). - Scrotal implants
- Eyeball tattooingCorneal tattooingCorneal tattooing is the practice of tattooing the cornea of the human eye. Reasons for this practice include the improvement of cosmetic appearance and the improvement of sight...
- Injection of a pigment into the corneaCorneaThe cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light, with the cornea accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power. In humans, the refractive power of the cornea is...
. - Extraocular implantExtraocular implantAn extraocular implant is a cosmetic implant involving a tiny piece of decorative jewelry which is implanted within the superficial, interpalpebral conjunctiva of the human eye.-History and culture:...
(eyeball jewelry) - The implantation of jewelry in the outer layer of the eyeHuman eyeThe human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
. - Surface PiercingSurface piercingSurface piercings are any body piercings that take place on the surface sewn into the body through areas which are not particularly concave or convex, where the piercing canal transverses a surface flap of skin, rather than running completely through a piece of body tissue from one side to another...
- A surface piercing is a piercing where the entrance and exit holes are pierced through the same flat area of skin. - Microdermal implantsMicrodermal implantsMicrodermal implants are a form of body modification which gives the aesthetic appearance of a transdermal implant, but without the complications of the much more complicated surgery associated with transdermal implants....
- Transdermal implantTransdermal implantTransdermal implants 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 transdermal. The skin around it generally heals as if it were a piercing.Medically, transdermal...
- implantImplant (body modification)In body modification, an implant is a device placed under the human skin for decorative purposes. Such implants may be subdermal or transdermal...
ation of an object below the dermis, but which exits the skin at one or more points
In contrast to the explicit ornaments, the following procedures are primarily not meant to be exposed per se, but rather function to augment another part of the body, like the skin in a subdermal implant.
- Breast implants - Insertion of silicone bags filled with silicone gel or saline solution into the breasts to increase their size, or to restore a more normal appearance after surgery
- Silicone injection
- Subdermal implantSubdermal implantA subdermal implant refers to a kind of body jewelry that is placed underneath the skin, therefore allowing the body to heal over the implant and creating a raised design. These kinds of implants fall under the broad category of body modification. Many people who have these implants use them in...
- implantation of an object that resides entirely below the dermis, including horn implants
- Nullification involves the voluntary removal of body parts.
Unanswered Questions
