Body modification

Body modification (or body alteration) is the permanent or semi-permanent deliberate altering of the human body for non-medical reasons, such as spiritual, various social (markings) or aesthetic. It can range from the socially acceptable decoration (e.g., pierced ears in many societies), over religiously mandated (e.g., circumcision in a number of cultures) to corporal punishment and provocative statement by the rebellious (e.g., nostril piercings in punk subculture), some even get physically addicted to the kick of a painful procedure.

Typology of body modification

Body art is every body modification for artistic or aesthetic reasons.

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However the term is often extended to all socialy significative markings, often displaying the bearer belongs to some hereditary (e.g. tribal), age, religious or other group, and therefore on bodyparts that remain or can be 'decently' exposed in public, except if the group is private or even secret.

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"Mainstream" body modification

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• body piercing - permanent placement of jewelry through an artifical fistula
• tattooing - the mechanical placement of ink in the dermis
• scarification - cutting or removal of dermis with the intent to encourage intentional scarring or keloiding
• branding - controlled burning or cauterizing of tissue to encourage intentional scarring
• hair removal
• hair plugs

"Extreme" body modification

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• tongue splitting - bisection of the tongue similar to a snake's
• subdermal implant - implantation of an object that resides entirely below the dermis
• transdermal implant - implantation of an object below the dermis, but whichexits at one or more points

Genital body modification

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• castration - removal of or chemical disabling of the testes
• penectomy - removal of the penis itself
• penis enlargement - via mechancial, chemical or surgical means
• genital beading - also known as pearling
• male circumcision - removal of the foreskin, sometimes also the frenulum
• female circumcision - removal of the labia minora or the clitoral hood
• meatotomy - splitting of the underside of the glans penis
• headsplitting - splitting of both the underside and the top of the glans penis
• subincision - splitting of the underside of the penis
• superincision - splitting of the top of the penis
• genital bisection - splitting of both the underside and the top of the penis
• scrotal bisection - splitting of the scrotum

Other surgical body modification

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• plastic surgery - a medical field devoted to body modification, some of which is reconstructive in nature
• amputation - intentional removal of digits or limbs
• breast augmentation - enlargement of the breast via implants
• gender reassignment surgery - a chemical and surgical process that changes the gender

Body modifications occurring as the end result of long term activities or practices

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• dieting - intentional weight loss or gain via alterations in eating habits
• anorexia - intentional starvation
• bodybuilding - resistance training to increase muscle mass
• corsetry - or tightlacing binding of the hips, waist and/or torso to shape them
• cranial binding - modification of the shape of infants heads, now extremely rare
• foot binding compression - of the feet to modify them for aestetic reasons
• stretching - elongation of limbs (especially the neck) via weights or spacing devices