Dragon Lady——The Most Modified Transsexual in The World

Tiamat, who was born in 1961 as Richard Hernandez at that time and living as a man and working as a vice president for one of America's leading banks, but a HIV diagnosis changed her life, she was determined 'not to die a human' and spent the last 20 years undergoing extensive modification to appear more like a dragon. The now 56-year-old began her transformation with a series of scale tattoos  all costing an estimated $60,000 (£42,000).

'Dragon lady': Eva Tiamat Medusa, has spent more than $60,000 (£42,000) on her extreme transformation 

Achieving the appearance of a rattlesnake has included subdermal implants, which were made to appear as horns; removal of ears; reshaping and removal of nose cartilage and septum; dying the whites of the eyes; full body tattoos; and dome implants along the eyebrows. On Facebook, Tiamat credits most of the work to Emilio Gonzalez, a body modification artist who has been associated with various tattoo studios and modification procedures.

Tiamat has had her nose re-shaped, teeth removed, her tongue bifurcated for a fork effect - and even had the whites of her eyes stained 

In Facebook posting, Tiamat has mentioned dealing with pain from the horn-like implants. Schulman surmised that if the implants occurred in tattoo parlors, or some other non-medical facility, the artist likely did not have certification or licensing to obtain or prescribe any anesthetics or painkillers.

“Body parts are removed because of trauma and cancer, and there’s a whole field of reconstructive plastic surgery to rebuild these structures and restore normal function— the removal idea is something that no plastic surgeon is going to do,” Schulman said. “The danger with that is people are going to do what they want to do, and it forces them to go down a different route such as having these [procedures] done by non-medical professionals in settings that may not be appropriate.”

Tiamat, seen while still living as a man in 1998 and before embarking on her extreme makeover

“In terms of the ears and the tongue and the nose, those require major reconstructive surgery in order to recreate the structure. And even if we’re able to do that, a lot of times it’s more of a cosmetic repair— it’s much more difficult to recreate or restore the function of the structure,” Schulman said, later adding that splitting the tongue could cause complications with speech, chewing food and swallowing.

Tiamat countered that double-standards make it difficult for society to accept its body modifications the same way it does tummy tucks and face lifts.

Now she becomes the most modified transsexual in the world

but he said: 'For me, my transformation is the greatest journey of my life.

'There are profound reasons and deep meanings about my transformation and why I'm doing it.

'I hope that my story will help other people - not only those who have gone through hard times, but also people who have lost hope'

How Tattoos Might Affect Your Body

Tattoos may permanently alter the physiology of skin in ways that affect sweating.

According to a small, new study, the amount and saltiness of sweat change after skin has been dyed, a finding that might have implications for athletes who ink large swaths of their bodies and maybe even for those of us who sport one or two discreet tattoos (such as the small one on my right shoulder, in case you were wondering).

 Tattoos are decorative, often metaphoric, sometimes regrettable, but always injurious. To create a tattoo, the artist punctures the skin with dye-filled tattoo needles at a rate of up to 3,000 times per minute. The dye is injected into the skin’s dermal layer, which is also where most sweat glands are.

The body recognizes these injections as abnormal. They have slightly damaged the tissue and left behind a foreign substance, the ink. So the immune system gears up, sending a variety of cells to the site of the inking. Some cells carry off tiny amounts of the ink, primarily to the lymph nodes, where it dissipates. Other immune cells merge with the remaining ink, so that both become long-term residents of that portion of the skin. Still other cells initiate an inflammatory response, helping the injured tissue to mend, which it usually does within a few weeks. 

As anyone who watches sports knows, tattoos are popular with athletes. By some estimates, at least half of male collegiate and professional basketball players have tattoos that cover much of their chest and arms. The incidence seems to be high among football and soccer players and many other athletes as well.

But no one had studied whether tattoos might in any way affect the physiology of the skin and, in particular, the operation of the sweat glands. That possibility matters, since normal, healthy sweat glands are important for athletes (and everyone else). We cool our bodies in large part through sweating. Sweating also releases sodium and other electrolytes

So recently, Maurie Luetkemeier, a professor of integrative physiology and health science at Alma College in Alma, Mich., and two of his undergraduate students, Joe Hanisko and Kyle Aho, decided to look closely at how tattooed skin sweats.

