Why do the rings of Venus appear?
It is generally accepted that gadgets are to blame for the formation of transverse wrinkles on the neck, or rather, the habit of constantly looking at a smartphone with your head bowed.
However, women encountered the rings of Venus a hundred years ago. A whole range of reasons lead to their appearance:
- a thin layer of subcutaneous fat on the neck;
- insufficient care for this area;
- thin skin;
- weak muscle frame;
- stoop, poor posture;
- the habit of lowering the neck down;
- incorrect position during sleep;
- sudden weight loss;
- insufficient moisture of the skin;
- hormonal disorders causing dry skin;
- genetic feature of the neck structure.
Why do African women wear rings around their necks?
The women of the tribe themselves always explain their desire to wear rings in different ways. Some say the tradition has no cultural or religious overtones.
The main driving motive of women is beauty. Deforming your neck seems unacceptable and cruel, but Western culture is not far removed from Ndebele traditions. Women from developed countries also deform their legs every day with high heels, insert implants, and have their faces reshaped by plastic surgeons. All for the sake of acceptance in society and increasing one’s status on the marriage market.
Unlike Western countries, in poor countries the ideal of beauty is a plump woman. Excess weight shows that the girl is not starving, her family has money for sufficient and plentiful food.
A plump girl has a better chance of getting married successfully and helping her family.
Prevention
The appearance of horizontal wrinkles on the neck can be prevented by watching your posture, purchasing an orthopedic pillow, and tilting your head less often.
Of course, careful skin care is required. You can use the same products as for the face. Typically, the skin on the neck is dry or prone to dryness, so the main emphasis should be on moisturizing and nourishing the epidermis. Home care, as a rule, is not enough - professional procedures are also required to prolong youth. A good place to start is by moisturizing your skin. Injections of hyaluronic acid will replenish the lack of moisture, slow down the aging process, and make the skin elastic and firm.
At a young age, mesotherapy will be effective, at a more mature age - biorevitalization, bioregeneration, redermalization, plasma lifting. Alginate masks and gentle peelings will help increase skin elasticity.
The optimal effect is achieved by combining professional hardware and injection procedures with regular home care.
The present and future of tradition
The rings on the necks of African girls are photographed by many tourists who are not accustomed to such extreme methods of modifying their bodies. Now it is impossible to predict exactly how the tradition of wearing rings around the neck will develop further in the African Ndebele tribe and among some other peoples, for example, the Burmese Padaung (Kayan) tribe.
The fact is that one cannot notice a significant inclination in one direction or another among young people. Civilization still reluctantly reaches the place of residence of these tribes. Ndebele or Kayan children go to school, but they still do not face open condemnation of their traditions by society, and this is one of the reasons why the custom of wearing rings around the neck does not become a thing of the past.
Almost all girls from such small tribes remain there for their entire lives, do not enter higher education institutions, do not go to work, so their life is completely dependent on the society of the tribe.
There they will get married and build relationships with people, which means they must meet local standards of beauty and success. The metal from which rings are made is not cheap, and many girls themselves ask their parents to let them wear rings around their necks , so there is no question of any coercion. Moreover, sometimes it is even an alternative way of storing money in the family. Indigenous people claim that wearing the rings does not cause them pain or physical discomfort.
The curious tradition of African women wearing rings around their necks attracts tourists with their cameras to such tribes. Coming to see women with such a necklace around their necks, tourists buy items made of beads, wood, and paint from local residents, supporting the existence of such poor reserved tribes abandoned by the state.
In the Thai Kayan tribe, local women handcraft clothes from natural silk and wooden amulets and amulets. It is difficult to say whether neck rings are an economic necessity for such tribes, but the fact remains that income from tourists accounts for 80% of their existence.
Review of methods for non-surgical removal of rings of Venus
Let's consider the techniques that are used to correct transverse wrinkles on the neck. Which of them will be most effective in a particular case will be determined by the doctor after examination.
Mesotherapy.
Injection technique to moisturize the skin and increase its elasticity. Mesotherapy is used primarily to prevent the appearance of rings of Venus or in combination with other methods.
Plasmolifting (plasma injections).
This method will improve the quality of the skin, make it firmer and more elastic, and help even out the relief.
Biorevitalization.
Hyaluronic acid injections for intense skin hydration. The method is good both for preventing the appearance of creases and for treating them in the early stages.
Botulinum therapy.
Injections of drugs based on botulinum toxin relax the neck muscles, acting directly on the cause of the formation of folds. This method is usually used as an auxiliary method.
Bioreinforcement.
Using gel preparations based on hyaluronic, polylactic acid, calcium hydroxyapatite (radiess, collagen therapy). Thanks to collagen stimulation, a framework is formed that supports the skin and prevents it from folding.
