Story and Photos by Joshua Cowan
California is known for a unique assortment of characters, and with the help of body modifiers, the sights are starting to become even more eye catching. Local shops provide many body modifications to their clients, from intricate tattoo designs to unique skin modification such as implants, scarring, suspension, branding, dermals and ear shaping. Although if you do want to do something as extreme as this, it’s obviously important to make sure this is definitely what you’re wanting to do, so you’re not left afterwords asking how to heal my scars.
Implants are different objects or silicone placed under the skin to create a 3D style.
Branding is a symbol or pattern burned into the skin to leave the scar as a design.
Ear shaping/Stretching is the process of changing the shape of your ear. Stretching the earlobe is the most common body modification practiced.
Dermal implants can be put on almost any area on the body. The dermal is composed of two components: an anchor, which is placed under the skin, and the surface of the dermal, which is screwed into the threaded hole of the anchor. The anchor allows you to change between different shapes and styles of jewelry.
The scarring process consists of cutting or removal of the skin to leave a scar. Most of the people that participate in this modification will make sure to keep it infected and irritated to leave a better scar.
A suspension is the act of hanging a human body from hooks that have been put through body piercing. These piercing’s are temporary and are performed just prior to the actual suspension.
