The Friday Follow-up

Today’s follow-up is going to be a little different as IAM: Nilrem has not only sent in photos of his scars as they healed, but also wrote about them.  So today, you get to hear about the scar healing process from the owner of the scars.  But first, here’s how the scar looked right after Brian initially cut it.

The follow up ‘Healed’ pictures are of scars that are 2.5 years old. The were initially cut by Brian Decker of Pure Body Arts in Brooklyn NY, then after healing 5 months later, they were branded over with a hyfrecator for a 2nd round of scarification.

I knew that when getting scarification that the results would vary based on individual healing characteristics, so to not have any expectations. I hoped for a strong visible scar, but was willing to try knowing I may not get exactly what I want. I have very stretchy skin, and I speculate that for this reason I havent scarred as well as I would hope. For this reason, I got the same scar done twice. Initially I thought I wasnt fully satisfied with my experience with scarification, but I have since changed my mind. It might be more subtle then I had initially envisioned but the current pictures I have are taken after I got a recent tan, and when that happens the scars pop, and really highlight my tattoo and I just love it.Even if the elevation of my scar is inconsistent I still think that simple scarification accents work really well with my style of getting simple tattoo designs and words.

You can read the rest of his story after the break.

I wanted to submit this followup, as I think using scars as an outline of lettering tattoo, is semi unique. I have seen other scar and tattoo combinations and scars to create words, but not scars to outline an existing written tattoo.  I think its good to see results on someone who is into scarification, but knows that the elevation of the scars will not be consistently as raised or uniform as desired.

One thing to point out is that the aftercare can be exhausting. I always heard that its best to cover fresh scarification for 4-5 weeks, to make it heal extremely slow. Keeping it covered means wrapping it with clear wrap like probably 2-3 times a day. I went through a ton of plastic ziplock bags that I cut in half and medical tape. Occasionally the area under the wrap would get irritated, so I would hold off for a day or 2 and use diaper rash cream. Afterwards as the scar starts to show noticeable closure, the next step is to irritate the skin with sugar&vaseline or light brushing with a toothbrush. In total your looking at a good 2 months before you just leave it alone and dont touch it. It just drains on you after awhile, to always carry bags and tape around, and to have to go to the bathroom when the wrap gets to moist with sweat etc. Depending on the location, wearing the wraps wasnt noticeable, but I started to hate hearing the crinkle of the plastic, and just wanted to be free. After it was time to leave the scar alone to heal, I let it do its thing for a good 1.5 months. This was a nice break, but after 2 months I would like longer. However in my situation knowing how I dont heal as well, and that my scar is now over 4 months old, I figure its best to give it a 2nd attempt at professional scarring, before it starts to really heal at 1yr+. So I jump right back into the 2nd scarring of the same piece, and the process starts over again. In the end its like 6 months before I leave it alone, and its the biggest relief ever, that you almost dont care if it doesnt come out great, you know you tried hard as hell.

Thank you Nilrym for sharing your experience with us.  You can see more photos of his scars in the scarification galleries and his IAM page.