A Swedish body modification artist has garnered a lot of online attention after sharing pictures of a procedure in which the insides of a man’s ears were removed.

Chai Maibert, who owns Calm Body Modification studio in Stockholm, posted pictures of the cosmetic procedure to his Instagram account over the weekend. The graphic images show a client’s stitched earlobes missing the centre portion of cartilage known as the conch.

“Fresh #conchremoval on @charlesvbently who traveled around the world from Australia to have this procedure performed by me,” reads the caption of Maibert’s Instagram post.

The procedure involves surgically removing the inner portion of the outer ear, creating a window-like effect through the ear. Though it’s unclear how popular the procedure may be, it is mentioned on several body modification websites.

But it’s not just the shocking look of the procedure that has ignited controversy online. Maibert’s post has sparked a heated debate about the effect the conch removal will have on the client’s hearing, after claiming that the procedure would improve hearing from behind.

“To get some facts straight, note that this procedure doesn’t make you deaf. It might impair your ability to hear the direction of sound for th@jere first week or two until your mind has adjusted to your new ears,” the body modification artist claimed in his post. “Hearing from behind will in fact improve.”

However, hearing experts disagree.

According to Maryam Ghaderi, head of audiology at Toronto-area hearing centre House of Hearing, the conch and outer ear are responsible for collecting sound and play an important role in how well we hear.

“If you have that part missing, I would guess a bit of your hearing would be affected—probably your sense of localizing sound,” Ghaderi told CTVNews.ca.  “To say how much in terms of a percentage of hearing loss is hard to say.”

CTVNews.ca contacted Calm Body Modification for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publishing.