The new asian fad.
A disturbing craze focusing on a deliberate dysmorphia of the face is gaining popularity in Japan's underground world of extreme body modification.
Saline inflation, known as the "bagelhead" trend, is a procedure that involves injecting saline into the forehead to create swelling before moulding it into a bagel shape.
But the temporary operation is still "too extreme" for the Australian subculture, according to Sydney body modification artist, Joeltron.
"It is definitely an extreme body mod, it’s still incredibly, incredibly rare but I’ve seen it increase in popularity," said the artist, who is trained to perform more 'mainstream' silicone implants such as horns.
"The saline infusions are very different to the silicone — they are not permanent at all, it’s like putting gel in your hair as opposed to having it cut."
A piercing specialist at Sydney’s First Blood studio, Joeltron trained in the US to perform extreme body modification procedures such as silicone subdermal implants, tongue bifurcation (splitting) and heavy genital modifications.
But he said such extreme forms of body art are not legal in Australia and remain quite rare.
"But what we do is permanent and the responses I get range from hostile to encouraging," he said.
"Usually people see it as a form of artist expression, but many don't understand why we do what we do.
"It's theoretically quite simple, it involves making a small shallow incision which you insert surgical silicone into and then you close the cut.
"I’ve got a few in my face, my arms, my genitals, which I did myself.
"It is pushing the boundaries of our bodies, and we are also pushing the limits of what society sees as appropriate."
Japanese extreme body modification photographer, Ryoichi "Keroppy" Maeda, said the attraction of saline inflation was its temporary nature.
"Silicone implants stay there, but saline will be absorbed into their body in only one night," said the photographer, who has documented much of Japan’s extreme body modification scene, which includes forked tongues, eye tattoos and extreme piercings.
"You can inject it anywhere you want, really. It’s usually just the forehead, but sometimes we do scrotal infusions as well
