A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Real horrorshow via Kivaka

So, a customer comes into my friend Kivaka‘s studio and shows him her extremely irritated daith piercing, which you can see in the picture below. It had been doing OK, but she’d wanted to change the jewelry or something, and couldn’t figure out how — her friend spent a couple hours trying to get the bead off and banged her cartilage around quite a bit in the process.

Turns out she’d forgotten — or was never told — that her piercer had used a fixed bead ring (presumably to eliminate the possibility of dropping a little bead down her ear canal), and they were trying to literally tear apart a permanently fused piece of metal, leaving her with what could easily keloid and scar her forever!

Lesson’s learned? First, know what jewelry is being used on you. Second, if you have a problem with a piercing and it’s not obvious how to solve it, don’t ask your buddy to try and solve it with force. Go see a competent piercer instead!

That said, emphasis on the word “competent”. There are a lot of bad piercers out there, and Kivaka finds himself cleaning up a lot of other people’s messes, as do most good artists. For example, the person below came in to get her navel jewelry swapped. Notice that the marks from the clamps from when the piercing was initially done are still there:

Now, it’s not unusual for clamps that have been put on a little tight to leave a mark for an hour or two (not that that’s a good thing). But this person hadn’t just been pierced. The jewelry was initially put in place a year earlier — this imprint is permanent! What kind of sadistic piercer puts clamps on their customers so tight that the marks become hard scar tissue and last forever?

Comments

2 responses to “Real horrorshow via Kivaka”

  1. esmeray Avatar
    esmeray

    scary.. the clamp marks are.. makes me glad I like good piercers, and sorta makes me want to go hug mine..

  2. esmeray Avatar
    esmeray

    scary.. the clamp marks are.. makes me glad I like good piercers, and sorta makes me want to go hug mine..

Latest Tattoo, Piercing, and Body Modification News

  • Twelve Points to the Sky
    There’s a particular kind of magic that happens at your first big suspension gathering when you arrive with nerves, an open heart, and the quiet hope of flight. Guided by the encouragement of mentor Lynn Loheide and driven by the quiet confidence of belonging, Alex… Read more: Twelve Points to the Sky
  • Ontario SusCon 2025
    In March 2025, BME attended the Ontario Suspension Convention in Hamilton, hosted by the Kevin Donaghy and the Ontario Suspension Collective. We had the pleasure to take part and help document the event, but also run a booth to sell a bunch of old (but… Read more: Ontario SusCon 2025
  • Welcome Back to Body Modification Ezine
    Dear BME Community, We’ve been gone far too long, but BME is back to give people a voice, a space, a community. With time everything evolves, and BME may be different than you remember. Our goal is to stay true to Shannon and Rachel’s values… Read more: Welcome Back to Body Modification Ezine
  • BME Social Media
    Word of mouth has been our method of reuniting the community, and it has brought a substantial amount of us together. I am inspired by your loyalty and I want to remind more people of BME’s existence. In 2020 we gained control over @bmezine on… Read more: BME Social Media
  • BMEShop
    Despite the hurricanes in 2015 which destroyed almost all of what Rachel owned, she managed to save the original inventory from BME. We have relisted some of the stock on BMEShop.com with the hopes you may be interested.  Our first drop includes a selection of… Read more: BMEShop
  • Rachel Larratt 1980-2022
    Unfortunately, when we lost some of the ModBlog content, it included the post about Rachel’s passing. (Original Post) Rachel passed away on June 22, 2022. She died in her sleep. Even now, it’s extremely difficult to write this post. Rachel meant so much to so… Read more: Rachel Larratt 1980-2022