
I have magnets implanted in my hands - tsp
https://magnetfinge.rs/
======
TACIXAT
I had one in my left ring finger for a while. It was neat, totally
impractical, and way too sensitive to touch. I could feel EM fields. This
might be really useful if you work with electricity, but as a developer, it
was only every so often that I noticed something. It lost a lot of its power
to pick up small stuff after a while.

The procedure wasn't painful because the person I went to had some numbing
agent that I'm almost certain they weren't supposed to have (by saying this I
can't say where I got it done so the body mod artist doesn't get in trouble).
I opted for super glue instead of a stitch which also helps in the pain
department.

The biggest drawback, as someone who is active, was how sensitive it was to
touch. You basically have a hard lump right under some thin skin. I would end
up doing push ups with that finger off the ground for a couple of years. If
you banged it, it hurt like hell. I got mine removed and my girlfriend got one
put in. She got hers removed a few years later. The coating on hers did end up
breaking and her skin got a bit discolored where it was.

~~~
leggomylibro
Yeah, I also had one for a few years and wouldn't really recommend it. It's
cool to feel fans and microwaves spin up or pick up small parts, but the
magnet lost strength over time and I got it removed because it wasn't worth
the sensitivity and constant worrying about hitting it too hard. I also had to
be careful not to hold it against strong magnets for too long; I was told if
the skin got pinched too much/too long, bad things could happen.

But hey, want to try it without having to cut a finger open? Try super-gluing
a small neodymium disc magnet to a fingernail. Just be careful with your
phone.

~~~
peteretep
> It's cool to feel fans and microwaves

Feel like it should be possible to have a bracelet that buzzes in response to
magnetic fields as a less extreme alternative to this?

~~~
seanp2k2
or just get a magnetic bracelet?

~~~
SiempreViernes
The magnetic fields from those items don't produce much force, so you need a
small thing on sensitive skin to notice the effect. A bracelet is probably too
heavy to notice fields that don't also come with a "warning: strong magnetic
field" sign.

~~~
ahje
How about a ring with magnetic material in it? I can easily pick up very small
vibrations and movements in my wedding ring. I can imagine that a magnet in
another ring would respond in a similar way, and felt much in the same was as
a magnet in the finger.

~~~
SiempreViernes
From other comments in this thread I think facts of the matter is that the
vibrations you sense in your ring aren't _that_ small comparing with what you
can feel with your fingertips.

Which to me makes sense, I wouldn't put the sensitivity at the base of my
finger above what I have at the tip.

------
wodenokoto
I was surprised to read that the magnets weaken over time. I honestly thought
permanent where really permanent, but according to a google search:

> Neodymium magnets are the strongest and most permanent magnets known to man.
> If they are not overheated or physically damaged, neodymium magnets will
> lose less than 1% of their strength over 10 years - not enough for you to
> notice unless you have very sensitive measuring equipment.[1]

So while they apparently do degrade, it still makes me wonder what these
people are doing to markedly reduce the power of their magnets considerably
over just a few year.

[1] K&J Magnetics - FAQ
[https://www.kjmagnetics.com/faq.asp](https://www.kjmagnetics.com/faq.asp)

~~~
vinceguidry
Makes sense when you think about it. The property of magnetism is caused by
the alignment of the atoms in the material. Surely this ordering is as subject
to entropy as all other order.

But the speed at which people are reporting their magnets losing strength
makes me think they're either using low-quality magnets, or their brains
getting used to the sensations and tuning them out. I think if mammals had an
evolutionary purpose for sensing magnetic fields, they'd already have methods
for doing so. From recollection I think dolphins have this trait and use it to
navigate.

~~~
lawlessone
>, or their brains getting used to the sensations and tuning them out.

or nerve damage from having a magnet just under the surface, several of the
people here said it hurt to bump them

------
mlang23
Biohackers give me the creeps. I remember this one big failure story of a
women that spoke at a CCC event a few years ago. The magnet she implanted into
her finger dissolved in her and they had a pretty hard time pulling out the
individual bits. I cant get rid of the feeling that these people have read too
much scifi.

~~~
beaconstudios
biohacking definitely has a tinge of "DIY cyberpunk" to it. I find the area
interesting, but my concern is that the mods they do right now aren't actually
useful, and the surgical aspect is totally unnecessary. This leads me to think
that magnet/RFID implants are more about in-group signalling (about being a
hardcore hacker or being into cyberpunk or transhumanism) than they are about
enhancing your abilities.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
Meh, I wouldn't get something like this done myself but fair play to the
people advancing the art. It's their bodies after all. Piercings and tattoos
were also pretty primitive for the longest time (not that I have any of those
either, but I certainly appreciate the more creative ones).

