Becoming a cyborg: why do zoomers implant chips under your skin
The boomers' nightmare of chipping becomes a reality for desperate zoomers who volunteer for this procedure. Young people decide to do this in order to open the door with one wave, pay for purchases and get on the subway. In addition to chips, magnets are popular (they are implanted by lovers to effectively attract each other) and LED eye lenses. What consequences await voluntary cyborgs can be found in the Izvestia article.
What is biohacking?
Kira Kopylova-Lehman, a plastic surgeon at the Scandinavian Health Center, explained to Izvestia that the so—called entry point for chip implantation is usually the area between the thumb and index finger. According to the expert, NFC (close-range reading) and RFID (radio tag for identification) are found in the description of the devices.
Kira Kopylova-Lehman notes that fans of changing themselves install magnets in their fingers for the sake of special sensations — to feel vibrations or magnetic fields. Another modification option is subdermal implants: three—dimensional elements under the skin that change the relief. Glowing modules and mini-LEDs with inductive charging are also being discussed online.
"This trend may be related to tattoo culture, body design, and DIY biohacking (self—made body enhancement practices)," the plastic surgeon believes. — Social networks enhance the effect — thanks to them, non-standard modifications quickly become noticeable. Another motive is self—expression and the desire to have control over the body.
Kira Kopylova-Lehman draws attention to the fact that medical implants, which are installed according to indications, are tested for biocompatibility (compatibility with tissues) and material safety. They are installed according to sterility protocols, and specialists monitor the patient to avoid unpleasant consequences.
— "cyberimplants" often do not have certification for permanent residence in the body and long-term data. Inside these can be nickel, cobalt, copper, circuit boards and epoxy resins. If the shell is damaged, they come into contact with the tissues, the plastic surgeon warns.
From the point of view of physics, in the case of the "improvement" of the body, it is the material of which the objects implanted under the skin are made that plays a role. It should be a bioinert material, that is, one that minimally interacts with surrounding tissues. Alexey Yurasov, Doctor of Physico-Mathematical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Nanoelectronics at RTU MIREA, emphasizes that if materials are bioinert, such as titanium, then it is not dangerous, but it is better not to put foreign bodies in the body anyway. And there is no special need for it.
— Standard magnets have too small a magnetic field for lovers to attract, and you can pay for purchases with a regular card, — says the physicist.
According to Alexey Yurasov, if the material is not bioinert, then you can get big problems, including blood poisoning. The human body is ideally created by nature and its supplements are reasonable only if treatment and help are needed, the expert emphasizes.
"In my opinion, technology should help and make people's lives easier, but not make them cyborgs," the physicist comments. — This is an unnatural way, because our body is a unique and perfect creation.
The main risks of chipping
The plastic surgeon considers infection to be the key risk of chipingand other body enhancements. In severe cases, when an abscess (abscess) occurs, it requires its opening, drainage (removal of pus) and removal of the device. Sometimes antibiotics are required.
"There are a lot of nerves and blood vessels in the hand and fingers," Kopylova-Lehman continues. — Therefore, numbness, neuropathic pain due to nerve damage, hematomas and ischemia — lack of blood flow — of the skin are possible. With chronic inflammation and rejection, the skin becomes thinner, the implant shifts or comes out, and scars remain.
The plastic surgeon emphasizes that metal can interfere with MRI scans: it can shift or heat up, and sometimes there are disturbances in the images (spots and stripes, which make it more difficult for the doctor to see the details).
"If there are no documents for the device and its composition is unknown, it is more difficult for a specialist to assess the safety of the examination in advance and plan future operations," says Kopylova-Lehman.
The plastic surgeon also emphasizes that magnets under the skin can heat up, according to their physical properties, they attract small metal objects and can injure tissues upon impact. The expert refers to data that some certified magnets could withstand 0.55–1.5 T (tesla, unit of magnetic field strength) without migration (movement under the skin) during MRI, but not all items are certified, which means there is a risk.
The idea of improving your body with the help of foreign objects is not new. Back in the last century, some representatives of the stronger sex sewed metal balls into the foreskin for certain purposes. This "fashion" was especially relevant for convicts who were serving or had served time in colonies.
— This practice is called pearling (subcutaneous "beads"), — Kopylova-Lehman comments. — Such an intervention was most often accompanied by problems with tissue injury and lack of sterility. As a result, bleeding, inflammation and infection, damage to nerves and the urethra (the channel through which urine exits) are possible. If the instruments are not sterile, then the risk of transmission of infections through the blood increases.
Eye problems
If the idea of producing an effect using high technology does not leave a person, then the plastic surgeon recommends starting with external solutions: wearable gadgets, NFC rings, key bracelets, and various accessories. In the case when the goal of implantation is set, Kopylova-Lehman advises to minimize the risks — for example, to ask for documents on the device, to find out how it will behave during MRI, what is its chemical composition.
Relatives of young "cyborgs" who are not yet able to assess the degree of danger of manipulating their own bodies need to "keep their finger on the pulse" so as not to miss an undesirable moment. If a person is already looking for a master, money and a date, you need to get involved.
— Alarms — planning for tattooing of the sclera, placement of an implant in the eye, or other amateur interventions. In such cases, it is necessary to involve a doctor and, if necessary, a crisis psychologist," advises Kopylova—Lehman.
