Tell me about self-modification

Recently I've been interested in Self-modding... more specifically branding and scarification.... but anything will do. So! Tell me!

You mean like splitting your tongue in two and giving yourself horns?

yeah, but that's on the extreme end of things.... what I'm talking about is scarification by either branding or cutting.... and this type of 'body art' is quickly gaining popularity, and will soon be on par with tattoos and piercings.

Edit: WOAH! You're a canadian too... even the same province as me!

I only have a couple piercings (two gauged ears and nip) and have yet to get a tattoo. The only brands I have got are from cigarettes... xD

Where abouts are you? Feel free to send a PM.

So nobody know anything, or has any experience with Body-mods? Alrighty then!

I know Xaqaria has done some scarification, you should PM him.

I've never seen any need for body mods or even hair color, but then my appearance is pretty mutable as is, based on physical activity and sun exposure.

I am majorly into this. But by doing it yourself (if you are), you open yourself up to ALL SORTS of problems.

I've been a "self-injurer" since I was about 7 years old. I got out of it for 8 years or so. When I found myself picking up the habit again, I told myself if I must injure myself then to be creative about it :P
For almost a year, I worked on a butterfly shaped tattoo on the almost inside area of my left thigh. I concluded I wasn't cutting deeply enough or that I needed some kind of "ink". I started grinding cigarette ashes into the fresh wound.
The pros of doing so: Don't have to cut quite so deep; it works (for me) just as well as any ink (years down the road though, it may be faded beyond recognition; after you grind so much in, it helps "seal" the wound.
The cons: It burns like heck until you get used to it; you better like your design 'cause you're stuck with it.

I added flames to my butterfly and the flames turned out cruddy. I tried to go over the wound to remove the ashes which isn't possible :doh: BUT, I now have the red outline I hoped for.
I wanted to add some color to the butterfly, so I started burning tiny circles into the wings (using the tip of a paperclip).

Then I decided to try outright branding. I bent the paperclip into the desired fashion, held a lighter to it for about a minute then placed it to the inside of my left forearm. That was a HUGE mistake. I held it there for at least 30 seconds. I heard my skin sizzle and when I pulled the clip away some of my skin was attached to it.
It never blistered cause me in my ignorant idiocy gave myself a 3rd degree burn.
Because of the location, it rubs against my side; I sleep on it; it's nearly impossible to properly doctor.
After having it for about 2 weeks and getting to scab wet after a shower, I noticed it was sort of "free floating". I did research and decided to remove the scab. It's healing much better now but it looks really gross. I then started wearing a bandaid... was sensitive to the adhesive and now I have another wound to nurse lol
I've been fighting it from getting infected. It's had streaks coming out from it a couple times, but I've kept it under control.

I had blood work done last week and my white blood count is slightly above normal which points to the fact I've been fighting infection.
Thankfully, my hubby is a Doctor. He gave me some antibiotics to take and an antibiotic cream to apply (after I told him I burned myself accidentally with a cigarette, about 3 weeks after the fact).

Pros- there are no stinking pros lol. The pain isn't unbearable WHILE you're doing it, but the healing process is a really bitch. It's going to take at least a month to finish healing if not longer.
Cons: The healing process. You also have to be very selective about what you use. Certain paperclips and such are coated with plastic or other material that can be burned into your flesh and cause all sorts of problems. Do a LOT of research before starting out on such an adventure.

Oh yeah... before the burn, I gave myself another "tattoo" on the inside of my left wrist. It's of a crescent moon and a star. I've used the symbol all my life in my signature so it has personal significance to me. I tried blending baby oil with cigarette ashes because I was told it works better. It does NOT work better. It just makes you bleed more and the color fades quickly. I did the design over again using ashes alone and saved it.
Pros: Again, the ash takes to my skin very nicely
Cons: My kids pointed out the symbol is usually associated with Islam. I researched it and sure enough :doh: (Though my star is higher up and more like an "*" than a real star). The wrist is also a dangerous area to work around.

Research, Research, Research. I cannot stress that enough. Sterilization must be adhered to closely. Your tools have to be chosen carefully. Be sure you want to be stuck with your design.

As for other mods, about 13 years ago I pierced my own navel. I knew nothing about such things and didn't have the internet then. I used a safety pin and pierced the bottom of my belly button instead of the top lol. It's also rather shallow so I have to wear earrings in it (very particular types too).

I have my ears pierced twice (from early childhood).

And about 17 years ago I went in and had a professional tattoo done. It's along the right side of my bakini (sp!) line. It's of a blue rose with a brown stem, thorn and a green leaf. The ink has stayed with me all through the years and miraculously enough, 4 pregnancies didn't warp the design.

By self-modding, do you mean giving yourself the modifications, or simply getting yourself modded?

Also, branding and scarification are things that I can appreciate/admire, but will never have done to myself. hah.
I don't know, the idea of paying someone to take a scalpel and remove strategically chosen chunks of my flesh doesn't really...appeal to me.

Whatever you do, do not get your lip disked.

Search YouTube for videos on scarification tattoos... very eye opening if you can stomach the skin removing procedures!

Rubbing ashes into cuts?

That's weird even for my taste!

lol That's what I thought at first, too, Sentaku, but it actually worked really well.
They would have turned out better if I actually had any skill drawing.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

If you're going to do scarring, try to get someone who knows what they're doing to do it to you. If you absolutely must do it by yourself, then sterilize an X-Acto blade and cut around 1/8th of an inch deep. You'll also need to actually remove peices of flesh if you want it to be easily visible. But I can't stress the importance of having a professional do it enough.