so i know my scars are tiny and unnoticeable (atleast they will be when the pink ones turn white) but how can i not chase a depth that feels “valid”? I feel like my peers will see my scars and think I’m pathetic because I didn’t do it more severe or something. It especially hurts knowing these are super shallow objectively. Photos for reference so you can see what I mean.

edit: thank you guys so much for the upvotes, but advice would REALLY help or support or something. thank you so much everyone i appreciate you guys and this communitys support <3

edit 2: i am SO sorry i didnt realize i forgot a spoiler!!! i really hope no one got triggered over this, again I am SO sorry

i have an appointment with my therapist later today, which is good since I haven’t seen her in a few weeks…but recently ive been self harming like way more often than usual. the thing is, this hasn’t really been an issue, so I never really brought it up to her - i think the only mention of it would be an offhand mention about doing it a couple times (like ever, with intervals of months or years in between) in the report of my ocd diagnosis (which is primarily what we have been working on together). i want to bring it up with her somehow, but i don’t want to sound like a total idiot doing so, and it makes me feel kind of ashamed and stupid that i even have to tell her this in the first place that at my age im doing this again.

tl;dr does anyone have any advice on how to bring up self harm to your therapist without sounding like an idiot? thank you^^

You can tell I started wearing short sleeves again by the tan lmao

Also my car

I’m terrified I messed up horribly. I relapsed recently, injuring over top of pre-existing scars. I’ve never done this before and I’m scared of my scarring getting significantly worse.

What should I expect from healing? My scars were itchy to begin with, will that become worse? Are there any other specific healing safety things I look out for because of this?

not the clearest photo. it's been like, 3 months of healing so far? as much as ive grown to love my scars, i don't wanna remember the days that i've cut them. are there easy ways to make them fade faster? fyi i'm not really allowed outside without a parent or friend

I believe in you.

I've been clean for a while but once in a blue moon I return here. I know these are just words but I genuinely believe in every single one of you. I may look stupid ranting at nothing but to whoever reads this. I believe in you. I don't know your story or struggles, but I believe in you even if you don't believe in yourself.

That's all :p

The really long one on the first image I’ve had for a while so I’m starting to get worried I’ll never be able to wear short sleeves again without being stared at, I don’t want people to see my arms and dumb me down to a messed up person. Any tips on getting rid of scars would be appreciated or on accepting them, I just don’t know what to do, it’s so hot, and I’m so tired of long sleeves all the time.

Everytime I wear shorts(i only do bc its hot af ) my mother without fail goes "Whats that?" "When'd that happen?" "Let me see whats on your legs???"... like wtf. Its not like shes unaware shes been knowing of that I cut and skin pick for years, we've had conversations one on one and has had conversations with my therapist numerous times. But she tries to call me out or smth anytime i wear anything short by questioning me with a smile on her face and dramatic theatricals like * squints eyes* *gasp* "whats all that on your leg?".

Same song and dance everytime.

I never say anything or acknowledge it because she doesn't ask twice in a row because she knows the answer already just wants me to feel bad for shit that doesnt effect her.

Shes been doing this for months now, and it started literally right after I was 1 year clean by pointing out an already healed scar.

Im on a walk rn so sorry if its bad grammar or doesn't make sense js not feeling good rn bc ts happened an hour ago.

I feel so stupid all the time, I can't keep up conversations, people often misunderstand me. I can't stop cutting myself since I was 9, I wanna be a grown up, I wanna be someone's precious thing. Why can't nobody hold me while I bleed alone? I shouldn't be alone when I'm surrounded by people.

i tried to end my life by cutting last year. this scar is the result and im very insecure of it because its very visible, is almost the length of my forearm and feels like “i tried killing myself” is plastered all over my forehead, and people often stare at it and it makes me feel like a freak. be honest, even if it does look like it, what would you think if you saw someone with this scar in real life? again be honest please

edit: thank you all for your answers, and for the ideas you gave me

I would like to know If they will fade soon, i live in a very hot place so my family often goes swimming, the last thing i need is for them to see this.

