I have several scars on my forearm and wrist from self harm, I have 5 major ones that are on average 2.5 cm in length and .5cm in width they are all on a diagonal to my arm. I have been able to find healthier ways of dealing with these feelings and have managed to go without self harming for 2 years now, despite having tough times still, I have been applying vitamin e oils and creams to the area on a regular basis and they have gone down a bit, however I am not comfortable showing them because of the way people react, they are also a painful reminder of the past. Are there any surgical solutions to this? I have done a bit of research but have heard many stories of people written off as soon as the surgeon has found out that they are self inflicted. It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep hiding, particularly in summer time and in the workplace. Thank you for your help.
Scars can potentially be surgically revised to excise an unsightly or wide scar. Non surgical treatment such as massage with Vitamin E oil of pressure dressing such as silicone can help. The difficulty is that the surgical revision will leave a scar and hopefully this is less unsightly than the original scar. If multiple scars need to be revised over a small area it can make the situation difficult in terms of creating an improvement. The other option is camouflage makeup similar to that used in burns cases to cover burns scars. It is a difficult problem and offer the surgical opinion you receive will be disappointing not because of the cause of the scars, but that the surgeon does not feel a major improvement can be made.