Hiding scars

tips on how to cope: dealing with your feelings, dealing with the consequences of self-harm in your life. share your ideas and maybe pick up some new skills, too. you don't have to want to stop to learn something new here.

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mirroredinsets
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Hiding scars

Post by mirroredinsets » Mon May 25, 2009 11:18 am

So, first post here. I guess I should introduce myself: I am pseudonymous, ageless, genderless, simply human. You can call me Molly.

How do those of you with wrist scars conceal them? Long-sleeved shirts all the time, or is there another way? I have heard of a product called Bio Oil which some have had success with in fading the marks; have any of you here used it?

Thanks for any input. :)

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Post by guest567 » Mon May 25, 2009 12:16 pm

Bio oil is meant to be really good for helping the marks to fade, I haven't used it myself regularly enough to see a difference but I know people that have and love it.

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Post by Kal452 » Mon May 25, 2009 10:00 pm

i might try bio oil myself, i am always looking for ways to hide my scars and at least reduce the appearance, being a man i don't have access to concealer so i cannot use that on my arm, but since the weather is getting better i am forced to wear t-shirts, otherwise i would look even more out of place. Has any one heard about using Olive Oil? i haven't myself but i heard something about it somewhere.
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Post by amyfairy » Mon May 25, 2009 10:20 pm

don't quote me on this, I may be making its up!

I've heard that the use of oils and creams in scar reduction are not effective per say, but what's important is the motion of rubbing in the oil or cream into your skin.

I'm the same as Dream - I bought bio oil but only used it a handful of times in a year as I forget - I have heard good things about it. I've also heard that Vitamin E cream is good as well.

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Post by hedgepig » Mon May 25, 2009 10:21 pm

Kal452 -
I'm not entirely sure of the benefits of using olive oil for scarring, but you will be wonderfully soft!

Molly -
I personally have had no joy with bio-oil or any other form of scar reduction treatment. The rate if improvement doesn't seem any different to if I just let things take their natural course.
Of course, things vary person to person, so I would hesitate before saying it doesn't work - some people report very good results. Just no luck for me sadly. Cocoa butter is meant to be pretty good also.

Camouflage makeup is another option - again, success varies person to person. Some people have the most amazing results with it so it may be worth a look. Worth getting someone to teach you how to apply it properly though and to work out which colours you need and how to blend them etc.
Again, very hit and miss as to whether it's suitable or not.

My scars aren't on my wrists so ideas are limited here i'm afraid, but could you wear lots of bracelets or something? Apparently Neon is back in :o so there's a chance to use lots of elastic bracelets with a migraine of colours all mixed together. Or any other collection of bracelets... neon's more jolly though :D
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Post by mirroredinsets » Mon May 25, 2009 11:42 pm

Okay, thanks everyone.

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Post by jenaniah » Tue May 26, 2009 4:55 am

Honestly I don't hide them...in the winter I wear appropriately long sleeved clothing, in the summer I wear appropriately short sleeved clothing. I am going to a get a tattoo on my lower arm that will cover some of them but I will never be able to hide and cover all of them.
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Post by Otohime » Tue May 26, 2009 8:03 am

Is there a way to hide recent scars?

I've tried concealer. It blends right through. It might help a little but not enough.

Most recently, I went with a bunch of large bandages. I got more questions about them than I was comfortable with. I passed it off saying I slipped and scrapped myself on a tree branch (perfectly believable if you know me). But when I go back to school next week, the continued use of bandages will be noticeable.

For me, long sleeves is difficult as the summers are very hot, and I'm outdoors a lot.

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Post by mirroredinsets » Tue May 26, 2009 3:09 pm

Otohime wrote:Is there a way to hide recent scars?

I've tried concealer. It blends right through. It might help a little but not enough.

Most recently, I went with a bunch of large bandages. I got more questions about them than I was comfortable with. I passed it off saying I slipped and scrapped myself on a tree branch (perfectly believable if you know me). But when I go back to school next week, the continued use of bandages will be noticeable.

For me, long sleeves is difficult as the summers are very hot, and I'm outdoors a lot.

Am I just doomed?
If the scars are very fresh, the best solution I've found for wrist scars is just hiding for a couple of weeks. If they're elsewhere it's easier though - I once went to school for a week with a still-occasionally-bleeding huge scar on my chest, and no one noticed.

Depending on how deep the cuts were, in a few weeks they might have faded enough to be unnoticable. Some of my old ones were like that.

If it would not be overly weird fashion-wise (I don't know your age or gender), hedgepig's suggestion of bracelets is worth looking at.

Something I picked up from a novel, but have not tried, is small strips of cloth covering the wrists - like sweatbands, only made out of cotton or similar and thinner, designed to look decent as well as hide the scars - but that would only work for cuts on the wrist and maybe the very end of the forearm. Dark red to hide the blood, or black if you can get away with it appearance-wise.

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Post by vampire_kisses » Wed May 27, 2009 3:22 am

you could always wear wristbands and armwarmers, too.
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Post by fexhibit » Sat May 30, 2009 2:24 pm

i think that bracelets (if they're not big enough) tend to draw attention to the area more than to hide it, especially if you don't usually wear them.

i stick with a watch on one side, series of wristbands on the other.
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Post by Booksketeer » Sun May 31, 2009 5:50 am

I'm with fexhibit here; I use a wristband to soak up the blood, then put a watch over it. I've never had anyone notice anything. The other scars on my arms I've blamed on my parrots claws.

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Post by zazie » Sun May 31, 2009 6:00 am

I'm more likely to lie than hide things. I've never had anything people could tell was SI anywhere people were likely to see. And I've only got one SI scar.

I hope you figure out something that works for you, whatever it is.
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Post by PaxPacis » Sun May 31, 2009 5:40 pm

A wide, leather wristband/bracelet or watchband maybe. There's also flesh colored silicone scar reduction sheets that apparently work pretty well from what I've read. Maybe you could try a wristband with silicone sheets underneath.

You'll find something that works

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Post by heartonmysleave » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:06 am

lots and lots of long sleaves. lol. and you can get special make-up that is quite effective, if your in england st.johns ambulance does corses in how to use make-up to hide scars.

I've used bio-oil, and it was ok. though I found the best thing for fading scars is just moisturising them ALOT. cos this also helps if they itch.

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Post by ChangeTheWorld » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:59 am

i've got a mixture of newer reddish scars + old fading ones. is the moisturizer good for them too?
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Post by heartonmysleave » Thu Jun 11, 2009 7:05 pm

generally massaging them with moisturizor will be good for them because it will help the blood supply flow to the surface, and help heal the red-ish ones, and help break down the tough scar tissue on the white ones. it really helped mine.

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Post by SplinteredGirl » Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:28 pm

i used to wear a wristband, but a couple months ago my friend had a bag ofmetal bath chains, the ones like necklaces. i wrapped them around my wrist in a kind of form of a wrist band. i really like them because it suits my style, and i have not SIed my wrist since wearing them because it takes awhile to get them off, and they remind me of my friend

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Post by vampirelover » Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:39 pm

hiya molly 8)

wearing bracelts and sticking them down with duck tape at the bottom can help so they dont slide
wrist bands , ribbons , thick watches can also work

yeh biooil is good so is pure vitamin e oil
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