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Is there a risk in becoming a 'bagel head'?
The human body can safely process saline, but concentrated amounts my overwhelms the body's ability to deal with salt.
Fri, Sep 28 2012 at 12:57 PM
A bagel head profiled in the National Geographic TV documentary 'Taboo.' (Photo: National Geographic Channel)
If you thought Japan's extreme fad culture would stop short of people injecting saline into their foreheads to make it look like they have bagels implanted under their skin, you were wrong. Being a "bagel head" is, indeed, currently in vogue in Tokyo.
The bizarre body modification procedure, which was highlighted in a Sept. 23 episode of "Taboo," a show on the National Geographic Channel, involves injecting about 13.5 ounces (400 milliliters) of saline into a person's forehead to form a huge welt, then pressing a thumb into the welt to create an indent. The process takes two hours, and the trendy swelling goes down in under a day.
Questions about what is going through these people's bagel-shaped heads aside, is this fad dangerous?
Potentially, says Omar Ibrahimi, a dermatologist at the Connecticut Skin Institute and visiting assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, who has had experience injecting saline solution into bodies during cosmetic procedures. The risks of bagel-heading are threefold, Ibrahimi said.
First, the body can safely absorb normal saline solution injected under the skin, and doctors sometimes use it as a form of local anesthesia; however, "saline solution that is too concentrated can overload the body's capacity to process salt," Ibrahimi told Life's Little Mysteries. If a naive bagel head were to accidentally use highly-concentrated hypertonic saline solution instead of the normal kind, for example, he or she could experience extreme dehydration of the kind that happens when you drink salt water.
Secondly, if the saline solution isn't sterile, there's "a lot of risk of bacterial or fungal infection," Ibrahimi said. Most of the pathogens commonly found in unsterilized water can be killed off by the immune system when ingested into the digestive tract; however, the pathogens have a higher chance of gaining a foothold when escorted directly beneath the skin, such as during bagel-head surgery.
Water contamination is also one of the lesser-known risks of getting a tattoo. Just last month, the use of unsterile water as a diluting agent in tattoo ink resulted in a spate of bacterial infections across four U.S. states. Such infections cause painful rashes that can last months, requiring strong antibiotic regimens and sometimes surgery to eradicate.
But even perfectly sterilized saline solution of the ideal concentration could leave bagel heads deeply regretting their ultra-fashionableness. And considering that this last risk is aesthetic, it might make more headway in putting an end to the trend.
"I'd be worried that if people did this repeatedly you might actually, indeed, stretch the skin beyond its normal elasticity, and this could cause permanent laxity," Ibrahimi said.
In other words, bagel heads could become deflated-bagel heads: a fashion mishap in anybody's book.
Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @nattyover or Life's Little Mysteries @llmysteries. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
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This story was originally written for Life's Little Mysteries and was reprinted with permission here. Copyright 2012 Lifes Little Mysteries, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved.
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They are trying to look like the aliens that visit Japan every Tuesday. When the invasion happens maybe they will be overlooked.
I'll pass, thank you. I'd rather be the boring me, but to me, it's beyond bizarre.
Meh, I don't think this is that weird. Human beings have been making random changes to their appearance and then marketing it as favorable for years. Why the hell do women shave? Because some random person introduced it as sexy to be hairless in certain areas...so how is that different than deciding that altering your appearance any other way is weird?
Think of their foreheads now having airbags for protection. If they fall and hit their heads, they'll be protected.
Apparently drugs are no longer hard to get in Japan.
You mean a risk other than looking completely ridiculous?!
Ok, having your skin stretched HURTS. I had reconstruction this summer which involved saline stretching bags placed under my skin. I can't imagine doing that for fun, let alone temporary.
Ok, having your skin stretched HURTS. I had reconstruction this summer which involved saline stretching bags placed under my skin. I can't imagine doing that for fun, let alone temporary.
I don't think I could hold still long enough from laughing to get this done!
This is. Disturbing.
Remember, Japan is always 10 years in the future...we'll have our own version of something like this within the end of the decade...
They look horribly disfigured, if I saw one of them walking down the street I would just assume it was some kinda plague hybrid, then call center for disease control and hide.
HA! Body modifiers are ridiculous, real life trolls.
thats just stupid! why would people put themself trough something like that?! like what's the point?
One question:
...Why?
Idiots...
Ugh! As soon as I saw this I was thinking these people are gonna have tons of premature wrinkles on their foreheads!
I would like to see a 'mash-up' of this article with the one on the Obama and Romney preparing for the presidential debates, plus "Why women lose interest in sex" and "Seven people who gave up on Civilization..." Then, I think it would be easier to keep everything in proper perspective!
Hi Tarrant!
Hi Starbuck! I've missed you. I hope you haven't been too unwell. I was riding in the car just the other day thinking of you and hoping you were ok.
Hey Tarrant! Hanging in there. We had no summer to speak of up here in Juneau, Alaska - and now whatever that was that wasn't summer is gone and the truly cold weather is setting in. Once the snow flies, I'll be doing much better. Now, just trying to get back to the things I love - those places where the joy of life is found - music art, etc. I hope you're doing great in our crazy, crazy world!
Now, now, you sound like someone who lives "outside".You know that there are only two seasons in Alaska, winter and road repair. You just didn't have much road repair this year is all.
I don't know why really, but this kind of makes me want to sing: 'I wish I was an Oscar Meier Wiener'. Never doubt that a small group of people can . . . think up something really dumb and dangerous to pass the time. They sure as heck can!
Ok, there are certain facial modifications that I've found off-putting in the past but this takes the cake... I can't think of an uglier think you could do to your face besides putting a saline bagel in it. Reading this kinda makes me want to go up to a bagel head and poke their forehead with a needle :-)