Got implanted with flexM1 and flexEM

[franskav]

Hi,

after a lot of planning I finally got my flexM1 and flexEM implanted a couple days ago.

I found similar posts useful while I was planning my implants, so I’m posting my experience in the hope it will be useful to others.

Placement

FlexM1 went to L5 and flexEM to R4.

Some people on the forum recommended going with L4 for flexM1. Still, I decided to go with L5 because its easier to use in that position. So far I’m happy with the decision, well see how implant behaves long term.

Reading range (so far)

My wrists are still swollen, but so far it’s great. I have xEM for a couple years now, so I can compare it to flexEM: and flexEM is so much better (as expected). I easily get 4-5cm (~1.5inches) reading range on my home door reader, while xEM only gets 1cm range.

I also have two drawer locks that open with cards at home, here’s a link: one lock is low frequency and the other works with high frequency cards. Now I can finally open both locks with my hands.

I expect things will only get better with time as the swellings go away.

Getting the implants under the skin

I’m from Croatia (Zagreb) and there are not a lot of “body modders” that would do this here. Luckily, the only guy that I know does this is really, really good. Here’s his contact: https://www.instagram.com/teetrii/ Basically, the guy works with silicone implants on a weekly basis and this was an easy job for him. See how clean his sutures on the pics below. Also, he recommended cutting the skin on hand joins so the scars would be less visible there.
I can’t recommend this guy high enough.

Update:

• The process was painless due to local anesthesia. I did feel some pressure and slight numb pain in the areas around the wound the first night after implanting, but a pain pill handled that.
• The whole process cost me $250 (or 1600kn in local currency) for both implants.

Tips and tricks for before and after

• As recommended here on the forum I started taking prenatal vitamins about 10 days before I got implanted. I did not notice my finger nails growing faster, but I trust I’m better prepared for the implants. These are the vitamins I’m taking. I intend to continue taking these for about 2 weeks after the job.
• I was recommended to apply hydrogen peroxide on the sutures for about 5 times a day until the wounds heal. This is apparently standard treatment for healing wounds, but I didn’t see this advice here on the forum.
• Prevent the sutures from getting wet. Showering and washing the hands is ok, but no soaking.
• Another big advice from my body modder was how to prevent the implants from “floating” beneath the detached skin. I definitely didn’t want the implants to get near the sutures as that would be a bad position for both implants. The solution is simple: take a tape and wrap it hard (but not too hard to prevent blood flow) around the wrist to prevent implant float.

Pics

Immediately after implanting
I don’t know much about sutures, but these look really clean to me.

One day after
Things are pretty swollen here, but you can see tape applied on both wrists to prevent implants from floating towards entry points (and to prevent their float in general)

[Equipter]

i had what i might call an utter brainfart and thought the flexm1 was disc shaped and I sat and pondered how the actually heck you managed to get a circular disk in your L5 lmao, it looks done very well all that’s left now is some good aftercare

[anon3825968]

I would be scared to implant the flexEM where you installed yours, because it’s so stiff. As in, very scared.

In fact, I got scared enough - and my installer too - that I ended up scrapping that particular installation 3 weeks ago, even though I was planning to install it somewhere nice and flat against a large flat bone.

I would not install the flexM1 where you installed yours either But that’s just because I use my hands to do rather rough stuff in the workshop and, I don’t think the implant would last long there for me.

What range do you get out of the flexM1? You don’t say.

Oh yeah, and although you already had an implant, let me be the first to welcome you to the Flex club

[Coma]

@franskav

I was recommended to apply hydrogen peroxide on the sutures for about 5 times a day until the wounds heal. This is apparently standard treatment for healing wounds, but I didn’t see this advice here on the forum.

