THE needles and talismans are not a form of medication to cure diseases, the Thai monk said.

Archan Numdit also insisted that they are made of gold, which is inert, unlike some alloys which might cause an adverse reaction.

But consultant dermatologist Eileen Tan pointed out that there is still the risk of gold allergy. 'It is rare, but it has been reported,' she said. 'If it happens, the white blood cells will move to the area to wall it off.'

And there might be rashes, swelling and skin inflammation.

Dr Tan said that if the needle is not properly sterilised, the person can get a bacterial or, more rarely, fungal infection too.

She said: 'There are vital blood vessels in the neck though not as many in the arms and legs.'

She said that anyone with a bad reaction to such insertions should see a doctor right away to get the item removed.

The doctor will also prescribe anti-inflammatory medicine and antibiotics.

Prominent plastic surgeon Woffles Wu, however, thinks that while such needle insertion is 'superstition' it is 'relatively harmless'.

He said: 'The natural tendency for the body is to extrude the needles outwards - to get rid of them - not inwards where the vital organs are.

'It has a low level of danger, like tattooing. The... danger increases if they are not sterile.'

Dr Wu has removed needles from the faces of a few patients.

He said: 'These needles are small, thin, flexible and relatively soft. They're placed in the skin or subcutaneous tissue, which is about 1cm to 2cm thick, away from the major blood vessels.'

An Indonesian woman in her 20s once came to his clinic at the Camdem Medical Centre complaining of a pain in her cheek.

An X-ray showed about 50 tiny needles.

'They were all over her face, but she claimed she didn't have them inserted and didn't know how they got there,' he said.

He suggested surgically removing them, but she left to think it over, and did not return.

Another patient was a man who claimed to be a bomoh or black magic practitioner.

Dr Wu said: 'He told me he had placed the needle in his eyelid by 'magic' but needed a doctor to remove it.

'So I operated on him and fished out a little gold needle and gave it back to him.'

The needle had been inserted below the eyebrow but had moved to the eyelid, where it was causing the man pain.

'There was the danger that, if someone had pushed him, the needle could have pierced his eyeball and caused trauma, but I won't go so far as to say it would cause blindness,' said Dr Wu.

The procedure was 'a little complicated' and cost about $1,000.

This story was first published in The New Paper on Nov 13, 2008.