For their study, which was published recently in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, they began by recruiting 10 healthy, young men with a tattoo on one side of their upper bodies. That tattoo had to be matched by an equal amount of untattooed skin on the other side. In other words, a heart, dragon or John Deere cap on the right shoulder would be balanced by untattooed skin at the same location on the left shoulder. Some of these tattoos were recent; others were three or four years old.

 

The researchers then applied small chemical patches to both the tattooed and untattooed skin. These patches contained pilocarpine nitrate, a substance that initiates sweating. (It is commonly used to test for cystic fibrosis.) 

Immediately after the skin had been exposed to the pilocarpine, the scientists swapped the patches for small spiral-shape discs designed to absorb the resulting perspiration. The volunteers wore these discs for 20 minutes, while their skin obediently sweated.

It did not sweat evenly on each side, however, the scientists soon discovered, after they had removed, weighed and examined the discs. The discs that had been situated above the tattooed skin were much lighter, it turned out. In fact, each man’s tattooed skin had produced barely half as much sweat as his untinted skin.

The composition of this sweat also was different, the scientists found. The perspiration from the tattooed skin contained nearly twice as much sodium as sweat from the corresponding, untattooed side.

Interestingly, the results were the same, whatever the age of the tattoo. Older tattoos altered sweating in the same way as newer tattoos did.

That finding suggests that the underlying cause of the shift in sweat probably involves permanent changes within the skin after tattooing, Dr. Luetkemeier says. Perhaps bits of the remaining dye block some of the sweat glands. But more probably, he says, lingering inflammatory cells change the chemical environment within that area of the skin in ways that slow the response of the glands and affect how much sodium is incorporated from nearby cells into the sweat.

Of course, this was a very small study and involved chemically induced perspiration. The men were not exercising to create body heat and sweat. They also were not women or elderly. Dr. Luetkemeier and his students plan to study more expansive groups of volunteers in more real-world situations soon.

Dragonfly Tattoos

Dragonfly tattoos have something mystical about them, they have a fairy tale quality that can be quite beautiful, but in a more offbeat way than a fairy or butterfly image.
They have been somewhat underrated over the years as being too "cute" and "girly". While there are designs out there that do scream 19 year old sorority girl, there are also some that can be taken in a whole different direction.
A dragonfly is one of the most elegant insects. They are about the size that we would imagine a fairy to be, with beautiful, gossamer wings. Unlike a fairy, dragonfly tattoos are not categorically feminine, they have a universal appeal.

Symbolism And Meaning

Here's what a dragonfly represents across different cultures:

• In Europe dragonflies don't have a good reputation. In several European countries they are linked to the devil and evil. They are given names like 'Ear Cutter", "Eye Poker", "Devil's Needle".
• In Japan they have a much better reputation. There the dragonfly is associated with happiness and strength.
• In China the insect represents harmony and prosperity.
• Some Native American tribes used the dragonfly as a symbol in their art. For them it represents swiftness and happiness.

Nowadays, if you ask someone with a dragonfly tattoo what it means to them, you usually get one of these answers:

• Speed: some species reach 60 miles/hour (about 100 km/hour).
• Change and rebirth: a dragonfly lives in the water as a nymph before it splits out of his larval skin to become the beautiful insect we all know. Some of us go through the same process when we enter new stages in our life. Dragonfly tattoos are a good symbol to express this rebirth.
• Good luck
• Freedom
• Beauty

                                                 

    Tattoo Ideas

  
  Dragonfly tattoo designs can easily be given a bold tribal look that’s quite masculine. On the other hand, they can also be subtle and sketchy, or elaborate and colorful. Many dragonfly images are both beautiful and ugly at the same time: from far away, it looks like a fairy tale creature, but close up, it’s definitely of this earth.
  Here are some ideas you can use in your dragonfly designs. Don't be afraid to think outside of the box or you end up with a tattoo everyone else is having:
  
