The last posting of an Achilles piercing here on Modblog generated a number of whiny complaints about how unviable and dangerous it is from conservative piercers**. Now, my feeling is that in what I hope will always remain a rebel artform — rather than an “industry” — that there’s no space for conservatism (or whining), so with that in mind there’s a Mr. Tetanus interview pending.
Mr. Tetanus, a performance artist, wears a self-made 10mm spike through his ankle, behind the Achilles tendon, and has had it now for about twelve years. In the picture below you can see it now, as well as a photo looking through the hole and showing the displacement of the tendon. He doesn’t take it out much because the hole closes up within about a minute, and begins to reseal itself within half an hour.
He uses the piercing in performances, swinging bowling balls and other weights (another performance artist — “Angel” — has actually hung from meat-hooks worn in this piercing), so it can definitely take quite a bit of abuse without crippling him. That said, he emphasizes that he doesn’t recommend anyone else try this, and notes that even after twelve years it’s never truly healed (that said, it’s not as if tongue piercings ever “truly” heal for many people either) and in theory continues to put him at risk.
Risk, Schmisk!!! Anyway, I’ll post the full interview soon, but I couldn’t resist putting up a teaser and a photo of his remarkable ankle!
** Note: Since there are some serious comprehension issues with this entry getting people even whinier, let me be perfectly clear: I couldn’t care less if a piercer feels that they don’t want to do this, and personally I don’t think this should be offered on the walk-in public. Where I have a problem is if people say that no one should be doing or getting this modification (or other heavy mods). Body modification is where it is today because people informed themselves about the risks and tried new things, often with what seemed like serious dangers at the time — and when that ends, body modification begins to die.
Comments
560 responses to “Unlikely but True: Achilles Piercing”
lol…i googled him after i read the post above me…he his an interesting cat…his picture of his piercing does say that…all i ever really wanted was entries to have more info (risks, sucess rates) attached with them…i never thought they shouldn’t be posted…you can’t control what might trigger someone to do a stupid thing…if a kid shot up a school because of music lyrics, i wouldn’t try to get the CD pulled from the shelves…i never once typed “HEY DON’T PRINT THAT!” i just think as a website that centers itself around body modification, that the more extreme procedures that are featured should cover the whole spectrum-not just the ‘hey look at this!’ part…and that when for some reason the post doesn’t address that(not everyone makes use of the BME library or read ever single modblog post), that when concerned professionals address the risks-that they not be dismissed as whiners…obviously the comment option attached to these posts show there is an interest in the response these pictures create…when i post art on the web, if i get some constructive criticism i value it-because its those thoughts that tend to help expand my direction…examine things further and see if there’s weight in the advice…not the 13 token “oh wow! great!” ‘s I get from my friend’s and mother who probally didn’t even really look at my work, but just felt obligated to say something just to be nice…
lol…i googled him after i read the post above me…he his an interesting cat…his picture of his piercing does say that…all i ever really wanted was entries to have more info (risks, sucess rates) attached with them…i never thought they shouldn’t be posted…you can’t control what might trigger someone to do a stupid thing…if a kid shot up a school because of music lyrics, i wouldn’t try to get the CD pulled from the shelves…i never once typed “HEY DON’T PRINT THAT!” i just think as a website that centers itself around body modification, that the more extreme procedures that are featured should cover the whole spectrum-not just the ‘hey look at this!’ part…and that when for some reason the post doesn’t address that(not everyone makes use of the BME library or read ever single modblog post), that when concerned professionals address the risks-that they not be dismissed as whiners…obviously the comment option attached to these posts show there is an interest in the response these pictures create…when i post art on the web, if i get some constructive criticism i value it-because its those thoughts that tend to help expand my direction…examine things further and see if there’s weight in the advice…not the 13 token “oh wow! great!” ‘s I get from my friend’s and mother who probally didn’t even really look at my work, but just felt obligated to say something just to be nice…
Augh! Tendons! Augh! I could never do this. Even looking at someone twitch the tendons in their hand freaks me out. But if he can handle it, more power to him, and props to modblog for putting up a picture that shocked me… here I was thinking I’d gotten all desensitized 😛
Augh! Tendons! Augh! I could never do this. Even looking at someone twitch the tendons in their hand freaks me out. But if he can handle it, more power to him, and props to modblog for putting up a picture that shocked me… here I was thinking I’d gotten all desensitized 😛
c’mon 2 liters of beer, hat kinda like me trading you lunch to get my breakfast 🙂
c’mon 2 liters of beer, hat kinda like me trading you lunch to get my breakfast 🙂
Laura,
Do you mean a APP certified piercer or a BME verified professional artist?
