This is quite hard for me to post... so please be gentle.

SunshineButterfly

I usually keep this hush hush online, and generally do not talk about it unless I have to.. but I am wanting to ask all you lovely people for your opinions on this as I am unsure if I am making the decision for ME or because how I think OTHERS are judging me.

When I was 16 I went through a period of self-harm. I am now 29 and have not self-harmed since that period at 16. Unfortunately I scar and bruise very easily.. and because of stupidity at the time I did not consider the scars that I may be left with for the rest of my life.

I have rows and rows of scars on one arm on the inside of my arm, plus quite a large one on the outside along with some smaller ones.

They are now white scars because they are old but some are still a little raised and in my opinion they are very very noticable. At times I have been judged by professionals and called silly or stupid... even though it is obvious that they are very very old scars.

I am considering getting a tattoo to cover as many scars as I can. Birds in black with a motivational word such as "inspire".. but I cannot decide if this in it self will draw MORE attention to the scars than just dealing with having them?

So I guess my question is... do you judge others with scars like these? Do you treat them differently? Would you notice them more if they were tattooed over? (obviously they will still be visable on closer inspection).

I hope this post doesnt seem silly and I hope it makes sense.

Tiglath

I wouldn't get a tattoo to cover them, I really wouldn't. It sounds as if it would need to be a big tattoo to cover them, and I think a tattoo would be more negatively viewed by say an employer. I'm not against tats (have 2 myself) but presuming this is your forearm it would be very noticeable. Who are the professionals who judged you? BTW I wouldn't judge people for scars - lots of us go through a troubled period in our teens. Would you be considering a tat there if you didn't have the scars? I think that's your answer.

Pechow

I wouldn't mind or judge and think anyone who did isn't worth your time, including the "professionals" that called you silly/stupid.

If you wanted to cover them with a tattoo, you could consider going in and talking to an artist, and asking what they think-whether there are designs they could suggest that could hide them or include them in it. Without seeing them specifically I couldn't say whether the design would draw attention to them or not though.

Molly41

Have you thought about having them looked at by a plastic surgeon?

It has been suggested to us as an option for my son's very angry keloid scarring.

Dont be ashamed of your scars - they are much more common than you think x

burnoutbabe

If i saw old scars I am very likely to just think it was an ancient accident you had gone through and think no more about it.

Tattoos, I'd think very differently. Certain jobs would be ruled out for you. best to just leave them as white scars.

fashionlover10

I can completely sympathise! I went through a spell of self-harming at 14 and have rows of scars down my arms.

To be honest though mine aren't overly noticeable so I can't fully understand that part of it. I don't really pay much notice to mine but I don't think I would want to cover them up as they're a part of me and what I have achieved in terms of recovery.
I think done well a tattoo would cover them but if it's done badly it could draw more attention to them so my only advice would be to choose your tattoo artist wisely.

Linda32

Hi, Its not silly at all and it does make sense.

Rather brave of you to post as well, if I may say.

If you were sat next to me, I very much doubt I would notice to be honest. When I was younger (I'm 41 now) I often wondered what people thought of me. I often thought I was quite "good enough" in various situations.

Now I think I realise that most people are wrapped up in themselves to notice others.

I say a quote on fb a while ago which I liked. Its a bit flippant but it works.

It went something along these lines.....

"What other people think of you is none of your business" :rotfl:

Torry_Quine

I wouldn't think badly of you if I saw the scars but I couldn't say the same for a large tattoo to try and hide them.

SunshineButterfly

I have asked my GP in the past which was quite hard for me to do, and was basically told they wouldn't consider offering anything other than scar make-up which I tried but didn't think it covered them any more.
You are correct I am only considering a tattoo there because I have the scars.

I do already have 1 tattoo on my wrist on that arm of a self-injury ribbon as a butterfly which I think looks really nice and I got that because I at the time felt proud of my scars as it means I have recovered and gotten through that period in my time. But when others voice their opinions or challenge me about my scars I feel terrible, as though I am not as worthy as others.

The professionals that have judged me are dentists, midwives, nurses. People that I wouldn't not expect to judge me, but have.

annie_d

I would absolutely not judge anyone with scars from self harming, nor from tattoos. I do think tattoos would be viewed more negatively though, generally.

bluenoseam

It might also be difficult to tattoo over the scar tissue - I seem to remember an episode of Miami Ink talking about it being tricky. You'll probably find that most people won't associate it with self harm and those who do, probably won't judge you for it. However there will be people who'll negatively judge you for having visible tattoos - inclusive of employers.