• Worded wings: the wings on the tattoo do not necessarily have to be wings. They can be words that represent something significant in your life, like your children's names or a poem written in the wings.
• Photographic wings: you can combine dragonfly tattoos with portrait tattoos by inserting a portrait into the wings. Note that you will have to get a fairly large tattoo to do this because of the detail, but it should be worth the space.
• Sequential dragonflies: you can put some movement in your tattoo by having a series of dragonflies flying on your back, legs, arms, or somewhere where there is a decent length of space. You could have the dragonfly growing to represent growth in your life, or you could just have several of them whimsically floating around.

• 
• The evil dragonfly: who says dragonflies can't have attitude? Give the creature bat wings, or make him a little rough around the edges. You can even make it look like it is gnawing at your flesh.
• Tag-along dragonfly: you can incorporate other flying creatures into your design that tag along with the dragonfly. You could have a small fairy holding onto the tail or some ladybugs riding on the wings. This could add depth to the design and create more movement in the tattoo as a whole.
• A different angle: most people think of dragonflies having a body with two wings on each side. You do not always have to go with a top view though, Get a profile of the dragonfly instead, and you might be able to get a little more creative with its placement. This is perfect if you want the creature to be approaching a flower or something along those lines.
• Psychedelic wings: if you are a fan of color, you could get creative with the color pattern on the wings. That is what makes dragonfly tattoos so different from one another. Make the wings tie-dye for example, or rainbow colored

Chose The Right Tattoo Kits

It had been reported that many people been infected or got sick after they use unhealthy tattoo kits.  It seems unbelievable, but it's social being.  This makes choosing good tattoo kits quit important.

The basic of good tattoo kits must be clean and have no harmful to your health.  Make sure that tattoo kits can be, and have been cleaned and sanitized, for the fear of you get inflammation, because the tattoo needles will touch you skin directly.
Tattoo kits contains tattoo machine for lining and shading, sizes of stainless steel tips, power supply, different sizes of tattoo needles, tattoo inks of different colors, ink cup, practice skin or printing paper and a pair of gloves.  Tattoo needles are used to pierce the skin.  Tattoo inks have two functions, one is to tattoo yourself and the other is to protect your skin from the sunshine.   Usually, tattoo gun have two functions, one is shader and the other is linder.  The function of tattoo gun is determined by the tattoo machine slice.  Mostly, a tattoo gun can only do shading or lining, seldom of them have the two functions at the same time.  To save your time and make your tattooing easier, you can choose the gun with two functions.

Whether you are a professional tattoo product or you just regard tattooing as your hobby, there must be a tattoo machine in you tattoo kit.  Tattoo machine with a magnet coil will help you change the movement of the needles and adjust its movement in your skin.  You can inject tattoo inks in your skin according to the track of the needle’s movement to finish the permanent label in your skin.  The stable electric current of the tattoo machine is very important when you choice a tattoo machine.  It will keep your tattoo away from spot and color unbalance , provide you a stable quantity of tattoo inks and make the image of the tattoo you are tattooing colorful and delicate.  This is very important to a good tattoo product.


The cleaning equipment is very important, too.  Professional tattoo kits must have a needle cleaning equipment.  You can clean the tattoo needles with chemicals manually or automatically if you like.  Ultrasonic cleaner can be your first choice when you are thinking about buying a needle cleaning equipment to clean the equipment for yourself and doing business with it at the same time.

Feminine Tattoos

Female tattoos, ladies tattoos or girly tattoos – in other words tattoos that are feminine in design, and therefore favored by women and girls – are becoming more and more common. For the first fifty or sixty years after tattooing became commonplace and even mainstream in modern society, few women got tattoos – in fact, those that did were the exception and usually a touch eccentric or rebellious.

All that changed about twenty years ago when tattooing became more socially acceptable, largely due to the many celebrities who publicly sported tattoos. Some of these were women, and so, tattoos for women became more common and acceptable. Nowadays most people find female tattoos attractive, they certainly aren't offensive anymore.

