Anon Ask #1: Tattooing Over Scars

[mayalaen]

Anon: What's your advice on tattooing over old self injury scars? Most are very old (like over a decade), smooth, flat, etc, but some are roughly 12 months and still really pink/raised/easily irritated, plus a few that are basically like dents in the skin. I'm way too embarrassed to ask for an artist's advice in person, but I've always wanted full sleeves and I kind of feel like it might be impossible now.

Tattooing over scars, including self-injury scars, is totally do-able. Please don’t feel it’s impossible, and please don’t feel embarrassed over them.

Tattoo artists are used to being different than everybody else. They appreciate the unique, especially if it has a story behind it or it’s a part of a person’s life. They tend to be less judge-y than the general public, especially if it has anything to do with mental illness, substance abuse, or any sort of trauma. It’s rare that I’ve found a tattoo artist who turns their nose up at self-injury, and those were assholes anyway.

Scar tissue doesn’t take ink as well, so it might take two to three sessions for the ink to “stick,” but that’s the hardest part of the whole thing! And it’s not a given that you’ll need two or three sessions, I just wanted to warn you it’s a possibility.

My artists love the challenge of covering or working scars into their designs, and if you find a good artist, they’ll have no problem with it.

I personally have self-injury scars that are tattooed over. On my arm, in particular, my artist used it in the tattoo itself. The gaming character is throwing a punch, and the scars were used to give the appearance of the character’s arm swishing across my arm. I wanted my scars to be used as part of the design because my scars are a part of me and my history. It took three sessions for the ink to “stick” in the scar tissue.

Some people say it hurts worse to get tattooed over scars, but not everybody experiences this. Mine hurt less than un-scarred skin, but it was an odd kind of prickly sensation, so be ready for it to feel a little different. It’s nothing to fret over, though. It’s extremely rare someone has a lot of pain with it, and even then they don’t regret it once it’s done.

Under the cut, I’m going to show you some examples of both cover-ups of scars and scars being used as part of the design. If you’re triggered by old self-injury pictures, then please skip, but if it doesn’t bother you, you might be very encouraged if you do a Google image search for “tattoo cover self injury.” There’s a LOT of options out there :)

When someone tattoos over a scar, whether it’s to cover it up or to use it as part of a tattoo, it empowers them. They’ve done something positive with something that could have very negative feelings attached to it. I highly recommend people tattoo over or around their scars as a way to have closure, reclaim their own body, and have something to be very proud of.

I hope you get what you’re looking for you and find a reason to love your skin, nonnie!

Please excuse the lack of darker skin tones in the pics below. These were the first few that came up when I did a quick search. It doesn’t matter what your skin tone is! Scars can still be covered and/or used as part of the design even if some artists tell you it’s impossible. It someone tells you this, look for a new artist who knows what they’re doing.