5 Things You Need To Consider Before Tattooing Over Self-Harm Scars
As tattoos continue to gain popularity, there are a growing number of articles out there written by mental health advocates, explaining how tattooing over their self-harm scars have given them a new sense of confidence. When you google tattoos and self-harm scars, the images and designs are in abundance; from small butterflies and quotes, to the beginnings of a sleeve or full sleeves.
I started planning my tattoos when I turned 16, desperately looking for designs big enough to cover the worst scars. Looking back, I’m glad I started my search early, because my way of thinking has completely changed in the past 7 years. I did my research and spoke to a tattoo artist about my plans. Some weren’t going to work without minor changes and other ideas needed scrapped completely. Like everything else, it’s a learning experience.
So, what do you need to think about before tattooing over your self-harm scars (or any scars for that matter!) Here are five things you need to consider before getting your ‘tatts’:
Give Your Scars Appropriate Time To Heal
You may think because the wound is healed and no longer bleeding, perhaps still red/pink in colour, that you’ll be able to tattoo over it in no time. That isn’t the case.
The larger the scar, the more time it will need to heal. Most tattoo artists ask you to wait at least a year before tattooing over a scar to ensure it is fully healed. You’ll notice a change in colour; often scars start as harsh red lines, turning pink then eventually fading to white. You want your scar to be white before considering consulting with your tattoo artist.
It may seem like a long time to wait, but if you tattoo over a scar that isn’t fully healed, you run the risk of the wound breaking open again. This would set you back another year, so is it worthwhile rushing? No, not at all.
Consider Your Design and How It Will Look
I’m not going to preach to you about choosing a design that is meaningful and special to you. At the end of the day, if you want something on your body, go ahead and do it; I’m not your mother. However, whether you decide to get something meaningful or just something you like, you need to consider aspects of it’s design. These include: size/placement, colour/shading and are you covering it or incorporating it?
Initially, I wanted my flower tattoos on my scarred arm. However, after talking to my tattoo artist, we agreed that due to the size of the tattoo and the shading, the flowers would look warped. I decided I’d come up with another idea for my scarred arm, that could incorporate the scars into the design.
Size/Placement - when choosing your design, you need to be mindful of the size of area you are wanting to cover. If you’re looking at getting a large area covered, you need to take into consideration your pain tolerance and whether or not you’d be happy with a large design. You might decide on a few smaller designs with ‘filler’ in between. This way, you can slowly add to it and you aren’t fully committing to one larger design. The last thing you want to do is say to yourself, “I want to cover my whole arm, what’s a big design? Oh, a dragon, that would do!” You’ll find yourself a couple of years later regretting not spending more time thinking it through. Sleeves, or half-sleeves often take a lot years of planning before people commit to them. Don’t rush your thinking.
Colour/Shading - you have your design in mind, you’ll know by now how much ink you’re going to be using, and we’re not talking about size now. Something to consider is the thickness of your lines/text/pattern. If you have a design made up of thin lines, you run the chance of these running off course. As your skin will be raised where your scars have been, you won’t necessarily get those perfect lines and shapes, though you reduce the risk of this being noticeable if you add colour, or adapt the design to accommodate blockier, thicker lines or shading.
Choosing whether to incorporate your scars or cover them - this is down to personal preference when deciding why you’re wanting your tattoo over your scars. You can choose your tattoo and have it incorporate your scars, so they aren’t necessarily covered but they are framed, or tied into your scars. For example, some people use the line(s) as part of the design, rather than a tattooed line, or they’ll choose a design that features the scar (Like an arrow, using the scar line as the shaft and simply tattooing the arrow tip and fletching.)(Yes, I had to google parts of an arrow to ensure that made sense..) Your alternative choice is to have it covered by the design, which is as simple as it sounds, as long as you take into account the first two points. The decision asks you whether the purpose of your tattoo is to hide the scars, or you are turning them into their own art with the help of the ink!
Shop Around for an Experienced Tattoo Artists
You may feel inclined to return to your favourite artists, or the most highly recommended artist for your design. Under other circumstances, I’d tell you to go with your heart and go to the artist you are best drawn to from their designs and reviews alone. However, if you want a true representation of what your artwork will look like over your scars, ask to see their portfolio for tattooing over scars.
Some artists are more experienced in working with scars, whether they are from self-harm, surgeries, or accidents. Though, it’s rare to find an artist that has done a lot of work with scars (unless that is big part of their portfolio and something they advertise), even a few examples of an artist’s work can give you a good indication on how your scars will cover. Something that is common when tattooing over scars is something called blowout. Blowout is when the tattoo ink spreads to the areas of skin around your tattoo. It essentially makes your tattoo look a bit hazy and blurry. It can be resolved with shading or alterations to your tattoo, but you need a great, professional tattoo artist to resolve it, and many artists do not touch someone else’s work. Do your research, look at portfolios, and think long about your tattoo artist.
Consider Your Pain Threshold
This is going to be a quick pointer because if you’ve had a tattoo done before, you know it can be painful as hell, depending on what part of your body you have tattooed.
Now take that pain and add more. If you choose to tattoo over your scars, you're tattooing over more sensitive, newer skin. So if you think getting your feet tattooed was bad enough, you might want to reconsider your tattooing options.
Be Realistic
The last pointer on this post, is to be realistic about your expectations. If you’re choosing to tattoo over your scars to hide them, your tattoo will never 100% cover your scars. When you look closely, you will still see them. So if your aim is to make them invisible to the human eye, you're not going to be happy with the outcome.
As I’ve said before in the article, depending on your design and how you’re incorporating/covering your scar; there will still be a high chance of the tattoo not looking as good as it would on unscarred skin. That’s the reality of it. You must be honest with yourself and ask yourself whether you’d be happy with a few flaws in your tattoo. If you couldn’t live with it, again, tattooing over your scars wouldn’t be the best decision to make if it would annoy you more than your naked scars.
Finally, make sure you’re considering your tattoo or getting your tattoo for you. It’s your skin and you should be proud of your body, scars or no scars. If your scars don’t bother you, don’t feel like you should consider covering them because other people don’t like the look of them or comment negatively about them. It’s your body, your past, your future. Do everything for yourself, nobody else.
Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy and stay positive. And remember, someone out there cares about you, so if you need help or feel like chatting, reach out.
Beth