That having been said it’s still true that more men than women get tattoos and it’s even true that there is a little element of social rebellion inherent in a woman’s decision to get a tattoo, although this is less and less the case, tattoos are more like a fashion item these days.

Feminine ink is no longer shocking, and we no longer jump to conclusions about a woman’s moral character based on whether or not she has a few tattoos!

Many women are physically smaller and more delicately built than men and in general. Tattoos for women are generally smaller and prettier than male tattoos because we consider smaller, more delicate things more feminine

That doesn't mean that there are no women with large tattoos, but usually feminine tattoos are more likely to be isolated in one or two areas of the body – as accent pieces, so to speak.

Women’s tattoo designs are also less heavy, less aggressive looking compared to men's tattoos. They tend to have thinner lines, though this is a generalization rather than a rule.

Here is a top 10 of tattoo designs that are popular among women:

1. Butterfly tattoos: butterflies are perhaps the most popular subject for a girl tattoo. They are delicate and beautiful, and ideal as a tattoo design.
   
2. Tribal lower back tattoos: these were very trendy at the beginning of this century, but were usually not very inspired or original.
3. Fairy tattoos: fairies look like cute girls, but have a dark side and magical powers. It's not hard to see where the appeal of fairy tattoos comes from
4. Flower tattoos: flowers have a natural beauty and are very feminine, it's not hard to understand why they are usually considered a girly tattoo design. Popular tattoo flowers are roses, lilies, hibiscus, lotus flowers and cherry blossom. Each flower has a deeply rooted symbolic meaning.
   
5. Star tattoos: stars are one of the oldest symbols and have a strong symbolic meaning. They are universal, can be simple and small or combined with other designs, that's why they are so popular as a ladies tattoo.
6. Heart tattoos: hearts are the symbol of love and romance and have been a popular design for tattoos since the early days.
7. Dragonfly tattoos: most women are not very fond of insects, but that's not the case with dragonflies, which are very well-liked as a tattoo design. They live in the same realm as butterflies and fairies.
   
   
8. Swallow tattoos: these are typical old-school Sailor Jerry type of designs and became trendy again thanks to the renewed interest in all things retro.
   
9. Zodiac tattoos: if you believe in astrology, having your zodiac sign tattooed is a good option.
10. Text tattoos: tattoos of quotes, verses or phrases from the Bible are a popular choice for women. Sometimes they are combined with other design elements, but usually it's just the words, written in a nice font.

Here's the top 5 of popular tattoo spots for women and girls:

1. Just above the ankle: the ankles are another popular tattoo place, very feminine. They are easy to cover up if you want to (by wearing socks) and not so problematic as foot tattoos. Ankle tattoos are usually small and can be very cute.
   
2. Lower back: lower back female tattoos are very popular for several reasons. First, it's a very feminine spot to have a tattoo. It doesn't usually show, but can be ‘flashed’ as the woman bends over. Catching a glimpse of a lower back tattoo on a woman, you almost get the feeling that you’re seeing something you shouldn't be – very tantalizing! 
3. The inside of the wrist: this is a good place for a tattoo, it can easily be covered up by wearing a watch or a bracelet.
4. Back of the neck: very nice spot to have a tattoo in my opinion and one of the less painful places
   
5. The feet: foot tattoos are getting more and more popular these days. Keep in mind that tattoos on the feet need more care and don't last as long as tattoos on other places. 

Foot Tattoos And Some Cons & Pros

Foot tattoos can look very striking: the foot provides a nice flat place for the tattoo to lie. They have seen a serious rise in popularity the last couple of years, especially among woman. It's easy to see why, a foot tattoo peaking out of a shoe can be very attractive.

The most popular foot tattoo designs are usually small in nature, such as flowers (especially cherry blossom and lotus flowers), words (and quotes), stars and butterflies.

There are some good reasons not to get a tattoo on your foot though, in fact, there are some tattoo artists who won’t even undertake them.

Here's why:

• For a start, tattoos on feet and hands tend to be more painful than tattoos on other spots..
  
