New York City Writer Dann Berg decided to get a magnetic implant three years ago after hearing about them online, ABC news reported.
"I had a curiosity to explore the world in a completely different way," he said.
The implant procedure was performed by a body-piercing specialist. Berg claimed the procedure was extremely painful but very quick.
For a few weeks his finger was numb, even though he was able to pick up small metal objects immediately.
After the numbness subsided something strange happened, Berg's finger began develop a "sixth sense" around any objects that gave off electromagnetic waves.
"There is a half dome of vibration that surrounds the object almost like a tennis ball cut in half," he said. "The vibrations vary in strength depending on where I hold my finger and it's almost like the finger itself is vibrating against an invisible field of energy."
Mark Fenske, a neuroscience researcher at the University of Guelph in Canada said there is really nothing out of the ordinary about the sensation.
"A strong enough magnet will respond to changes in electromagnetic fields, which occur anywhere you have fluctuations in electrical current or movement of another magnet," Fenske said. "Placing a magnet in the finger takes a form of information that normally isn't readily sensed by touch and converts it to movement or vibration that is readily sensed."
The article that Berg introduced to implants described the downside to the procedure, including graphic images on a magnet decomposing in someone's body. Berg still went through with the procedure because one of his friends had done it without consequence.
Berg said that for the most part he is not bothered by the implant. He has learned not to let the magnet get too close to an object with an opposite polar pull.
"An outside magnet with a different polar pull can cause my magnet to make a quick flip inside my finger," he said. "It doesn't hurt but it is fairly uncomfortable."
Berg has not had any problems with demagnetizing his credit card or ruining his smartphone with the magnetic implant.
