Tattoos, body piercings and implants have become the norm in today's society. However the newest trend in body alteration is "bagel head," which refers to a saline injection to an individual's forehead that is molded to resemble a bagel.

The new trend is created by injecting 400 cc of saline into the forehead until it swells up and then pressing the center of the swollen area in with a thumb. The results would reflect the appearance of bagel-like shaped bread stuck to an individual's head.


The process may take up to two hours to administer the saline injections. When the forehead is fully saturated with saline, the practitioner administering the saline then uses his or her thumb to form the shape of a bagel. This particular modification can last anywhere from 16 to 24 hours, when the saline is absorbed by the body, before an individual's forehead returns to normal.

The new trend is revealed on National Geographic's Taboo. There are three individuals, John, Marina and Scorpion, are observed undergoing the bagel head process. The saline that is administered is so intense, John is certain the liquid is falling down on the outside of his face.

"Right now it's kind of a relaxing sensation, kind of tingly, and also a kind of building pressure that's kind of slow and steady that kind of feels like it's putting me to sleep," he says.

Although the bagel head trend has become an increasingly popular in Japanese society, it has been occurring for the last 20 years.

The trend was initially sparked by the artist Ryoichi "Keroppy" Maeda, according to an interview inVice last year. He told the magazine how he came across it in Toronto, Canada, at the extreme body modification convention Modcon in 1999.

If you are considering the new bagel head trend, according to the practitioner Asami, in order to reduce the risk of anything going wrong, one should have technical support.