FEATURES cd By Brady Ehler, Features Editor Body modifications are becoming more and more popular these days. And why shouldn’t they? It’s all just fashion, really, just a more extreme (and permanent) form of fash- ion than say...buying a new pair of shoes. So, what constitutes a body modification, anyway? Perhaps the most popular form of body mod is still body piercing. It’s not just about ear piercings anymore, the kids are getting pierced everywhere these days! Tattoos are, of course, another popular choice. Some of the more extreme body modifications include scarification, sub-dermal implants, and tongue-splitting. The most common type of piercing is still a good old earlobe piercing. However, a variation, lobe stretching, is also becoming very popular. The process, as the name sug- gests, involves gradually stretching the earlobe piercing until it becomes a large hole. This is done by slowly increasing the size of the jewelry. As pressure is put on the _ piercing, micro-tears form and eventually heal. It’s a slow process though—it’s recommended by piercers that you only increase the size or “gauge” of the piercing once every two months. If you decide to stretch your ears, don’t be hasty and try to stretch them too quickly or you'll have a “blowout,” meaning the skin against the piercing will fold in on itself and possibly deform your ear for life. Speaking of deforming your ear for life, ear stretching can be reversed, but only up to a point, and while that point is dif- ferent for everybody, it’s usually around the two-gauge mark (or a 1/4” stretch). In the last ten years or so, it has become increasingly popular to get pierced in areas other than the earlobe. In just the realm of the ear, there is an endless array of carti- lage piercings, many of which involve more complex pieces of jewelry (such as industrial bars) that are inserted through more than one piercing. Other popular places to pierce are: eyebrows, nostrils, the septum, nipples, the tongue, the cheek, the navel, lips, and the genitals—ouch! Depending where the piercing is, it can take anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks to heal. A more extreme form of piercing is the trans-dermal implantation, also referred to as “pocketing.” This body mod involves inserting a piece of jewelry (usually a metal bar) through one piercing, underneath the skin, and out through another piercing. This can be done anywhere on the body, but popular areas include the forearm, around the collarbone, and on the back. Similar to trans-dermal implantation is sub-dermal implantation, in which objects are surgically implanted beneath the skin. Sub-dermals are completely internal; the skin is opened up, the implants are placed inside, and the skin is closed overtop. Popular choices for sub-dermal implants include simple shapes such as crosses, stars, and ornate chains. Of what I am able to divine, not a lot is new in the tattoo world, except that getting tattoos is more common then ever. Some tattoos are becoming downright cliché. For example, every metrosexual guy and his dog has got some “sick tribal” on his arm, and his female counterpart has it on her lower back. Unless you are part of a tribe, don’t get tribal. For the girls, unless you want to be walking cliché, think of something more original than a pixie. For the guys, avoid getting dragons, and whatever you do, never, ever get a tribal dragon tattoo. An alternative to tattooing— scarification—is just start- ing to catch on. There are two main categories of scarifica- tion: cutting and branding. Cutting involves making small incisions on the skin with a surgical blade. Branding is the burning of designs onto the skin. Originally, the preferred method was single-strike cattle branding, which employed a single burn with a single piece of metal in the shape of the desired design. Now, the more modern technique of multi- ple strike branding is the preferred method. Another popular technique is hyfricater branding, which employs electricity to cauterize the skin instead of heated metal. Although branding leaves only white marks on the body, many are starting to incorporate tattoos into branding by coloring the skin a solid color before branding over top. There are many extreme body modifications that only a few people have done, or are willing to do. One of these is tongue bifurcation or “tongue splitting.” The process involves making a vertical incision from the tip of the tongue an inch or so towards the back and letting the halves heal independently. This creates a forked tongue with two independently movable halves. Some of the methods for tongue splitting include tying off the area to be cut with thread, using surgical laser, or just a good old- fashioned scalpel. Apparently, a split tongue has benefits to open-mouth kissing and o/her tactile uses. If you choose to engage in body modification, regard- less of how-you choose to modify, remember: modifica- tions are for life. Live it and love it, but once done, you can't decide to leave it.