  The general rule is this:  When the skin is very thin, especially when on top of bone, the pain caused by the tattoo needles can be very discomforting. If it’s on a fleshy part of your body, it’ll hurt a lot less. That’s why a shoulder or upper arm might be a better place for a first tattoo – if you’re a little worried about the pain and not sure what to expect.
• There is also a greater incidence of ink migration with foot tattoos. This means that the ink is likely to spread over time, blurring your tattoo design. This is possible with any tattoo, on any part of the body, but it’s more common with foot tattoos.
  
  If you get a foot tattoo, be prepared to go back and have it re-inked if need be. The top of your foot is the best place with the least blurring, avoid other places like the sides or the toes.
• Then there’s the issue of healing. A new tattoo should not be allowed to rub against clothing while it heals, which usually takes two to three weeks. For most tattoos, this is a pretty simple matter, but not for foot tattoos! Basically, depending on the placement of your tattoo, this may mean that you can’t wear shoes or socks for the time your tattoo is healing!
• Going around barefoot can lead to one more problem – infection. Feet, as we all know, are harder to keep clean than other parts of the body. Though it’s fairly rare to get an infection from a professional-quality tattoo, it is possible, and having a tattoo on your foot makes it slightly more likely.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Here are some foot care tips for a shorter healing period :

• Wear flip flops or other open shoes during the healing process so the shoe doesn't rub against the tattoo. If the flip flop touches the tattoo, then it's advisable that you get a pair of Down Unders, a kind of topless flip flop. If you really have to wear shoes, then wear 2 pair of light socks.
• The best time for getting a tattoo on your foot is in the summer, it might be a bit cold without shoes in the winter.
• Roll up your trousers if they touch the tattoo.
• Keep your new ink out of the sun.
• Keep your feet clean. This means you have to take regular foot baths with warm water and a mild soap. Dry them by dabbing with a towel, don't rub.
• Keep the tattoo moist by applying a good ointment (Lubriderm). Don't make it too moist or the colors will bleed.
• Never rub the tattoo.
• Don't swim until the healing process is over.
• Keep in mind that walking could be difficult the first few days because of foot pain. If possible take a few days off from work.
• Find a tattoo artist who has experience doing foot tattoos. Ask him for advice.                                                                                                                    

So, the cons:

• Foot tattoos are painful  than on other parts of your body by the tattoo machines
• They blur more easily than tattoos on other places, especially large areas with a solid color.
• The healing process goes slower.
• There's chance of infection.
• It's not advisable for diabetes patients to get a tattoo below the waist, it can affect blood circulation.

And the pros:

• Foot tattoos are easy to hide, in case you work in a place where ink is not accepted for example.
• A tattoo on the foot looks very striking.

With all of these cons, you might wonder why anyone bothers to get a foot tattoo. Well, they are cute and easy to hide. For some of us, that’s reason enough.

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Egyptian Tattoos

Egyptian tattoos, like many other tattoo designs from mythology or ancient cultures, are growing in popularity. They are tasteful, socially acceptable, and a great way of exploring and utilizing art imagery from all over the world. Egyptian tattoos are beautiful and striking images from the ancient past.

Most of us have a fairly evolved concept of what Egyptian art looks like and how it may be adapted to a modern tattoo design. On the other hand, most of us have no more than a generalized idea of what ancient Egyptian tattooing looked like.

It appears that tattooing was not particularly widespread among the Egyptians, with one notable exception - some Egyptian women, from priestesses to princesses to dancers, were tattooed with a pattern of parallel lines and shapes.

We know this because some of these women were mummified, which preserved the skin and the tattoos. These original Egyptian tattoos had a significance which, unfortunately, has been lost. Anthropologists are grateful for this and other evidence that the elaborate Egyptian burial rituals have given us.

Modern Egyptian tattoos consist of images that are taken from ancient Egyptian art, preserved as components of the pyramids and other structures.

Ankh tattoos for example, consist of an ancient symbol that's imbued with magical protection. The ankh is a cross symbol that predates the Christian cross by several thousand years.

The Ankh cross looks like the Latin cross with a rounded component at the top of the cross. It is the hieroglyphic symbol for 'life'.