Alina Gavrilova, an ophthalmologist at the Be Healthy Clinic, explained to Izvestia that the history of sclera tattooing goes back to ancient Rome and Greece. At that time, healers performed eye coloring to mask eye diseases such as eyesore, and sometimes even to treat various diseases. These manipulations were accompanied by a high risk of vision loss. Nowadays, the danger persists.
Anatomically, the eye is covered with a conjunctiva, a thin, transparent membrane designed to protect our organ of vision from external factors. It is under this thin fabric that tattoo artists inject a dye, which, spreading, stains the white sclera of the eye in various colors. This procedure carries with it various complications that can even lead to complete loss of vision, the ophthalmologist warns.
According to Gavrilova, any awkward movement of the needle can lead to a perforation of the eyeball, in simple words, to the appearance of a hole in the organ of vision, which will require immediate medical intervention. Even if there was no damage, it should be borne in mind that the dye is toxic. Such a pigment is not intended for a well-supplied organ, such as the eyeball.
— Through vascular channels and anastomoses, the dye penetrates even into the deep layers of the eye, causing inflammation and direct toxic damage to cells. Uveitis, cataracts, and retinal dystrophy are just some of the possible scenarios leading to irreversible blindness,— Gavrilova comments.
LED lenses, according to the doctor, are not dangerous, but their disadvantage is that they are denser than conventional contact lenses and therefore pass less oxygen.
— The most important condition is that the duration of wearing depends on the type, composition of the lenses and the characteristics of a particular person's vision, — says the ophthalmologist. — On average, colored lenses can be worn for no more than 10-12 hours. It should be borne in mind that some of the materials from which they are made are poorly breathable. And, accordingly, the risk of oxygen starvation increases, which can lead to bacterial conjunctivitis, corneal edema, acute eyelid inflammation and visual impairment.
According to the plastic surgeon, if a person is prone to self-harm, depression, or an obsessive desire to remake himself, then it's time to involve specialists in the field of psychiatry.
Mental health and self-harm
Vera Voronkova, a psychotherapist at the Be Healthy clinic, believes that a person who is in a stable mental state and in harmony with himself should not try to improve himself in any way. People can improve themselves in order to somehow stand out from the crowd, "become special," and feel exceptional. And if you can't draw attention to yourself in any other way, then a person decides to do something unusual with their own body.
"Such actions are usually a manifestation of deep self—doubt and low self—esteem," Voronkova comments. — As for functional improvements such as implanting chips to pay for purchases, this is more a fashion statement than a really significant simplification of everyday life.
According to the psychotherapist, most people are suspicious of such innovations, especially since many myths have formed around chipping — for example, about mind control through such a device. Being wary of new things is an absolutely normal reaction that allows you to gather more information before making an informed decision, Vera Voronkova emphasizes.
Her colleague Maxim Nebylitsa, a psychiatrist at the clinic, calls the fear of chipping inherent in older generations a mirror of the digital age. The fear of such transformations depends on many reasons — from rational, justified anxiety to mental disorders. The deviations are evidenced by the loss of connection with reality and the total subordination of the personality to this fear. But the preservation of critical thinking indicates that a person has not crossed the norm.
Why do teenagers disfigure themselves
According to Vera Voronkova, numerous tattoos, scarring or piercing are considered one of the forms of self-harming behavior, which may be caused by a violation of the emotional state. For example, depression or suppressed aggression towards oneself or others.
At the same time, the expert notes that in adolescence and later, during periods of significant internal changes, a person is looking for a "new self", experimenting with appearance, trying to gain his individuality through this. The limit of the norm in this case is determined by common sense between the experiment and the potential danger to physical health, Vera Voronkova emphasizes.
Maxim Perepelitsa explains that from the point of view of psychiatry, the very interest in experimenting with one's own body (chips, magnets, implants, tattoos, piercings, tunnels) is not a mental disorder or an unambiguous deviation from the norm. Only the motivation of a person and the context of these transformations are of key importance.
According to the psychiatrist, body modification is considered within the norm if a person is aware of all the risks and consequences, retains critical thinking and the ability to change decisions, and his ability to perform social, family, and professional duties is not impaired. Such transformations should not harm others and should be a form of escape from reality.
"Modification is not a way to gain value or radically change your personality," explains Maxim Tall Tale.
Warning signs of this behavior:
— compulsivity — when modifications become an obsessive goal;
— connection with dysmorphophobia (hatred of the body) or delusional ideas (chip "for communication with space");
— ignoring health risks, which may indicate a tendency to self-harm.
The psychiatrist emphasizes the influence of age on the acceptable scale of experiments with the body. So, up to 13-16 years old, only reversible changes (hair dye, temporary tattoos) are allowed.
— Decisions about irreversible modifications for minors require the participation of parents, as critical thinking and forecasting of consequences are still being formed, — Maxim Nebylitsa warns.
From the age of 16 to 21, there is a period of identity search. At this age, major modifications (facial tattoos, tunnels, implantation of chips and magnets) can be impulsive and are considered a marker of internal conflicts.
"The prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for risk assessment and long—term planning, is still developing at this age," explains the psychiatrist. "Irreversible decisions are made spontaneously, so there is a risk that a person will regret his actions in the future.
By the age of 22, people have a stable identity. Therefore, if a person consciously and carefully, after long deliberation, made a decision about irreversible changes, then his act fits into the norm.
— Irreversible changes are a test of maturity. They are acceptable when they serve as an expression of a formed personality, rather than replacing it," Maxim Tallis summarizes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
