It’s certainly not unusual for transdermals to go bad (and I’ll even go so far as to propose that most will eventually fail and need removal), but this is definitely one of the most aggressive removals I’ve seen. That said, I have to admit that the stitched up version looks pretty happy in comparison to most mutli-transdermal removals. Procedure (but not the original transdermals) by Howie/Lunacobra.
I know I say this all the time, but seriously — any modification you get, be prepared to eventually remove it or worse. That doesn’t mean don’t do it… just understand the risks involved and decide whether it’s worth it for you… Nothing is guaranteed to last forever, and in fact, most things are guaranteed not to last forever.
Comments
127 responses to “Transdermal Strip Removal”
Just to clarify ( please also note that transdermals IN THE SCALP IS NOTHING LIKE IN THE FOREHEAD THE TISSUE IS VERY DIFFERENT ) – the implants were removed along with such a large amount of skin due to the fact that the owner of the transdermals Jake had damaged hair follicles. If i had removed them in a more traditional fashion, such as cutting around each transdermal only slightly he would have been left with more random looking dashes where the transdermals were. What we cannot see in these photos is how damaged the skin was all along the base of the transdermal, most of the skin removed was damaged tissue. So in doing the proceedure this way, not only were we able to remove all the damaged tissue we were able to leave him with a nice looking, even scar that was only one line. Instead of having 5 dashes on his head, however thin those dashes were they would still result in the hair not growing through these 5 dashes. I think we could all agree and most importantly Jake the one who’s head that is in question here is more happy with the result that he got. One long thin scar that gives the man his hair back!
Say whatever you like about it, but don’t forget the most important thing, that the procedure was a sucess, in so far as JAKE is very happy with what was done and how it all healed up, go to his page , ask him if you like 🙂
I have no problem with the way this removal was done personally, and if it was me, I would have used a similar method I believe.
wow… now im sure from this comment i will get a bunch of hate mail from howies cult following but that is overkill. there was no need to do all that. maybe it made it easier and he had some crazy idea on why he did it that way. i’ll admit there are some mod artists out there that should not be doin shit to begin with but then there is howie. im dyin to see what kind of mess this turns into now. as you all recall the scar he did on that one guy that lukas and saamp had to remove and fix. there is no way anyone can say this was the best way to remove those and necessary to do. I mean come on howie…are you forgettin your not really a surgeon or were you goin for shock value on this procedure. i’ve had 3 removed and did not need anything so severe to have them removed. you look like you were tryin to play a game with yourself on how far and how much you could do to this poor guy. what was so hard about just making one long incision from piece to piece and just doin that. why remove so much tissue in the first place. I have seen some good work from you but damn…stuff like this makes me question what the hell you were thinking and why you did it like that. I mean im no dr so maybe you had a reason behind doin it this way. Then again your no dr either and I look forward to our death match in vegas durin APP. 🙂
DEATH MATCH!
Seriously though, if I found myself in this situation I’d personally rather do the big removal than risk (with an almost guarantee of it happening) having a row of bald-spot dots up my head….
if i shaved my head i would be worried about a few tiny bald spots as well. what was i thinking.:p I have seen howies sutures and i am positive he could have done it to avoid any bald spots. His suture work is not to be questioned. It was just wow…thats alot of shit to remove
Still looking forward to the deathmatch 🙂
hahaha so your goin this year again. you shall have to join us for this. I want to have the match on the pirate ship. we have plans for some new guerilla suspensions too this trip
I think we need to remember that Howie is not completely responsible, Jake did opt to have this method done over others (as stated in his own comment if anybody cared to read through them [Comment 21]). I think it’s kind of ridiculous to sit here and argue which procedure would have been better or more effective based on 6 pictures. Still, I’m sure plenty of people will read both Jake’s comment (21) and Howie’s (51) and say they were wrong.
Like I said, personally this is the procedure I’d probably have gone for independent of debates over practitioner.
That said, I just saw the pictures from Stigmata and Stainless and they’re really clean as well and a different method; I will try and post them later today as a followup.
