The “bagel head” cosmetic modification: myths and medical complications for dermatologists to consider

Anand N. Bosmia; Christoph J. Griessenauer; R. Shane Tubbs

doi:10.5826/dpc.0303a02

The “bagel head” cosmetic modification: myths and medical complications for dermatologists to consider

Authors

Anand N. Bosmia Pediatric Neurosurgery, Children’s Hospital, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Christoph J. Griessenauer Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
R. Shane Tubbs Pediatric Neurosurgery, Children’s Hospital, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Keywords:

bagel head, cosmetic modification

Abstract

On September 23, 2012, the television program Taboo on the National Geographic Channel featured individuals in Tokyo undergoing the “bagel head” cosmetic modification. Dermatologists may encounter patients who undergo the bagel head procedure and subsequently present with a cutaneous infection. The purpose of this article is to delineate the bagel head procedure, note responses to sensationalist claims made by the media about this procedure, and discuss potential medical complications from this procedure. Specialists and primary care physicians who encounter reports of a specific extreme body modification for the first time should review discussions of the modification by its critics and advocates in order to assess potential medical complications from the procedure more accurately.

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