Yeah… “standard” varies quite a lot
Hydrogen peroxide helps agains possible infections, but it is really aggressive - I wouldn’t use it on wounds, unless I actually had an infection already (or growing keloids, helps great against that…). If it works for you, that’s fine, but I’d pay attention to the skin around the sutures, it might get very dry or itchy, and then you should stop it.
The sutures look nice (the one on your left hand might be a bit tight, but still okay), the price is totally reasonable as far as I can tell, and it looks like your installer definitely knew what he was doing

I’m a little afraid that the taping might be a bit too tight, so the swelling is worse than it should be - you’re preventing the implant from moving, but also hindering the flow of lymph and all the stuff that should, well, flow. But there are quite a lot of ways to treat an implant (or any mod, actually), so, if it works for you, everything’s fine

[hoker]

@anon3825968

I would be scared to implant the flexEM where you installed yours, because it’s so stiff. As in, very scared.

Why is it bad that it’s so stiff? I was actually wanting to put a flexEM over the first pinky metacarpal on my hand, but I’m curious now to see if it would be best not to.

I understand the stiffness being a concern if it was a large device, but with it being smaller than a dime, I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal.

[anon3825968]

The stiffness is a concern if whatever body structure underneath goes convex or concave. Since the implant stays flat, in the first case the edges dig into your skin, and in the second case they dig into your tendons / ligaments / aponeurosis.

I mean I suppose it can be implanted somewhere that changes shape a little, like the forearm or something. Fleshy bits can be compliant to a certain extent. But in the hand, atop the extensors, especially so close to the curvature of the knife edge? Well, to each his own, but I would never do it myself.

[franskav]

@Coma

Hydrogen peroxide helps agains possible infections, but it is really aggressive - I wouldn’t use it on wounds, unless I actually had an infection already (or growing keloids, helps great against that…). If it works for you, that’s fine, but I’d pay attention to the skin around the sutures, it might get very dry or itchy, and then you should stop it.

Thanks for the advice. Well, I’ll back off a little with applying it.

[Coma]

@franskav

Thanks for the advice. Well, I’ll back off a little with applying it.

Like I said, as long as it works for you, go for it
It’s usually best to follow the advice of your bodmod-artist, as long as everything is going well that way. Because, if there are any problems and you visit him, he might ask if you followed his advice - or rather listened to the horde of people on the web who might or might not know what they’re talking about I’ve made my experiences with hydrogen peroxide, and so I’d just say be a bit careful about it, but as long as your skin tolerates it, it will do no harm.
BTW, I looked at your artist’s work, and he seems quite competent!

[turbo2ltr]

Any updates on this install? Curious how the FlexEM is working in that area

[franskav]

Here’s an update after almost 3 weeks. I hope it will be useful to people considering flex implants at these or similar locations.

TL;DR I’m happy with chosen locations for both implants, no location-related downsides so far. The healing process is almost done and I almost don’t notice the implants any more.

flexEM

• No issues with the implant so far. I don’t feel pain or discomfort at all in any wrist position.
• I just rolled my wrist over the table top at the position of the implant. I do feel something is beneath the skin, but there was no pain or discomfort at any point.
• I’m getting 4-5cm reading range which is great (for comparison I’m getting ~1cm reading range with my xEM).
• The readers can even read the chip through the hand (palm facing the reader). I don’t do this in practice because it takes some time for the read to happen, like 1 second. I’m not sure why there is a delay if the chip is in range.
• Now, with the reader range issues mostly gone I can notice another problem/glitch: I can’t just zoom past by the reader and have the doors open. Most of the readers I have take some time (like half a second) to register a chip so I still have to hold my wrist near the reader for some time. This is definitely a category of “1st world problem”. Ironically, the cheapest and te crappiest $9 door reader reads the chip the fastest.
  I didn’t spend a lot of time observing this glitch, this is just a first impression.
• The chip is visible beneath the skin (see photos below). I extended the fingers to make the hump more visible. It’s not that bad while the palm is in a normal resting position, but still. This is a small, acceptable downside for me.

flexEM photo1: the implant healed very well.