I never said howie was responsible for the fuck up he fixed. Just that I think he went way over what he needed to do to fix the mistake.
i don’t really mind the gore. but for some reason those little short blank hairs make me seriously squicked out.
I had a row of transdermals done by the same artist as Jake and i wished i’d had my transdermals removed this way because even though i have small scars there is really obvious hard scar tissue underneath them and i would have preferred a single scar with the damanged tissue removed.
I might not have opted for such a wide incision but theoretically i think it would have been a better method than individual removal with hap hazard scars.
FYI i’m not speaking of my scalp transdermals here.
agh! thats crazy. its gonna look like he had brain surgery or some gnarly accident!
Howie Fucking Rules
that is a thick piece of skin
they should keep it with the implants in and make a studded bracelet 😛
I’m glad that Jake’s happy with the result so far. Still, I don’t think the hair will grow back any better around that scar than it would have over 5 individual incisions with minimal tissue removal.
One of the major problems that silicun had was that the transdermals (which are the same as the other one linked for the DIY removal) had left large areas that had no hair growth.
To have done individual removals would have left 5 dime sized areas in the centre of his scalp with no hair.
That scenario would have been much more noticeable than this scar.
Howie going overboard? The hell you say.
At least this time it’s not being silently tolerated, but actually discussed. And honestly kids, the pictures above are exactly what you should expect to see when someone who has exactly no meaningful medical experience at all does a bonafide surgical procedure.
At least the motherfucker wore gloves. I guess that’s something.
Now, all of that said, there are of course practitioners out there who are also not medical professionals, but DO have meaningful medical experience, and are very, very good at what they do. Actually I can only think of two. Shannon can recommend at least one. 🙂
BTW, if anyone wants to grow some balls and name the practitioner responsible for this fiasco in the first place, send it along to [email protected], and I’ll happily out the bitch on my blog. Full anonymity is of course always guaranteed, and I need to get the same answer from at least three individuals before outing.
yttrx – You are missing the point entirely; transdermals will almost ALL eventually have this type of problem, no matter who they put them in. The point is that if people want to have transdermals, they have to accept that there is a very good chance they will at some point in the future require removal.
Shannon: I think I have the point quite clear. It is what it has always been—that some practitioners practice the medicine of destruction (metal mohawks KNOWN to NEVER work, KNOWN to be EXTREMELY dangerous—and done, as always for the ego and the buck)…while other practitioners have to clean up their fucking mess by actually applying what they know to HEAL a client.
I know you have a lot of mixed feelings on the subject, but I don’t. Stupidity is stupidity, and it has nothing to do with who’s friends with whom.
And btw, from a few years ago when I asked an actual doctor, in this case a thoracic surgeon, what he thought of metal mohawks (posted elsewhere as well, at the time):
“There’s a great difference between an injury between the dermis and epidermis on someone’s back, or leg, where the difference between the two is generally easy to detect and work with; and even injury by amateur implant to the dermis itself in these areas is not the same thing as injury to the cranial dermis, particularly on the forehead or near the eyesockets where even highly qualified medical professionals can make a mistake that proves fatal.”
But as usual, practitioners are smarter than people who actually went to school for 14 years. Bleh.
yttrx – The fact is that many of the things we do for recreation and personal fulfillment are dangerous and even deadly. I’m not about to tell people that they shouldn’t get metal mohawks any more than I am about to tell people they shouldn’t go rock climbing, race cars, or any other dangerous games they want to play. I happen to like dangerous games, but I also have a pretty good idea of what the dangers are, and I won’t play unless I have that information or am in the process of creating it through the adventure (a la my experiences with the magnetic implants).
For me, the goal is helping people assess the level of danger and allowing them to decide for themselves how they want to self-evolve and self-define, rather than to outright tell people not to do something because it either doesn’t last long-term or can go bad in some people. I’ve done plenty of dangerous and life-threatening things, and I am thankful that I have done them… hell, so have you. I hope you’re thankful that you did them as well, and I’m guessing for the most part you’re not a guy that’s riddled with regrets, and that’s learned from those adventures.
