I want to install a sensing magnet myself

Support
21

If you plan on installing on your fingers, then you will have only one arm.

Not making fun, just hoping you really understand that even for a trained professional it is a very tricky situation!

I would never attempt to do any install in someone else with only one hand! (again) :sweat_smile:

You must also account for the fact that there is a chance you will faint.
A Vasovagal response might kick in unexpectedly, especially if you nick a larger blood vessel or the sudden realization of being alone gives it a boost.

So make sure you are seated and that there are no sharp objects anywhere where your head might land. (you really don’t want to hit that scalpel blade eye first!)

Can it be injected? if so, that is way safer to attempt by yourself.

Read/watch as much as you can ahead of time.

All very, very, good points!!

Item 9 is why I tend to not do my ear-rings myself anymore.

Well spotted.
I got a slash there once that took me all of 20 minutes to reach homeosthasis.

And you can’t apply a steristrip (arguably not even the magnet if you expect a good placement) before that!
(and after 20 minutes your pocket won’t be available to place the magnet)

Hints with equipment:

  • Get yourself some sterile gauze
  • Some sterile eye wash can be handy
  • Sterile alcohol swabs for prepping
  • extra steristrips, obviously also sterile
  • get a sterile tongue depressor and some micropore tape: you will want to splint your finger to reduce migration chances

Even if just for the record, but I must repeat: It is not nearly as simple as professionals and videos make it sound like!

That does not mean you will fail. But you will be acting with a much increased risk of things going terribly wrong.

That said, I would be a hypocrite if I were to advocate in against self installs as an absolute rule.

Just please be aware that things can go really terribly wrong, and be on the mindset of “it’s better to fail the implant and still have a finger to try again in a month”. (it amazes me how many self installers/piercers go on with the mindset of “I got to macho up and finish this because I don’t give up, yaddayaddahightestosterone”)

I will probably upload a video on slef-installing the titan sometime soon-ish, btw.

2 Likes
22

Why eyewash?

23

That’s just sterilised salty water. Better for rinsing compared to alcohol in some situations.
There might be a lot of blood.

24

Is that by choice? Chlorhexidine would be a better choice if you can.

25

it is the easiest way to have some “washing water” that is sterilised and might come in handy.

I am talking about the sterile eye wash thingies which are just water with 0.09% salt, which makes it better at cleaning and more “biocompatible”.

Therefore…

:+1:

Also… I missed that bit:

Agree with @Backpackingvet .

26

Curious what the reasoning behind this is - its quite common in Australia for pro installers to choose iodine over chlorhexidine. I found limited information directly comparing them, but studies on both that concluded both are effective.

EDIT: Another look returned plenty of studies comparing them that I had missed, yet despite that, some Australian guidelines say that its unclear which is best to use. Very odd, i must have found a bad search term last time… Seems the big difference is that iodine gets deactivated by organic substances where chlorhexidine doesn’t. Basically chlorhexidine has a residual effect protecting the area from contamination after the area is treated, whereas iodine is just as effective initially but still results in higher potential infection rates.

1 Like
27

Chorihexidine is shown to cause slight nerve damage.

28
Bit of a derail here...

What do people thinking of installing a magnet in the side of the proximal phalanx? Specifically, I was thinking about getting it on the side of the base of either my pinkie or my ring finger, where there’s some extra space as opposed to the middle of the finger. (I know sensitivity would probably suffer a bit, but I’d retain the use of that finger when rock climbing, so I’ve been considering it instead of putting it in my pinky finger tip and just not using that finger when climbing)

29

People might be allergic to Iodine and completely unaware.

Not with the use you would be having, of washing/scrubbing your hands and then cleaning it properly.

The stronger side effects such as nerve damage comes from studies about using clorhexidine as a mouthwash or to treat ear infections. Both being poorly advised use-cases.

I use clorhexidine since I begun with piercings, over a decade ago. If scrubbing with it caused any form of nerve damage I would have felt it by now. :wink:

1 Like
30

Pretty much this.

I don’t have the desire to dig up research papers. They also work in different ways. You have to wait a few min for iodine and like 30 seconds for Chlorhexidine.

Fair. If you are concerned about nerve damage though, I would suggest not self installing a sensing magnet. I personally feel you are more likely to case damage from that over chlorhexidine.

I am not saying you have a bad idea by any means. They both work, and they both will get you there. One of them, in my opinion, is just more user friendly.

2 Likes
31

Ha :+1:

1 Like
32

I feel the nerve damage isn’t going to be “discount root canal” style, but just make the magnet less sensitive.

33

How should I sterilize the silicon coated magnet. It would melt if I autoclaved it right?

34

You would also ruin the magnet, as I understand. The heat would essentially destroy the magnet’s field strength. So you definitely want to avoid that.

35

Neodymium magnets do not respond well to high temperatures of any kind.

They do make high temperature magnets but their use for sensing or lifting magnets is extremely limited and the thermal tolerances are only useful for certain types of sterilization.

36

Depends on the silicone / temperature of the autoclave, but no it probably wouldn’t melt. However, like @Ottomagne has said, magnets loose their strength when heated up for a long period of time or past a certain temperature. It’s called the Curie point if you want to search for more information about it.

37

Where did you get it from? My Haworth silicone implant came completely pre-sterilized, so I didn’t have to think about that at all…

38

Not through temperature, as other folks already mentioned.

I tend to soak up my instruments for 72 hours on a clorhexidine solution.

If I am being thorough, on top of a bass amp tuned on. (Because I lack an ultrasound tray)

Back in the studio I used to do that before autoclaving anything.

Since I don’t work on a studio anymore, whenever I do body mods is either on myself, or for close friends, or abroad, where I follow the studio’s practices.

but the big question is:

Because implant grade magnets “should” come pre-sterilized.

1 Like
39

it came in a small zip top bag so i guessed it wasn’t sterilized, but it may be. I got it from Haworth’s website.

40

definitely not sterile… not even clean… haworth doesn’t supply magnets in any state for direct implantation… he pushes that liabilty out to the installers.