I would say it is rare to see someone engaging in severe body modifications that does not already have a tattoo or three. When I say severe body mods I am talking about suspensions, pierced nipples, and pierced nose bridges like the guy in this picture, hooks and rings pierced into their back, things of that nature. Maybe pierced nipples are not “extreme” but you get the point.
What I am wondering is, like with drugs when people say alcohol or marijuana is a gateway to more dangerous and harmful drugs, could the adrenaline rush from getting multiple tattoos lead to someone wanting more of an adrenaline rush so they go try hanging from a ceiling by giant fish hooks in their back skin? Not that the hooks are anymore harmful or dangerous than tattoos, it’s just a thought.
Some people have gone so far as to have rings installed under the skin of their back so that when they are ready to be suspended, they can do so by having ropes or chains hooked to the rings in their back, rather than have to be pierced again.
Other interesting body mods might be implanted magnets under the fingertips so that one becomes more sensitive to the magnetic forces around us, kind of giving the person a sixth sense, and not the one where you can see dead people.
Still, I don’t believe I have seen anyone that was heavy into bodymods who did not also have a tattoo though I have seen people with tattoos that were not into other body modifications. They chose to only have a few tattoos. No piercing, no metal installations under the skin, no giant fish hooks.
Would it be ok to assume that the pain associated with tattoos is the reason behind someone enjoying the pain of the body modifications? Pain can release endorphins in the brain which can lead to a euphoric feeling or a mental high. Once the pain is gone, there is nothing left but the memory, or in this case what’s left is the tattoo or the holes from the hooks. Where tattoos are concerned, you can only get that euphoric feeling by getting a new tattoo and you can only get as many tattoos as you have room on your body. With body modifications and suspension, you could possibly do it over and over, never running out of a method to cause yourself pain and suffering.
While that is all well and good, depending on your point of view, it has to make you wonder exactly what else there could be for people who yearn for such things as the pain from a tiny needle imbedding ink into your skin. Perhaps, if they were to run out of room on their body for tattoos, they could have a tattoo traced with a tattoo gun and an empty needle. Or they could have one spot on their body recolored over and over and over again, in the same place, for endless tattoo options.
