The biohack.me forums were originally run on Vanilla and ran from January 2011 to July 2024. They are preserved here as a read-only archive. If you had an account on the forums and are in the archive and wish to have either your posts anonymized or removed entirely, email us and let us know.
While we are no longer running Vanilla, Patreon badges are still being awarded, and shoutout forum posts are being created, because this is done directly in the database via an automated task.
Thoughts and experiences with rod shaped magnet implants
Hey everyone - there was a fairly detailed discussion on cylrindrical/rod shaped magnets vs. disc magnets on the group-buy thread a few months ago, but no follow-ups so I was wondering how they went.
My friend and I are getting implants put in our ring fingers at a place in London, and we're trying to decide which magnets to use. They already have Parylene-coated N48 rods from VP Scientific - both the 782NC-2-6 (6.44mm long, 2.15mm diameter) and the 782NC-3-6 (6.45mm long, 3.19mm diameter) - the details are here. It seems like a lot of people have used the significantly smaller (and flat disc shaped) 782N-3 (0.7mm long, 3mm diameter) and others have used roughly cubic cylinders. If we wanted discs we would have to order them ourselves (any leftovers from group-buys anyone?)
Generally, what are people's thoughts on rod-shaped magnets? Here are the issues we're considering:
- Physical ramifications: A 2 or 3mm diameter rod sitting along the pad (or do people prefer/suggest placing them a little to the side?) of the finger might be less amenable to pressure than a flat disc. I climb and cave often enough that this might be an issue - I'm not sure to what extent I can avoid putting a lot of weight on my (non-dominant hand) ring finger. On the other hand, people have noted that a 6mm-long rod is less likely to flip around (but if it did, it wouldn't be fun!)
- Strength/sensitivity: @cerasi helpfully put up a graph showing that the strength/mass ratio of a rod like these would be much less than a smaller magnet. That being said, these magnets are of such larger mass that I imagine the overall strength would be a lot higher - I've played with them and they're pretty damn strong. (Using volume as a proxy for mass, the 0.7x3mm disc has a volume of 5mm3, while the 6.44x2.15 and 6.45x3.19 rods, respectively, have volumes of 23mm3 and 51mm3.) Wouldn't the greater strength mitigate the greater inertia of their mass and still allow for good sensitivity? @ThomasEgi also mentioned that the higher angular force distributed over a larger area complicates it even more.
- Any thoughts from folks in the cylindrical magnet group-buy? I know @Shishou has one in one hand, and a Haworth implant in the other - I wonder how the rod compares to the other.
- Also, any reason one should be wary of getting on a plane a few days after having one put in?
That's a ton of questions, but we'd really appreciate any thoughts about any of them.
Also! Is anyone around in London with a quality video camera or DSLR who wants to tag along to record the procedure? We'd like to document this very well, so we're looking for someone.
Comments
Displaying all 6 comments
-
I didn't get on a plane a few days after, but I had no issues flying in the months after. I assume the only difference would be the fresh wound, and your airline or a medical advice forum is more likely to be able to help there.
Out of curiosity, where in London is doing Parylene-coated magnets?
Edit: And to sorta answer your first question: I've a late-model Haworth cylinder section in the middle of the pad of my dominant ring finger (if you follow) and I've bouldered with no real issues. I haven't been on any real fingertip grips, though (trying to get back fitness after years off the wall). Caving might be more problematic; in my experience, soaked hands increases the possibility of magnet movement as the skin swells, puckers, and loosens on the magnet, and if the thing moves and you put weight on the hand before pushing it back, it's likely to have moved into a position whre it'll hurt (like at a 45 degree angle to your finger...). A Parylene magnet which anchors to the flesh may avoid that, though.
Edit edit: when are you guys going to be in London? I'm going to be over 'round the start of September, and I've a truly crappy video camera (video quality is fine, it's just got a lens with a fisheye problem out in front).
-
Divine Canvas has some Parylene-coated magnets. He's only got a couple left I think (also has silicone-coated disks but he said the coating fell apart on one of his customers and he had to take it out). But the rod-shaped ones on VP Scientific's site come in packages of only 10 (unlike 100 for the discs) so presumably they're fairly easy to get as long as you go over the minimum order of $50.That's a very good point about the soaked hands! I'll be extra careful with my heavy duty rubber kitchen gloves if I go caving with a magnet in my finger. I wasn't aware that Parylene anchors to the flesh. That sounds like it could be very useful but maybe also painful. My understanding was that if it did flip or move into an uncomfortable position, you could shift it back without too much discomfort.We're definitely going to get them, we're just trying to decide on disc vs. rod. Basically it comes down to the disc probably being more comfortable and less likely to react badly to physical activity vs. the undecided greater or lesser sensitivity of the rod, due to its shape and 5x greater mass. I'm almost leaning towards rod because it seems less common so it would be good to get more experience for the community.We're in London now - probably getting it done in early September. I suppose we should actually ask the fellow doing it about whether he's okay with it being filmed. Seemed like a pretty laid back guy. We'll see. Fisheye problem? Fisheye would make for an interesting video - problem less so. I'll let you know. Thanks for the response.
-
I'll go in to details later because there are factors that are different on my cylinder implant that make it less comfortable and not nearly as sensitive to forces as my disc shaped Haworth implant.So overall in my experience if you can do a disc shaped, you should.
-
Iestyn's an absolute diamond, alright.
I don't know where I picked up that about Parylene (probably somewhere here) but I can't find anything to back it up elsewhere, so unless someone else wants to chime in with their contradicting experience, I'm going to assume I got the wrong end of the stick.
It's dead easy to push back mine, anyway - I do it by licking my fingertip. The problem is that you don't always notice it's lying differently until you put your hand down.
Waterproof gloves + sweat = same problem, if on a lesser scale. ",)
The lens is wide-angle and cheap, so there's distortion at the sides. The middle is fine.
-
@ ShishouSo about those details....
-
I have come to the conclusion that my N-32 rice grain magnet is a failure. I may attempt to put a few more in that finger to see if it has any affect.
Displaying all 6 comments