~~~
beaconstudios
oh yeah, I wouldn't want to stop them; some of my friends have these implants.
I just think it's a little odd because I lean transhumanist myself but the
current implants don't seem to be very useful, hence my suggestion that they
might be social signals instead. Don't mistake my analysis for wanting them
not to do it.

~~~
nkrisc
I always thought "bio-hacking" was a pretty grandiose term for shoving a
magnet under your skin. As far as I'm concerned, "bio-hacking" occurs every
day as doctors prescribe medicine or repair and enhance broken bodies.

~~~
beaconstudios
I think "hacking" is used here in a very similar way to "punk" \- anything
that's done without the approval of authority in an individual, anarchistic
fashion. So implants are a very rudimental form of biohacking, but I think
that's related to how relatively immature the field is. The real question is
how it could scale to practically useful "hacks" if you need an operating
theatre and access to trained surgeons. Personally I think it's a bit of a dud
and biohackers would be better off venturing into things like nootropics, non
surgical human enhancement (like that magnetic-north belt mentioned elsewhere
in the comments) and genetic engineering.

~~~
harimau777
A little off topic, but: My understanding was that all of the things claimed
to be nootropics (other than stimulants, drugs, and medicines) didn't have any
evidence that they actually work?

~~~
beaconstudios
That depends on what those things are. As far as I'm aware, all nootropics are
medicinal drugs. Except noopept which is specifically designed as a nootropic,
but that works too.

------
cypherpunks01
Can I just buy a magnetic ring somewhere, giving all the same benefits but
without the downsides of surgery? Still sense EM fields but without pain,
infection risk, can still get MRIs etc.

~~~
senectus1
not really. the sensitivity of magnets under the skin in contact with nerve
endings is an order of magnitude more powerful.

~~~
michaelmrose
What about something that conducts vibration + an exterior device?

------
LeoPanthera
I always wondered why you can't do this topically. Perhaps a magnet in some
kind of elastic band around your finger? Or even glue a magnet to your
fingernail?

Surely it's not necessary to put one inside you.

~~~
sdrothrock
This idea reminded me of this VERY old story:
[https://www.wired.com/2007/04/esp/](https://www.wired.com/2007/04/esp/)

It's about a guy who made a belt to always vibrate in the direction of true
north.

Notably:

> I suddenly realized that my perception had shifted. I had some kind of
> internal map of the city in my head. I could always find my way home.
> Eventually, I felt I couldn't get lost, even in a completely new place.

So there does seem to be some kind of benefit to adding new senses whether
through internal or external modification.

~~~
mlang23
As a blind guy, I find this idea quite interesting. An extra sense of
direction could indeed be useful. However, north alone isn't much. A system
that encodes obstacles as vibrations would be nice. Indeed, such systems are
already sold commercially for the blind, however, most that I checked out
didn't really perform well in the real world.

~~~
TheFattestNinja
Hey, I'm interested in these blind-navigational systems. Can you give me some
references / brand info?

~~~
mlang23
I am too lazy to look up URLs for you, but here are the keywords/product names
you need: UltraCane, LaserCane, BuzzClip, Sunu Band

------
anitil
Cody's Lab did this as well. He ended up removing it, though I believe a small
fragment was left behind.

Struggling to find the videos, best I could do was :
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-
ylHmM2zLNQfaCIDYKKG...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-
ylHmM2zLNQfaCIDYKKG3PVKcoIwyWv6)

~~~
Hextinium
Cody took down that video and a lot of his other ones when YouTube got really
trigger happy about flagging explosive context or anything vaguely not
advertising friendly due to King of Random. That was one of the videos he took
down but he did mention it in others. I cant find the video where he talked
about the video takedowns sadly.

~~~
jstanley
It's sad that YouTube has got to the point where people feel the need to self-
censor totally inoffensive videos.

We desperately need something better than YouTube.

~~~
macleodan
PeerTube is a decentralised alternative which uses ActivityPub and can
federate with Mastodon.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PeerTube](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PeerTube)

------
aeharding
I've had a programmable NFC tag embedded in my right hand, between my thumb
and pointer finger for the last 5+ years.

I forget about it for a month or so sometimes. It's neat, I guess, for storing
a small amount of text information (bitcoin private key, stuff like that). Can
read with any NFC capable phone.

~~~
sjroot
Do you worry about the security implications of this? If you storing something
sensitive like a private key, I mean.

~~~
aeharding
It's not any amount of bitcoin I'd miss. Just kind of for fun. I guess I could
encrypt it with some passphrase that's easy to remember, but I haven't
bothered. Honestly I'd be impressed if someone retrieved the bitcoin.