As you know, the only person that I know of to have serious complications (as in where their life was in danger due to erosion and infection of the skull itself) from a cranial transdermal implant has to date refused to go on record about it. If there are more buried away, well, then where does the blame lie? I’ll say it again and again: it’s a lot more important to share stories of complications than stories of success.
(And the whole doctor argument is, in my opinion, totally irrelevant until doctors actually become willing to do analogous procedures and have experience in them.)
I’ve argued over this kind of shit over and over, but it seems that most people are too stupid to give a fuck. You can search back on spikesandstuds’ page for the last bullshit involving Howie. I’ve run out of energy at this point.
Wow, I really almost passed out looking at that pic. I guess I’m not as desensitized as I thought.
It seems people’s problems with this at this point are more to do with their own personal issues with the practitioner than the actual procedure. I think it was a good choice to do it this way, and I think the fact that the person getting it done is happy with it speaks much louder than anyone else’s opinion about it.
one of the dumbest cop out for comments on modblog in general is when people respond with blah blah blah. atleast the guy is happy that had it done. thats fine..if its true but the whole point was howie went way to far over what he actually had to do making it much more unsafe then it would have been anyways. there was no reason to go that far and remove that much. I have no problems with howie as a person. I would have said the same thing if i seen a dr do this that had 40 years experience. Bottom line was this was overkill. Transdermals were never a good idea to begin with.
A long time ago I met a gurl who had her navel done by a doctor, he just did a straight vertical incision on her navel, then put a banana inside the incision (he didn’t unscrew it) and then stitched it up… weird but funny 🙂
That is pretty brutal
What is a transdermal strip used for?
from Stupid
that will leave a REALLY cool-looking scar, though.
I know Jake (Silicun) better than most, and I have seen this whole project from the initial placement right through to the now healed removal. (looking great by the way). Jake is better educated than most on the risks of these proceedures and had them done by practitioners with experience in this field. I don’t think any of you can say that this could have been done safer or with less trauma without seeing it first hand.
I don’t have an agenda here- I don’t love or hate Howie, or the un-named original artist. Jake is happy with the outcome and He was aware of the risks involved from the begining.
I believe Shannon put these photos up to educate people on what may be neccecary to reverse this type of proceedure, Let’s not turn this into a shit flinging fest.
I dont know much about transdermal implants, just a little I have read here.
Maybe it says it all when doctors would not get involved in this type of procedure. Their job is to heal not to carry out procedures that could lead to a life threatening situations.
The steel rods & screws they have to insert into (like my mother had 2 years ago) was to allow her to walk not for some cosmetic reasons.
These procedures it seems to me are carried out by people with very little medical training. Sometimes im sure the venue would not be as sterile as an operating theatre.
This procedure carried out above is very severe and so much could have gone wrong with it.
It goes without saying people are going to continue to push mods to the very extreme, as people want to look unique, outragous, provide conversation openers & mainly their inner body switches need flipping in some way. Non of these reasons I disagree with its their bodies & their risks.
I wonder if this had been record and shown to every client before they had transdermals & told there is every chance this may happen to you, they would actually go through with it.
Why the hell do people put their life on the line!
*Puts tin hat on and waits for reprisals* :))
Seriously, it’s amazing how names of practioners who do crappy work are always hidden. In case of scar removal some months ago the original work was by Howie and his name was hidden as well, though of course in this case not, so we can see how great he is and all the good (??) work he does.
This hypocritical, lame and irresponsible policy of hiding the names of practioners when they do bad work and of course revealing their names when it’s ok (not sure in this case though) really pisses me off..
I’m sorry Jack but you’re wrong, Oscar did NOT have sufficient experience to be executing this work… i know this because i had transdermals done by him a few days before Jake.
While i was happy with the answers he was giving me prior to having the work done there was alarm bells going off during and after the procedure which is why i made sure he removed mine before he left the country.
