Skin Graft Scarring
Do you have scars from a skin graft? Do you cover them up? Read how Medical Tattooing can reduce the visibility of Skin Graft Scarring.
Scarring will affect at least one-third of the population, and everyone will be affected in a different way. The scar may be obvious or hidden but it can still have a huge impact on someone’s life and confidence. A patient of mine has a skin graft on her eye. For her, it’s a very obvious defined area that looks different from the rest of her skin. It’s not a simple job of colouring in the graft to look like the rest of her skin because the area around the eyes is so defined with lines and different colours, tones, and textures. It needs a detailed type of tattooing incorporating wrinkles, skin texture, shadows and highlights whilst trying to camouflage the fact that the graft area is slightly raised making it even more pronounced.
Treating skin graft scarring
During the treatment, the area reacts immediately to needles and will swell within about 10 minutes of working on it. As soon as there is swelling and redness you lose that blank piece of skin that you need to draw on. Suddenly you have a swollen red area and cannot see the detail anymore. It’s then necessary to stop, take time for the healing process, and perform follow-up treatments anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks later. This means this type of treatment can take a long time with only minor changes happening. Your patient needs to trust you, you need to trust the process and you need to be willing to work a small amount at a time, knowing that time heals skin and with each treatment a bit more reality will be gained. Grafts tend to take time for the pigment to sit in the skin properly, the colour doesn’t tend to hold very well and so often you need to go much darker than expected.
Again this takes trust, patience and dedication.
This was quite a different process from another skin graft patient where she had a larger area on her forearm from an old tattoo removal. The graft covered the majority of her forearm, was presenting with hyperpigmentation as well as hyperpigmentation, and had caused a considerable amount of concern over the years. The treatment process took approximately an hour and a half for each session. A very different experience from the 15-20 minute sessions mentioned above. A number of colours were needed to work into the graft to even up the texture and the discolouration. The first treatment gave a base colour for which the second and third treatments could work on top of. The pigment is applied in layers over a period of time.
From the initial appointment in March to the end of July there was a total of three treatments. We are now at a point of at least 85% coverage and have booked one more treatment for October to really fine-tune the whole area. However, the difference in visibility is already making an impact, and my patient kindly agreed to share her experience in order for others to relate to.
Patient story
“Living with a scar!
I have had a large scar on my forearm from having a Tattoo at the age of 16 – a huge mistake which I have never stopped regretting even now, many years later.
I had it removed after only a few months via a skin graft. There was no laser treatment at that time so the scar area is quite large and different in colours.
Since then I have covered it up religiously with long sleeves, even in Summertime, by finding loose lightweight blouses. At other times I have made large bangles, being inventive and gluing a few together to try and hide it. I also tried camouflage makeup but this rubbed off on my clothes so back to long sleeves!
I considered having a tattoo to cover it after seeing a TV programme about tattoos that went wrong but really didn’t want to try this. However, while researching this, I stumbled across medical tattooing and found Rae Denman’s website. I had never heard of medical tattooing before and was so relieved to think there might, at last, be some way to disguise my scar so I can wear short sleeves again.
So I started a course of treatments a few months ago and already it is much less noticeable. Before it was very white where the skin graft was taken from and darker on the grafted area.
Recently I let my daughter video me playing with my granddaughter with my arm in view, and you wouldn’t have noticed the scar. The colour is so much more even, no longer shining white, and most importantly no bracelets or make-up needed!
For the first time in 45 years, I have let a picture of me be seen with my bare arm in view. This may sound crazy but it is a huge step for me. I am so glad I found a treatment to make my scar so much less noticeable. Rae has worked hard getting the right pigment colours for me, and has always explained exactly what to expect. It wasn’t painful and I am just so happy to have found a solution to hiding my huge mistake at last! Thank you Rae.”
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