flexEM photo 2: the implant is visible beneath the skin. It’s less visible when the palm is in the resting position. I made it more visible for the photo.

flexM1

• This implant is healing slower than flexEM. There still one small area of the implant where the skin is red and where I feel discomfort when pressed. I expect this to heal with time.
• Due to covid-19 I’m spending way more time at home, so I don’t get to use this implant with local public transport or in the gym. So, no update on the range and reading behavior with various readers.
• This chip is also visible beneath the skin, but less so than flexEM. As I mentioned for flexEM - it would be ideal if the implant had no hump, but it’s completely acceptable for flexM1.

flexM1 photo1: this implant is still healing. The red area closer to the fingers is still slightly sensitive when pressed.

flexM1 photo 2: the implant is a lot less visible beneath the skin than flexEM.

[NoUsersLefft]

Glad it’s going well for you, that’s where I was wanting to put a flexEM as well.

[hoker]

Congrats on the new wetware!

I’m actually excited to see that you got the flexEM installed where you did. I am getting ready to order one and out it in the same spot actually.

I’m glad to see that it has healed well. Do you feel any discomfort as you move your hand? Any pressure felt on the tendons?

[Pilgrimsmaster]

@franskav

local public transport

That is awesome that it is possible, Can I ask, who is the transport agency?
It might be helpful for other people that aren’t aware…

[franskav]

@hoker

Do you feel any discomfort as you move your hand? Any pressure felt on the tendons?

No, as mentioned in the update above flexEM has healed extremely well and I almost don’t notice it at all in day to day life. I also don’t feel any discomfort when I roll the wrist implant area over hard surface like the table top.

To give you an accurate answer I tried other hand moves:

• Normally clenched fist: in the first week I felt the implant after clenching my fist. No discomfort, just a feeling that something is there. This happened because of the skin tension in that area I presume. This feeling is fully gone now - I don’t feel anything after I clench the fist.
• Clenched fist hard: if I put even more strength into clenching the first I can still feel the implant a little. This feeling goes away after doing that a couple times. My guess is skin in that area stretches a little more.

[franskav]

@Pilgrimsmaster

@franskav

local public transport

That is awesome that it is possible, Can I ask, who is the transport agency?
It might be helpful for other people that aren’t aware…

It’s Zagreb (Croatia) local transport agency ZET. All their cards are mifare classic 1k so those can easily be cloned to flexM1 or xM1 chips.

[RubixCubensis]

How have these been treating you? I have been thinking of doing this pair at L/R4, but want to start with the X series first.

Would love to hear more.

[ItaBeAight]

I am strongly considering this location on each hand for a flexEM and would love to see a 4 month update.

[franskav]

Here’s a quick update:

• flexEM at R4: I’m super happy with this one. The location is great for reads. No issues with the implant whatsoever, I barely know it exists. It’s also not visible on the skin (see photo below), even tho the implant is somewhat thick.

• flexM1 at L5: I have mixed feelings about this one. The read location is great and I’m happy with how it works. This implant is visible on the skin (even tho flexM1 is thinner than flexEM!) but this is probably due to skin thickness in this area (no biggie). Part of the skin is still pink-ish, visible on the photo (I’m somewhat concerned about this). I occasionally bump my arm into something and I get a tingling feeling because the implant is there (I don’t like this). During cold weather outside I would get a scratchy feeling and the skin above the implant would change color to dark red. When I would go back inside and get warm, things would normalize (no scratchy feeling, skin color gets normal). If I were doing flexM1 again I would probably go with some other location.

[anon3825968]

@franskav

flexEM at R4: I’m super happy with this one. The location is great for reads. No issues with the implant whatsoever, I barely know it exists. It’s also not visible on the skin (see photo below), even tho the implant is somewhat thick.

This matches my experience exactly.

[Pilgrimsmaster]

@anon3825968

This matches my experience exactly.

Is yours toward the knuckle or wrist more?