Laura,
Do you mean a APP certified piercer or a BME verified professional artist?
Laura,
Do you mean a APP certified piercer or a BME verified professional artist? or neither?
Laura,
Do you mean a APP certified piercer or a BME verified professional artist? or neither?
Laura,
Do you mean a APP certified piercer or a BME verified professional artist? or neither?
Lexci and Warren have raised valid points.
Laura,
Do you mean a APP certified piercer or a BME verified professional artist? or neither?
Lexci and Warren have raised valid points.
i’m a bit confused by what you are asking…are you asking me if i’m verified??? i have plenty of certfications from various piercing-related seminars-including the APP and have been a professional piercer in a various studios since ’98 (and have paid taxes as such since ’98), but that wasn’t really the point of what i was saying…i was addressing the general tone of how the article read, and how it seemed negitive towards the various piercers that have debated the viability of certain procedures…
i’m a bit confused by what you are asking…are you asking me if i’m verified??? i have plenty of certfications from various piercing-related seminars-including the APP and have been a professional piercer in a various studios since ’98 (and have paid taxes as such since ’98), but that wasn’t really the point of what i was saying…i was addressing the general tone of how the article read, and how it seemed negitive towards the various piercers that have debated the viability of certain procedures…
my mix version 😉
my mix version 😉
miketheshoe, a la Chapelle.
miketheshoe, a la Chapelle.
Thus Shannon’s “negitive towards the various piercers that have debated the viability of certain procedures…” (sic)
Thus Shannon’s “negitive towards the various piercers that have debated the viability of certain procedures…” (sic)
Ok people are freaking out over this but does anyone remember that Fakir was one of the first people to have a permanent chest /peck piercing??
I’m sure people flipped the fuck out over that one back in the day..
You know it wasn’t less than 20 years ago that you couldn’t get a male genital piercing unless you went into the local gay bar at night and they would do it right there at the bar, or in the bathroom, no gloves or anything..
Things have come a very long way since then..
People like Fakir and Jim Ward did push the envelope.. They pissed a lot of people off with their freaky acts of hanging from flesh hooks, and some of the other stuff they were doing back then that we look at now as pfft that’s nothing..
I mean come on look at tongue bisection… You think that would of gone over well back then? People would of lost it but now only after 5 years it has become so common that it come close to going into the tongue piercing section of BME…
I don’t agree with the Achilles piercing any more than I think the eyelid piercings are safe.. but I’m not going to put down the person that felt their piercing was worth sharing.. and I will not put down the piercer.. No one has been hurt by this..
Look at Shannon with his eyeball tattooing.. he went through a great deal of hell trying to get that to heal up, should we yell and point fingers at the person who tattooed his eye and say he was a bad person and should of known better???
No, I think not.. It was Shannon’s choice to have his eye tattooed so it is he that lives with the repercussions, and because he documented the healing and problems he went through, there is a better understanding of what to do to improve the procedure next time.
I mean come on what the fuck?
Why in a community of “so called” alternative thinking modified people, are we arguing over this crap?!?
We should be discussing healing, procedure, function.. etc…
Not crying over who should and should not get things done!
There are a lot of things on Modblog that give me the willies, but I’ve said it before, I owe it to myself to try to keep my mind open and to try to see things from others point of view.
How do I learn and grow and make honest decisions in life if my mind is not open?
I could point at things I don’t understnad and say they are wrong and bad to in fact keep my mind closed.. But why do that when I can learn and even though I don’t possibly agree with something be able to talk about it and inform others of what I have learned from it..
Ok people are freaking out over this but does anyone remember that Fakir was one of the first people to have a permanent chest /peck piercing??
I’m sure people flipped the fuck out over that one back in the day..