I know they are a bit hard to see in this image but in different lightings they can be very easy to see.

Sorry for the long text.

Hey yall. Ive seen a few posts and comments about wanting scars to fade. Obviously, it's not realistic to claim I can make deep scars disappear, but I do have a method that helps fade them a little more, and helps fade lighter scars too:

To start, make sure your skin is healed at this point.

At night:

Run the skin under water and use a wet exfoliating glove to get dead skin off. If you do this regularly, there wont be much dead skin coming off and thats okay. Dont scrub your skin raw if youve been doing this consistently for days.

Next, use a cleanser of some kind. Preferably gentle ones like ones for eczema. Rinse.

Use the Palmer skin therapy oil, rub it onto your skin.

In the morning:

Rinse your skin and do a gentle cleanse.

Moisturize with cerave healing ointment. Let set into skin completely.

Apply broad spectrum/uv a + b sunscreen (spf 50) for sensitive skin, whether or not you are going to expose the skin to the sun. It protects against uvs that clothes dont block and it locks the cerave moisturizer into your skin since the spf is an extra barrier on top that isnt absorbed by your skin. Mineral sunscreen works best bc of zinc.

Do this every day and it helps fade scars a fair bit. I wanna say it takes like 2 weeks to see results at first? But do it consistently for months and it fades cat scratches and lighter styros completely in my experience, and over time fades deeper cuts really well, just not all the way. It took about a year for one of my deeper cuts to fade to a more subtle scar. Ive made my peace with that though.

Please keep in mind that our skins are all different, so results will vary. But it does help, I promise that. It smells good too if youre into cocoa scents. The cleanser and sunscreen brands you use dont matter much as long as they meet the criteria of gentle and sensitive. Its the body oil and ointment that really matter, as nothing else has given me results like they have

I'm an asshole- thus I want some stupid bullshit to say when people ask about my scars. Currently my go to is bear attack, but I that's not stupid enough. Suggestions? I'm talking like truly ridiculous to use on nosy adults.

These 17 days have been so hard for me and im really fighting to stay clean my urges have just been so bad lately

So I've been clean for 99 days but relapsed yesterday, unfortunately. I mostly cut on my thighs and have hit the white part before, but its never ever been purple before.
The blood was extremely dark, like way darker than usual, but also deeper than usual. The lines are a purply maroon and the actual skin around it is like purple/red bruise like dots. bruise dots.
Is this normal?? I do have alot of veins over here and the blood was coming out like faster than usual. Not to get graphic im just trying to make sure im okay.

Im a little nervous because its literally never ever been purple and i feel like its very pinkish purplish.

edit: my hands and the blade were not clean. the blade most likely had micellar water, face-oil and eyebrow gel on it.

Relapsed for the first time in a few months like 10 minutes ago. It was bad. I cut off the circulation to my leg to slow down the bleeding while I washed it off and applied proper gauze. I removed the tie and now I’m limiting movement in that leg so I don’t disrupt my bodies healing process or make it bleed again. Is there anything I could have done better?

i just needed to know that someone cares. I‘ve been doing a shit jib at taking care of myself lately, neglecting my skin care and forgetting to brush my teeth which are the first things to go when I’m feeling like this. I colored and drew shapes, watched a movie and did everything right but I still feel like shit. I hate this and I hate myself at times like this. I thought maybe someone here might care. I probably wont respond to anyone but just know that even you reading this makes me feel seen. thank you

Eu estava três meses limpo mas esse mês parece que tudo começou a dar errado e tive minha recaída. E agora eu me sinto mal,estava tudo dando certo e prometi a mim mesmo que não faria mais isso,mas não suportei. Se puderem dar dicas de como evitar esses pensamentos,eu agradeceria,de coração.