My first implant

Marc.r22 · July 12, 2021, 4:39pm

Hi fellow Cyborgs

After playing with the thought of getting my first implant for over 2 years I finally committed yesterday. I ordered the NeXT x-series as I wanted the versatility of having the high and low frequency chips.

I’m planning to self install with some help from my brother (he studies medicine since last year), because there are no professionals in my area. I have read the instructions for professionals about the installation process and I am hoping some of you can share your tips about self installing.

How long do you recommend not swimming after the installation?

I’m so excited to hack my body and test out my new features

Additionally I wanted to ask if dangerous things sends out the tracking number of the package since I only received the order confirmation.

Kind regards
Marc

Athro · July 12, 2021, 4:59pm

Welcome to the club.

I self installed a NeXT with the help of a friend. First, make sure you tent the skin as much as possible to get as much wiggle room as you can between your skin and the meat of your hand (I’m assuming that’s where this is going). The only true pain will be when you pierce the skin; once you have the needle through, it shouldn’t hurt, just feels very odd. If you do feel pain, that’s because you are poking your hand muscles with the needle. The last thing you want is for the implant to be lodged into any muscle tissue.

In my experience, my implant had several millimeters of room to move for a couple weeks until it settled down into its permanent position. Avoid playing with the implant too much (like I did) so you can keep the implant in the optimal spot for usage; I poked mine around for a while and it’s about 5 mils closer to my wrist than I wanted (L0 position, AKA the meaty part between your thumb and first finger). Still completely usable though, just not exactly where I wanted it.

Also, I’m sure you know this but please take every precaution when sterilizing yourself, your friend, and the work surface. Of course the needle and implant are already sterilized by DT, so remember that when you remove the needle from its packaging, you cannot back out, otherwise you’ll have to ship it back to DT for re-sterilization.

I doubt swimming will be a problem, but I did not go for a dip after having mine installed, just a shower the same day with no repercussions. Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

StephenBoose · July 12, 2021, 5:09pm

WELCOME! I wouldn’t swim for a few weeks as the implants are below the dermis layer meaning infection can be pretty bad and water can carry bacteria. I used a sterile wound wash for cleaning! Make sure you use a pressurised can as regular are no longer sterile after 1 use due to air contamination.

APartOfMe · July 12, 2021, 5:47pm

I got a NExT, xM1, and xG3 V2 installed a month ago… and immediately drove to the beach the next day. I gave my implants 24 hours before going in salt water, but less then that for a pool. I would definitely recommend grabbing some waterproof bandages (nexcare are awesome for this!) to avoid getting dirty water in the wound. Like others have said, you definitely want to avoid infection.

Once the injection point is healed, swimming shouldn’t be an issue. I think I was able to swim without a bandage within ~72 hours, but YMMV. The NExT is smaller then the xM1/xG3, so the wound should close pretty quickly for you.

Keep in mind that the more you use your hand, the more the implant will migrate. The implants in P0 migrated quite a bit for me. You’ll definitely want to watch them to make sure that they don’t get too close to bone.

Even though I didn’t, I would recommend waiting a week or two before swimming if you can. It’s ok if you’re not able to give it that long, but it would really help with preventing migration.

I didn’t self install, so I can’t offer much, but I can promise you that the hardest part will be preparing mentally. You need to make sure you’re actually able to stick yourself with the needle before you take it out of the packaging. Like Athro said, once it’s out of the packaging there’s really no turning back.

That being said though, the needle really isn’t that bad. The initial piercing is semi-painful, but I have a pretty low tolerance, and the NExT was maybe a 1.5/10 at most in terms of pain. My installer went in from the wrist side as well, so it should hurt even less if you do it the recommended way (which, of course, you should).

Once the needle is in, there’s no pain, it just feels a bit strange. Be sure you pull back out just a bit so that the implant has a pocket to go into. If you carefully read all the info DT provides, you should be fine!

You should get that once your order ships!

Also… welcome to the club! I know you’ll love the NExT once you get it implanted. It’s an amazing piece of technology. Keep us updated on the install!

Marc.r22 · July 12, 2021, 6:38pm

Thank you guys so much!!

This community is so awesome, I appreciate all your thoughts and tips! In terms of committing to the installation I don’t think I will have any doubts. I’m not scared of needles and blood plus I watched countless video on YT, so that won’t be a problem especially because I ordered the numbing gel just in case.

I will try to not get the wound wet for a coupe of days, but from what you guys suggested I’m pretty confident I will be able to go swimming with waterproof bandages on. Trying to not move the implant hasn’t been something I thought about so thank you for pointing that out.

Overall I’m so stoked to getting started and getting more involved. I can’t stop thinking about all the awesome things will be able to do! I will definitely keep you updated on my journey and recovery.