You know it wasn’t less than 20 years ago that you couldn’t get a male genital piercing unless you went into the local gay bar at night and they would do it right there at the bar, or in the bathroom, no gloves or anything..
Things have come a very long way since then..
People like Fakir and Jim Ward did push the envelope.. They pissed a lot of people off with their freaky acts of hanging from flesh hooks, and some of the other stuff they were doing back then that we look at now as pfft that’s nothing..
I mean come on look at tongue bisection… You think that would of gone over well back then? People would of lost it but now only after 5 years it has become so common that it come close to going into the tongue piercing section of BME…
I don’t agree with the Achilles piercing any more than I think the eyelid piercings are safe.. but I’m not going to put down the person that felt their piercing was worth sharing.. and I will not put down the piercer.. No one has been hurt by this..
Look at Shannon with his eyeball tattooing.. he went through a great deal of hell trying to get that to heal up, should we yell and point fingers at the person who tattooed his eye and say he was a bad person and should of known better???
No, I think not.. It was Shannon’s choice to have his eye tattooed so it is he that lives with the repercussions, and because he documented the healing and problems he went through, there is a better understanding of what to do to improve the procedure next time.
I mean come on what the fuck?
Why in a community of “so called” alternative thinking modified people, are we arguing over this crap?!?
We should be discussing healing, procedure, function.. etc…
Not crying over who should and should not get things done!
There are a lot of things on Modblog that give me the willies, but I’ve said it before, I owe it to myself to try to keep my mind open and to try to see things from others point of view.
How do I learn and grow and make honest decisions in life if my mind is not open?
I could point at things I don’t understnad and say they are wrong and bad to in fact keep my mind closed.. But why do that when I can learn and even though I don’t possibly agree with something be able to talk about it and inform others of what I have learned from it..
Laura,
Yes, I was asking if you are a APP certified piercer or a BME verified professional artist, or neither.
Laura,
Yes, I was asking if you are a APP certified piercer or a BME verified professional artist, or neither.
1. I know the person who did the actual procedure for this. It’s an incredible story, and you should probably tell it. If you can find them.
2. “Risk, Schmisk!!!” —noted.
1. I know the person who did the actual procedure for this. It’s an incredible story, and you should probably tell it. If you can find them.
2. “Risk, Schmisk!!!” —noted.
And as a matter of course, neither APP certification nor BME certified artist mean jack SHIT. APP used to sort of carry a little weight…I think kinda…back in the First Age, but hasn’t been relevant in at least 8 years.
And as a matter of course, neither APP certification nor BME certified artist mean jack SHIT. APP used to sort of carry a little weight…I think kinda…back in the First Age, but hasn’t been relevant in at least 8 years.
And by the way, shannon, there really was no “industry” to get shut down in 1995 over Cobb’s uvula piercing. You’re being overly dramatic. There were a handful of good shops in north america, and another handful on the other side of the world, and that was it.
Hell, there’s not even really an industry now.
And, note that the *really* interesting stuff pretty much disappeared from the scene at the same time Cobb did.
And by the way, shannon, there really was no “industry” to get shut down in 1995 over Cobb’s uvula piercing. You’re being overly dramatic. There were a handful of good shops in north america, and another handful on the other side of the world, and that was it.
Hell, there’s not even really an industry now.
And, note that the *really* interesting stuff pretty much disappeared from the scene at the same time Cobb did.
well shit!
well shit!
Oh, there’s nothing I like seeing more than folks using conjecture about gay bars and what went on in them decades ago in comparative arguments. Honestly, Shannon…I WANT to hear people naysaying something because *gasp* they might be on to something both useful and practical. And without people pushing the limits of what the body can do Body Modification will die? Please! Who says everyone’s going to just stop? That’s ridiculous. How about giving the millions or so of into this “Rebel Art form” a little more credit? I spent quite a few years researching getting my guiches before I actually got them. Even people like Fakir have said in the past that they all “eventually heal out” even though mine haven’t moved at all in the 10 years I had them-while others can’t even get one to heal. But I’m glad I heard that FIRST because it made me THINK about what I was doing and KEEP thinking about it until I could find a way I felt good and comfortable about having them done. Now I have three. It was the dialogue between the differing viewpoints, not the (at the time very small amount of multiple HEALED guiche piercings) that made me keep at it, not just dive in. saying somebody who questions your reasons for showcasing a piercing that by your own admission is rare and hard to heal, that is obviously NOT healed in the primary example you’ve shown, is conservative makes you sound like your whining-not the other way around. If it was really such a rebel art form as you seem to be claiming it is(there are maybe a handfull of people I would say actually embody that distinction)why are you so worried about a few dissenting voices?