The ankh is a very versatile tattoo image, it can be small and discrete or larger and quite dramatic. Like other 'symbol' tattoos, ankh tattoos look good on an ankle, upper arm or shoulder.

Ankh tattoos are a common sight in gangs, where they symbolize eternal life.

Besides Ankh tattoos, the Eye of Horus tattoo(aka Egyptian Eye tattoo or Eye of Ra tattoo) must be the most popular Egyptian art tattoo. The Eye of Horus (aka Wedjat) is a protection symbol (from the god Horus). The symbol was used on ships, amulets, bracelets, etc.

Horus was the god of the sky and looked like a falcon. The eye is the right eye of the falcon. The markings under the eye represent a teardrop.

Eye of Ra tattoos look the same as Eye of Horus designs because the gods Ra and 

Horus became one. Ra was the sun god, that's why Eye of Horus tattoos often include a sun in its design.

Eye of Horus tattoos are a common form of gang tattoos, for protection from other gangs and back stabbers.

Something you also see fairly often is the eye pyramid tattoo, a design in which the Eye of Horus is incorporated in a pyramid.

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Japanese Tattoos

Japanese tattoos have long been associated with the Yakuza, but Japanese tattoo traditions go way beyond criminality. Like many other world cultures the Japanese had a traditional and distinctive version of tattoo art.

The History of Japanese Tattoos

The history of Japanese tattoos goes back to 10,000 BCE. The woman of the  used tattoos to make themselves look like their goddess, so that demons (who caused diseases) would mistake them for the goddess and get scared. These tribal tattoos started at an early age with a small tattoo on the upper lip. When growing older this small tattoo was expanded.

From 300 BC to 300 AD tattoos were used for spiritual and social purposes. Just like in other tattoo cultures, they were an indicator of ones social status.

From 300 AD on, tattoos were used in Japan to mark criminals. This practice is called bokukei or bokkei. Japan was the last country to stop marking criminals with tattoos (in 1870). People started covering up these marks of shame with more decorative tattoos and that's how the art started.

Tattoos in Modern Japan

Tattooing in Japan reached its zenith in the 1800s, during the Edo period, a time when the power and influence of the common people was very much on the rise. One way in which people chose to use their new-found wealth was to celebrate their art and culture with tattoos. The beauty of the images created was considered a reward for enduring what was, at the time, a long and painful process.

Around 1870 the Japanese government outlawed tattoos in order to make a good impression on the Western world. As a result, Japanese tattoos went underground and became affiliated with the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia.

Tattooing in Japan was legalized again in 1945 by the occupying forces, but never really lost its association with crime. Even today people with tattoos are still banned from businesses like fitness centers, in an attempt to restrict the yakuza from entering their place.

Nowadays tattoos are gaining popularity among the Japanese youth. They are not primarily interested in traditional irezumi though, they prefer the American style of tattooing and tribals. They are more interested in one-point tattoos, smaller tattoos on one part of the body that are usually done in one sitting.

The Western style of tattoos (which they call yobori, as opposed to wabori) is popular in Japan, especially the old school style like heart, skull and rose tattoos. Tattooing in Japan is also getting more attention among females than among males, something that used to be the opposite. They have become a fashion object.

Although tattoos are getting more popular in Japan, they still face resistance by the Japanese cultural code. That's why temporary tattoos enjoy a wider popularity than permanent tattoos over there.

Horimono or Irezumi

Both words refer to the art of tattooing.

Japanese tattoo art was an offshoot of the distinctive woodblock prints, called ukiyo-e. Some of the wood carvers turned to tattooing as an adjunct to their artistic careers, others exchanged their carving-blades for tattoo needles full time as tattooing grew more popular in the 19th century. One of the most famous Japanese tattoo artists of that time, was Horiuno.

Irezumi has got its share of supporters in the West. Some travel to Japan to be tattooed by a Horishi in the Tebori way (by hand), a time-intensive, painful and very expensive undertaking. The traditional Japanese tattoo style is very detailed, what makes getting a Japanese tattoo time-consuming and expensive.

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