I don’t normally get into this shit because i don’t want to upset people and prevent them from going about their work but i don’t believe i’m wrong doing anyone by saying the aforementioned.
Oscar accepted that he is capable of making mistakes and that he in fact did in my case so it’s really no surprise to me that Jake has had this experience.
With all of that being said, fuck transdermals! IMHO they won’t work.. unless your name is wolverine.
Stigmata- I wasnt even referring to what you had to say. I dont know the guy personally, some people’s comments just really seemed to be that way. yours wasnt one of them, you even stated that.
Shannon: Indeed, ive done some very dangerous things, and indeed I have no regrets at all. A lot of them were VERY stupid.
But I have to call you out on one thing: if your goal really was to educate clients about the dangers and risks of these kinds of procedures, you would be telling everyone all about what people like Howie and Haworth (and a dozen others) habitually do. Instead these people are guarded as if they have some kind of intrinsic value to them beyond helping a bunch of punkass kids look “cool”. /grumpy-old-man
If you want to help, to really, really help, call these people out. Name the motherfuckers, and tell people what they’ve done.
“Jake is better educated than most on the risks of these proceedures and had them done by practitioners with experience in this field”
what kind of idiotic comment is that. a comment made by someone up the guys ass or close friend in the pics. if he knew as much as you say he does about shit like this. he would agree it was overkill too. where was this done at anyways///what country?
Listen, I don’t hate Howie specifically. He’s just one person in a long line of practitioners who arrogantly think they know better than people who have studied medicine for years, and perform dangerous invasive procedures on people strictly for the cash. I have no “issues” with him as a person, so please don’t use that bullshit copout.
paleblue you make me sick, you would never say anything if you were not behind your computer
I make you sick? Why should you give a fuck what I think?
Stigmata. I understand you have a problem with Howie, but you don’t need to insult Jake or his friend.
Out of all the comments and initial topic of conversation, Shannon i agree – “the stitched up version looks pretty happy in comparison to most mutli-transdermal removals”
Really all to their own i guess but as everyone is different, every piercing, implant, body mod, their healing process, their decisions for the initial procedure, then ultimately to remove is their own decision, even with a qualified medical practitioner (whom are all trained differently) would always do what their patient prefers especially when there are obviously more options on how to approach this situation. Ultimately the only person who should care is the patient ie silicun, congrats to you, looks like the healing has been excellent.
stigmata, that country would be australia. just thought id chuck that in
Star tripper is a fool. you dont understand shit. My problem was not with howie. how clear can i make it. I could care less about the guy that had it done either. My problem is with the way this was “fixed” as all you people up his ass seem to bow down to howie and kiss his ass. There was no need for how he went about doin it. It was overkill. If you cant understand my point on that you are fools or in denial.
What ever dude, you obviously have a problem since all you can do is insult people for not agreeing with you. Good luck with that 😀 *thumbs up*
stigmata its not really a point is it, its just your opinion…which clearly isn’t felt by all. whats the problem?
how is it insulting for me to say what he did was way overboard. why is it your defending him and kissin his ass. I never insulted this guy and wonder if your just crazy and seein shit or what. Im questioning all this dumb shit people say with nothing to back it up. dont make your mistake in readin what i wrote and try to turn it into im throwin insults. im simply sayin maybe the thing was done wrong, maybe he fucked up and made it worse. but if howie knew as much as some of you fools seem to think with no background on this shit other then you suck his ass for scene points. Whenever people obviously know something might have been done wrong and feel too stupid to agree they always take the cop out and do one of two things.1. say well atleast blah blah is happy and thats all that matters. @. twist up anyones words that has a point and try to make them look like the bad guy. If i had a problem with howie I would easily say it. I thought i made it very clear i had a problem with his way of “fixing” this previous problem. It was not necessary and made the removal far more dangerous then it had to be. can you not grasp that concept in your mind? Or you gonna say something like im just angry from not bein held enough as a baby? Or maybe i listen to too much rap music and avoid what was said initially.