At first,Jean M Loftus, MD, seems like a garden-varietyplastic surgeon.
It crosses every demographic, from 18 to 70 [years old].
Theyre male, female, educated, uneducated.
Getty Images/Channing Smith
I just split the tongue of a 55-year-old business owner, and a 65-year-old engineer.
[Ive had] a truck driver and a woman who specializes in healing arts, she says.
Dr. Loftus is one of the few surgeons whos repeatedly referenced for tongue splitting on Redditsr/bodymodssubreddit.
Courtesy Dr. Loftus
Humans have been altering their bodies for eons, be it for beauty, religion, or storytelling.
Ancient Roman poet Prudentius even blames a bifurcated tongue as the very origin of sin.
On a similar track,tech bros and biohackersimplant magnets, radio-frequency identification chips and LEDs into their bodies.
Megan Fox alsoshowed interestin surgically-peaked ears after wearing faux versions while cosplaying as Zelda for Halloween.
This movement has obviously grown way beyondComic Con.
She estimates that she was the first in the state to offer this procedure.
The tongue is very bloody and [that can cause] all sorts of problems, she says.
The social norms around beauty standards is another reason surgeons abstain.
Society has general guidelines of what is considered reasonable and what is out of the ordinary.
In general, physicians give a shot to stay within the boundaries set by society, says Dr. Youn.
He does note that social mores do shift and expand, based on popular opinion.
At one pointtattoo sleeveswere considered extreme, but it’s much more accepted now, he says.
Doctors also admit to avoiding these surgeries to safeguard their reputation or aesthetic.
They may not want a one-off case of extreme surgery disrupting an otherwise more traditional track record.
The surgeon needs to be comfortable having their imprimatur on that particular outcome.
Mike Nayak, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon based in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Loftus has no such reservations.
Its a relatively small part of the business.
According to her website, the surgery costs a total of $3,375.
By contrast, a breast augmentation is $7,575, of which she performs between ten and 20 monthly.
But she seems to have a soft spot for her tongue-splitting patients.
A small percentage of patients choose general anesthesia so that theyre not conscious during the procedure.
Even largebreast implantshave functional consequences that people willingly take on to get the look that they want.
Dr. Loftus expertise really comes into play because she knows when to stop.
Every patient wants their tongue split really deeply.
As far as they’re concerned, it can’t be deep enough, she says.
If its split too far back, speech can be affected and scarring can occur.
Overdoing it increases the risk of healing problems and function afterwards, she says.
This is easier to reverse than just about any other operation that we do.
One question Dr. Loftus doesnt ask these patients is why they chose to get the surgery.
I kind of stay out of that, she says.
And Im also concerned that if I ask why, that will alienate them and make them defensive.
So, I generally don’t.
And in any of those circumstances, I would not operate on them, she explains.
Her staff especially enjoys working with these patients.
Our tongue splitting patients are wonderful, she says.
It’s interesting that there is such a prejudice against them by society.
We’re not damaging the tissue.
We’re not creating any problems, Dr. Loftus explains.
This is easier to reverse than just about any other operation that we do.
Not a single person has come back to me to have it reversed.
I assumed that would happen all the time but I never get a call for it.
