Man has the inside of his EARS removed
part of bizarre body modification trend
A young Australian man has had the inside of his ears removed to deliberately alter their cosmetic appearance and achieve a more unique look.
Body modification artist Chai Maibert shared a photo of the ‘conch removal’ on social media, which has since been shared by thousands and seen many users joke about the appearance of the man’s ears.
A ‘conch removal’, as its name indicates, involves surgically removing the concha, which is the central part of the outer ear - also known as the auricle or the pinna.
‘Fresh #conchremoval on @charlesvbentley who traveled around the world from Australia to have this procedure performed by me at @calmbodymodification. Truly humbled!,’ Mr Maibert wrote on his Instagram and Facebook.
‘To get some facts straight note that this procedure doesn’t make you deaf.
‘It might impair your ability to hear the direction of sound for the first week or two until your mind has adjusted to your new ears. Hearing from behind will in fact improve.
‘Our ears doesn’t “catch” sound as it did eons of years ago when our ears were bigger hence why we have to create a bigger “ear” by cupping our hand around our ear to hear better.’ Mr Maibert runs the well-renowned CALM Body Modification studio in Stockholm and has been praised for his work locally and abroad, but the complete removal of the concha seen in his latest work was too much for some Facebook users.
One user wrote: ‘I bet his ears whistle when he rides his vegan bicycle.’
‘Ah, I see you’ve ordered the attention seeking package, how may I guide your unemployment experience today?’, another said.
One user added: ‘On behalf of all white people I would like to apologize for Chad. He knows not what he does.’
Some Facebook users questioned Mr Maibert’s claim that hearing would be improved by a conch removal, including several who stated that they were medical professionals.
The concha is part of the outer ear, which collects sound which then travels through the auditory canal to the eardrum.
The shape of the outer ear also enables a person to tell where the sound is coming from, which would arguable be affected by a ‘conch removal’.
Mailonline has contacted CALM Body Modification for comment.