Introduction of threads.
Thread lifting is another method of creating a framework to support tissue. Thanks to thin but strong threads, the skin is tightened, the double chin is removed, and sagging is eliminated. The effect lasts for up to three years.
Contour plastic.
Fillers are injected directly into the wrinkle area to fill the voids. As a result, skin folds straighten and the neck becomes smooth. The method is often combined with procedures aimed at increasing the elasticity of the skin.
Laser tightening.
As a result of fractional laser thermolysis, the skin becomes significantly more elastic and tightened. It is recommended to combine this technique with procedures to improve skin quality, for example, biorevitalization and plasma lifting. This complex effect provides an excellent effect.
There are many effective methods for eliminating the rings of Venus. It is best to consult a specialist - a cosmetologist. The doctor will select the optimal course for you, taking into account your individual characteristics to obtain the best result.
How women from the Padaung tribe live today
Padaung (Kayan Lakhwi)
People of the Karen ethnic group, living primarily in Kayah, Shan and Karen states in eastern Myanmar. There are also several villages in northern Thailand, near the Myanmar border, founded by refugees from ethnic cleansing in Burma. The total number of Kayans is 130 thousand people. They speak the Kayan language of the Karen branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family. Women of the tribe are known for wearing brass spiral rings around their necks throughout their lives. Under their weight, the collarbones and chest are deformed, causing the neck to become longer.
Padaung is the common name given to the tribe by its neighbors, the Shan people. "Yang pa daung" is translated from Shan as "people wrapped in copper." The representatives of the nationality themselves consider this name offensive and call themselves Kayan Lakhvi.
The tribe is best known for its women wearing metal rings around their necks.
How the neck lengthens
The neck rings of Padaung women cannot be worn at any convenient time as an ordinary accessory. The decision to wear rings around the neck should be made at the age of 4-8 years, when the bones are still flexible and pliable. Tribal residents claim that this is strictly voluntary. Some girls don't like rings, and some want to be like their mothers and also wear such jewelry. The girl is given as many rings depending on how old she is, and one new one is added every year. The tiers of such jewelry cannot be built up endlessly, so at the age of 15-16 years the girl stops wearing rings. It is at this age that she usually gets married. If you wear more rings, it will cause discomfort to the girl and threaten her health.
In fact, women's necks stretch quite a bit. This is an optical illusion caused by other anatomical changes. Metal rods are very heavy, even little girls who start wearing rings constantly carry at least 2-3 kg of weight. Under constant pressure, the shoulders and collarbones drop strongly downward, the ribs are compressed, which makes it seem that the woman has an unnaturally long neck.
Over time, the first 4-5 rings put on the girl fall onto the shoulders under the weight of other turns and acquire a larger diameter, as if “flattened”. These rings can be detached from the main helix around the neck and secured separately with a clasp so that the woman can freely lift this first “layer”, wash and maintain hygiene.
What happens if you remove the rings from your neck?
Removing rings on women’s necks is time-consuming and difficult, so this procedure is carried out only if there are good reasons.
These include: childbirth; visit doctor; complaints of discomfort or inconvenience caused by the rings; adultery (as a way to punish and disgrace a woman).
Removal of rings is entrusted to the person who put them on. There may be several people in a village who know how to remove rings. Usually this is a shaman, the matriarch of the tribe, or some elders. A metal necklace can weigh up to 10 kg and reach 7 m in length; the removal process takes up to 2 hours. It may seem that the rings greatly weaken the muscles, but this is not the case. Hoops do not compress the neck in any way, preventing the development of the body and breathing.
The rings sit freely, even a palm can pass between them, a woman can maintain hygiene and wash her neck. The rings do not support the neck, the muscles do not atrophy and continue to work as usual. However, for any woman, the removal of rings does not pass without a trace. In the first days after the procedure, dizziness, nausea, and neck pain may occur. On the shoulders, where the rings constantly press on the neck, deep scars may appear on the skin that fester and hurt.
As a rule, women take care of their health and take care of their rings, so that inflammation does not occur, but heavy rings cut into the skin still leave their marks. Lack of contact with air can lead to pigmentation and darkening of the skin, so sometimes women place pieces of cotton fabric between the rings and the body. It absorbs sweat and prevents the metal from rubbing your neck.
The main driving motive of women is beauty. Deforming your neck seems unacceptable and cruel, but Western culture is not far removed from Padaung traditions. Women from developed countries also deform their legs every day with high heels, insert implants, and have their faces reshaped by plastic surgeons. All for the sake of acceptance in society and increasing one’s status.