~~~
majewsky
It would be fun to implant the functional parts of a contactless credit card
into one's palm, then freak out cashiers with your supposed force power. :)

~~~
cf141q5325
Someone did that with his bus ticket.

[https://gizmodo.com/australian-biohacker-who-implanted-
trans...](https://gizmodo.com/australian-biohacker-who-implanted-transit-pass-
in-his-1823832689)

------
CyberborgHuman
There are a couple of sources of implant grade magnet, such as steve haworth
and
[https://cyberise.me/transhumanme/37-sense52.html](https://cyberise.me/transhumanme/37-sense52.html)

~~~
nickthegreek
I’ve had several procedures done by Steve and recommend him for anyone else
looking to get this sort of work done. He is a professional and pioneer in
this field.

I have one of the earlier generations of these magnets implanted and everyone
needs to understand the risks. Mine has lost its charge and I hope that it
isn’t due to a leak in the silicone and that it isn’t being devoured by my
body. It’s probably been pushing a decade now and I am passively looking for
someone to remove this implant as well as a rejecting transdermal.

If you do get any of these body mods done, realize that many aren’t going to
be forever and you will need to have a removal plan.

~~~
gregimba
In all horrible honesty is self removal with a localized anesthetic not an
option? for a subdermal implant it's not as deep as one might think. Once you
overcome the initial pain you should be able to remove one yourself. (this is
not medical advice and I could be horribly wrong)

~~~
grawprog
Sure...I imagine it's an option. I know someone who digs moles out with a
pocket knife and a bottle of isopropynol. Lots of things are options. Doesn't
mean they're all good ones.

~~~
newnewpdro
Your acquaintance may like to know common 3% hydrogen peroxide can be used to
great effect for oxidizing moles and warts off. It just takes some time, but
persistent application eventually destroys the organic flesh and conveniently
leaves a chemically cauterized surface behind.

~~~
grawprog
I think it's for the 'it makes him feel manly reasons' mostly. I'm not sure
oxidizing it off slowly with hydrogen peroxide would have the same effect as
cutting into his own flesh and cleansing the wound with searing alcohol does.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
Sounds like self-harm more than anything. I hope your friend is OK.

------
walrus01
In my opinion the actual practical uses for a magnet implant are near nil,
while the risks of needing an MRI scan someday in the future are very real.
You might even be severely injured and unconscious when sent for an MRI, and
medical professionals could very easily miss the implant. That would not end
well.

------
rurounijones
Instead of large magnets wouldn't it make more sense to have lots of little
ones? I am thinking something like magnetic tattoo ink.

It would remove the touch/blockiness issues and be touching many more nerves.

~~~
otherme123
Your immune system would try to collect and excrete all of them. This happens
to tattoos. Soon your magnets would be allocated in your lymph nodes.

~~~
MnMWiz
Would that be such a bad thing, assuming the magnets aren't toxic? Full body
EM detection possibly.

------
charlottedann
Site creator here - just added a few extra FAQs to elaborate on some of these
comments

------
dfischer
I'm all down for getting implants, but doesn't seem like the pros outweigh the
cons yet :P

------
forthispurpose
> I’ve seen quite a few large and intrusive biohacking experiments, which I
> personally wouldn’t touch with a 10ft pole.

I wonder what are those

~~~
taneq
Well, these guys have implanted LEDs and other electronics:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grindhouse_Wetware](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grindhouse_Wetware)

------
mombul
Every answer is worse than the previous one. It seems like a burden more than
anything else.

------
feluso
Pretty sad to hear they degrade so fast over time, the possibility of sensing
electromagnetic fields just sounds so fun to me, like adding another layer to
the human senses

------
foreigner
Why not just super-glue the magnet to your fingernail? Almost all the
benefits, almost none of the risks.

~~~
oarfish
Well, except that you need to reposition it all the time as your nail grows
out.

~~~
kaybe
I'm pretty certain it will fall off way before that becomes a problem.

------
RickJWagner
Have you ever met someone else who had this done?

Was there an attraction?

~~~
zapzupnz
( _rimshot_ )

But to the actual question of anybody actually getting this done, I still
don't see the reason why. Yes, these things can be done; but for what
_purpose_? Like, is there a professional advantage?

~~~
GuB-42
I don't know how sensitive these things are but in theory, they can be used to
feel the amount of current going through a wire, something, I guess, could be
useful to electricians.

------
opportune
every one of my friends who implanted neodymium magnets had it rejected at
some point within 5 years of implantation

------
onetimemanytime
my site coming soon iDrinkAntiFree.ze .

Don't see any positive of doing this magnet thing...other than negatives.
Known and unknown

