Maybe I am getting old, but I just have to ask why would anyone want a big lump on their forehead that looks like a bagel? Apparently, some Japanese do as the current fashion in some circles in Japan is what’s called a ‘bagel head’, a big lump growing out of your head that makes you look like the Elephant Man.
The ‘bagel head’ has become so popular in fact, Thai authorities are now worried Thai teenagers might follow the Japanese and create their own “bagel heads”. (Honestly, I feel stupid even writing about this as you would have to be an idiot to want your head to look like it has a bagel growing out of it. Really. You would).
According to The Bangkok Post, one of the latest crazes in craze-driven Japan is for Japanese young people to have saline injected into their foreheads, which causes their forehead to swell up. Once the saline is injected, they push their thumb into the bulging skin that’s created until it settles into a bagel-like form. They can then walk around with what looks like a bagel underneath their skin for around 24 hours…..until the effect wears off and the skin settles back to normal.
Some people even color their ‘bagel heads’ blue, green or red with food coloring. Apparently, the Japanese who do it think it looks cool. Those with the IQ of a snail anyway.
As Thai teenagers tend to follow most Japanese crazes, Thai authorities are now worried they may follow suit and are warning teens it’s not a safe procedure. In fact, according to some Thai doctors, having saline solution injected under your skin can cause severe infections or even meningitis.
The problem is, like teens all over the world, some Thai teens and young adults are quite naive so, if a new fad arrives and it looks weird, strange or cool, yep, some Thai teens will follow it.
They are already talking about bagel heads on chat rooms and bulletin boards all over Thailand, so you know it is only a matter of time.
Bagel heads have become big news this week too, as a National Geographic program about taboos is being aired.
One segment is about the Japanese and their ‘bagel heads’, and it shows three people, two Japanese and a westerner, having saline injected into their foreheads so they too can join the bagel head bunch.
As far as Thai teens go, I don’t give it a week before there are photographs all over Thailand’s social media of Thai teens with bagel-like protrusions. After all, most fads in Thailand don’t originate from here, they come from somewhere else.
So why should the bagel head be any different?