HEROINE Mu Shant
Born in 1963 in the Myanmar village of Panpet (Kaya State). He has been wearing rings on his neck non-stop since he was eight years old, and now their weight reaches seven kilograms. He has neither education nor his own land. He sells in a souvenir shop for tourists to feed his family, which includes six daughters, four sons and twenty grandchildren.
Once upon a time, there lived a dragon woman in the sea. She really wanted to know what a person looked like. One day a woman came out of the water and asked the frog where to find him. She pointed to a cave in the forest. Entering it and seeing the rumpled bed and dirty dishes, the dragon woman took on the guise of a beautiful girl and began to clean up. In the evening the man returned to the cave and was amazed by the order and beauty of the girl. They fell in love and began to live together. But one day the man saw the shadow of his beloved and was horrified: it was not a human shadow. The man abandoned the dragon woman, who was already expecting a child. Heartbroken, she left the cave, laid two eggs in the sand and disappeared into the sea. From these eggs the Kayan people emerged.
Since then, the women of my people have worn brass rings around their necks in memory of the dragon mother. Our women's jewelry sparkles like scales.
Of course, this is just a legend. My grandmother told me that Kayan women wore rings around their necks to prevent men from other tribes from stealing them, because our traditions prohibited marriages with outsiders. A woman with rings around her neck cannot be stolen without consequences - her shiny jewelry is visible from afar. These rings have always been not only a beautiful tradition, but also a special sign that ensures safety.
In fact, these are not rings, but a spiral of brass wire one centimeter thick. You need to have great skill and experience to wrap such a spiral around the neck of a girl, and especially a child. Old, respected women of the village always do this. The ritual can only be performed at the appropriate time, which is determined by the shaman using fortune telling on a chicken bone.
My time came when I was eight years old. My parents were against me putting on rings: they wanted me to go to school. But I myself decided that I wanted to wear them, because all my sisters wore them.
I remember sitting for many hours by the fire in the house of a hundred-year-old woman, Tilda Win, while she used tongs to bend the wire and twist it into rings around my neck. Old Tilda had a very long neck and huge holes for earrings in her ears. She looked half like a bird, half like those spirits about whom she loved to tell stories. That day, Tilda wrapped ten turns of a shiny brass spiral around my neck.
At first, my neck hurt constantly. It was impossible to sleep on the log floor of our house, it was difficult to turn my head, dress, eat, and sometimes I felt like I was suffocating. After a while I got used to the inconvenience. I grew up, and every three years the spiral was replaced with another, gradually increasing the number of turns.
When I turned sixteen, my parents found me a 22-year-old husband. He already had an income - he was a lumberjack - and it seemed that he could take good care of me. Unfortunately, life with him was not easy. I gave birth to my first child at seventeen. Then the second, third... There was always not enough food, we were starving. I went to work in the fields - growing corn and pumpkins so that the children would at least have something to eat.
I was forty years old when my husband died. War has come to our mountain settlements. Burmese soldiers burned houses, raped women, and killed men. I was left alone with ten children. Many of us fled to Thailand. Yes, the very rings that once protected us from strangers exposed us to danger during the war. It was impossible to pretend that we were not Kayans.
Rings do not allow us to forget for a second who we are. Now I am 56 years old and I wear seven kilograms of brass around my neck. These 23 turns of the spiral are already as much a part of me as the neck itself. I always have them on - I sleep with rings, eat with rings, work with rings. And it's not just about tradition. Rings give me my income.
I run a gift shop where I sell traditional homespun scarves. Tourists come to our village to see women with long necks, take pictures of us, and buy something in return. My six daughters also wear rings around their necks and sell souvenirs. There is no other work here, men cannot provide for their families. In order to have food at home, women are forced to wear these rings. An alternative is to grow opium poppies.
In our region, many who have fields grow poppy. Myanmar is the second largest heroin producer after Afghanistan, and we are suffering because of it. Many men are drug addicts. The government does nothing except occasionally destroy poppy fields for show. And if a field is destroyed, the family that lives off it will lose food for months. Therefore, making money from tourists is much more reliable.
Tourists photographing “giraffe women,” as we are called, do not realize that we usually wrap the same spirals as on our necks on our legs - from the knee to the ankle. And this causes even more inconvenience and suffering than rings on the neck. My legs hurt, it's hard to walk, and it only gets worse with age. Many women in the village, including me, removed these spirals from their legs, leaving five rings just below the knees, in order to maintain the traditional look.
Tourists often ask whether it is difficult to wear such heavy rings around your neck. I answer that I’m already used to it. When there are hungry children at home, devastation and no one to help, rings are by no means the heaviest burden.