Oh, there’s nothing I like seeing more than folks using conjecture about gay bars and what went on in them decades ago in comparative arguments. Honestly, Shannon…I WANT to hear people naysaying something because *gasp* they might be on to something both useful and practical. And without people pushing the limits of what the body can do Body Modification will die? Please! Who says everyone’s going to just stop? That’s ridiculous. How about giving the millions or so of into this “Rebel Art form” a little more credit? I spent quite a few years researching getting my guiches before I actually got them. Even people like Fakir have said in the past that they all “eventually heal out” even though mine haven’t moved at all in the 10 years I had them-while others can’t even get one to heal. But I’m glad I heard that FIRST because it made me THINK about what I was doing and KEEP thinking about it until I could find a way I felt good and comfortable about having them done. Now I have three. It was the dialogue between the differing viewpoints, not the (at the time very small amount of multiple HEALED guiche piercings) that made me keep at it, not just dive in. saying somebody who questions your reasons for showcasing a piercing that by your own admission is rare and hard to heal, that is obviously NOT healed in the primary example you’ve shown, is conservative makes you sound like your whining-not the other way around. If it was really such a rebel art form as you seem to be claiming it is(there are maybe a handfull of people I would say actually embody that distinction)why are you so worried about a few dissenting voices?
uh oh, yttrx is back!
uh oh, yttrx is back!
Its about time he showed up.
Its about time he showed up.
I just realized that i am a conservative when it comes to piercing, and this post (instead of inflaming me) has begun to sway my views.
I just realized that i am a conservative when it comes to piercing, and this post (instead of inflaming me) has begun to sway my views.
“neither APP certification nor BME certified artist mean jack SHIT.”
Thus, the “neither” option in my question.
“neither APP certification nor BME certified artist mean jack SHIT.”
Thus, the “neither” option in my question.
opinions are like assholes… everyone’s got one and most of them are shitty… so please, get the sand out of your vaginas (metaphorically speaking) and slide the fuckin’ tampon in cause it’s gonna be a long week… save the whining for the aborted alien fetus i found in my feces this morning… good day
opinions are like assholes… everyone’s got one and most of them are shitty… so please, get the sand out of your vaginas (metaphorically speaking) and slide the fuckin’ tampon in cause it’s gonna be a long week… save the whining for the aborted alien fetus i found in my feces this morning… good day
is it?!
I hope so.
Hilarity to ensue.
is it?!
I hope so.
Hilarity to ensue.
That hurts me.
That hurts me.
Several years back I was put in a situation where I was asked to help with something I felt was too risky. It was a 67 year old man who wanted to suspend with hooks THROUGH his feet (some may remember the pics). I expressed my concerns to him, and told him I was not willing to assist. However, I did go and film and photograph the event and had something gone wrong I would have done by best to fix the situation, even if it only meant keeping the bleeding down while help arrived. Had I said no to all of it there would be no pictures and most of us would still believe that was an impossible feat.
It was other performance artist who pushed the bounds of what could be done with implants, stuff that is “common” place today. You will never see me being the practitioner or the recipient of such risky procedures but goddamn if I am not glad someone is willing to push the limits.
Several years back I was put in a situation where I was asked to help with something I felt was too risky. It was a 67 year old man who wanted to suspend with hooks THROUGH his feet (some may remember the pics). I expressed my concerns to him, and told him I was not willing to assist. However, I did go and film and photograph the event and had something gone wrong I would have done by best to fix the situation, even if it only meant keeping the bleeding down while help arrived. Had I said no to all of it there would be no pictures and most of us would still believe that was an impossible feat.
It was other performance artist who pushed the bounds of what could be done with implants, stuff that is “common” place today. You will never see me being the practitioner or the recipient of such risky procedures but goddamn if I am not glad someone is willing to push the limits.