Changing your destiny is possible if you take charge of your life ... and have plastic surgery on your palms. A dumbfounding new trend is emerging in Japan, in which people in search of a better future have surgery to change the lines on their palms.

Palm reading is one of the most popular forms of fortune-telling in the world. And just like many other people, the Japanese also take palmistry seriously, believing that their future is written on the palm of their hands.

But what if a person is born with “unlucky” palm lines? Does that mean that they are doomed to be unlucky for the rest of their life? Not so, according to the Japanese. They have now found a way how to take charge of their fate.

From the country that made eyeball-licking a cool, romantic thing comes another crazy trend that is fast becoming another beauty “in” thing: palm plastic surgery!

Japan: Eyeball-Licking, New Fetish Trend In Elementary Japan [Read]

According to the Daily Beast, the demand for palm plastic surgery has increased in the recent months.

Plastic surgeon Takaaki Matsuoka, who works at the Shonan Beauty Clinic’s Shinjuku branch, first performed the operation in 2011 when a female patient specifically asked for her palm lines to be reformatted so she could have better luck.

After reading medical journals, he found out that the surgery was being done in Korea. The operation, which cost 100,000 yen (A$1,000) became a success, and soon people were lining up for the surgery.

He used an electric scalpel to burn the flesh of the hand and leave a semi-permanent scar.

“If you try to create a palm line with a laser, it heals, and it won’t leave a clear mark. You have to use the electric calpel and make a shaky incision on purpose, because palm lines are never completely straight,” Dr Matsuoka was quoted by the Web site as saying.

“If you don’t burn the skin and just use a plain scalpel, the lines don’t form. It’s not a difficult surgery, but it has to be done right.”

The Shonan Beauty Clinic now relies on word-of-mouth advertising because they couldn’t keep up with the high demand of patients who want to have the surgery done anymore. From January 2011 to May 2013, the clinic has performed 37 plastic palm surgeries, 20 of them by Ms Matsuoka.

It’s an expensive operation and a crazy idea, sure, but the real and most important question is if it does work.

“If people think they’ll be lucky, sometimes they become lucky. And it’s not like the palm lines are really written in stone – they’re basically wrinkles,” the wise doctor said, adding that he thinks that it might just be a placebo effect. “They do change with time. Even the way you use your hands can change the lines.

“Some palmisters will even suggest that their clients draw the lines on their hands to change their luck. And this was before palm plastic surgery existed. However, anecdotally I’ve had some success.”

Aside from plastic palm surgery and the recent trend in elementary Japan, eyeball-licking, there are other just as crazy fads that have taken Japan by storm as well.

In September 2012, the bagel head body modification became a trend. The procedure uses saline solution to create a bagel-like shape on people’s foreheads, and lasts only for 18 to 24 hours.

Bagel Head trend in Japan:

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