While the body modification procedure for creating ears that are more or less pointed has been around for quite some time, it seems it’s beginning to pick up some real steam, at least enough to make ABC News do a story on it. They say that “Elf Ears Are the Rage Among Quirky Young Adults”, flashing video footage of several young women that have undergone the painful procedure with varying results.
And it is a painful procedure. Body modification artists are not doctors, after all, and have no access to anesthesia. They aren’t even supposed to work on someone if they suspect they may be intoxicated, so not even booze will dull the pain of having your upper ear cut in two and then sewn back together.
I’m no stranger to body mods myself. I’ve got my ears stretched to a half inch. I’ve got a septum ring. I’ve got another ring somewhere I will not mention. None of those were quite as painful as the time I decided to pierce my own upper ear cartilage. It hurt like hell, and while the hole is still there, any time I put something in it it quickly grows sore and red. Cartilage doesn’t like to be fucked with. I can only imagine how much pain these people are going through while this procedure heals.
“The real risks are one – major deformity of the ear, which is very easy to have happen and two, infection of the ear,” said Dr. Arthur W. Perry, author of “Straight Talk About Cosmetic Surgery”. “And if infection occurs, it can destroy the ear within days”.
That’s quite a lot of risk for a procedure that doesn’t seem to be all that effective at making ears truly look pointed. I’ll stick to paying $US20 for a set of stick-on ears instead of paying several hundred dollars to potentially lose the ones I’ve got.
Elf Ears Are the Rage Among Quirky Young Adults [ABC News - Thanks Michelle!]
Travis New
Friday, April 8, 2011 at 10:08 AMUmmmm. Ouch! Jesus that is a step to far…
Nikesro
Friday, April 8, 2011 at 2:29 PMI have twelve chain chompers chained to my ass and that didnt hurt
Tali
Friday, April 8, 2011 at 10:27 AMTbh any of these things are too risky for me b/c what if I change my mind later? Mike you mentioned “I’ve got my ears stretched to a half inch”, which is a bit different b/c you are a ‘grown up’, but man I see some young teens with that going on and wonder if they will be happy with that choice in x years time.
Michael Zaporozhets-salsa
Friday, April 8, 2011 at 11:11 AMTali stretched ears are very reversible though, my friend went from 40mm down to nothing, so its only a temporary thing, just like other piercings.
Tali
Friday, April 8, 2011 at 1:58 PMDear MZ-s,
I didn’t knwo that. Thankyou for teaching me something new. No wonder the cool kids would look at me like I’m so naf when I am ‘tch tch’ing’ them at the shopping ctr etc.
Just out of curiosity, how do the do the reversal? Does it just close up if you take them out, or do you need to squish ‘em back?
Mike Douglas
Friday, April 8, 2011 at 4:27 PM“squish ‘em back?” Imagining that is hilarious.
Jasmine Diocares
Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 10:44 PMStretcher reversal, at least with earlobes, is quite easy – if you’re around 10-8mm (depending on your skin’s natural elasticity) it’s more or less a case of taking them out and letting the ear recover itself back into shape.
Anything bigger than that results in permanent stretching, which requires a bit more cosmetic surgery – basically, the lobe in question is cut and the remaining lobe stitched back under. Relatively painless procedure with little scarring if done properly.
david patterson
Friday, October 7, 2011 at 6:31 AMwhy dont the peapol who do this all get ogether and form a religion as volcans