Spring, Summer and Scars

Spring finally seems to have arrived bringing with it some welcome warmth. However the advent of warmer weather often poses a problem for those who self harm – namely that of scars. In the winter it is easy to cover up and therefore hide scars that we don’t wish others to see but in summer this becomes more difficult, especially for those who have to wear certain clothes or uniforms for work or school, which reveal the arms for example.

One of the least invasive and most effective ways to reduce the appearance of scars permanently is through the use of silicone gel treatments (for a review of the evidence see http://www.clinicalanswers.nhs.uk/index.cfm?question=843) which help to flatten and soften the scar tissue as well as reducing discolouration. These treatments usually take the form of a silicone gel sheet which is placed over the scar for up to 12 hours a day or a topical gel cream which is applied directly to the scars you wish to treat. Silicone gel sheets are available in many pharmacies, for example Boots Scar Reduction Pads which cost £19.99 for 2 adhesive gel sheets for up to 60 days treatment. If you feel able to talk to your GP then you should be able to get treatment on prescription which will be alot cheaper or free if you don’t pay for prescriptions. Brands that you may be prescribed are Cica-Care, a gel sheet which claims to be effective on scars up to 20 years old, or Dermatix which is a topical gel cream. Gel cream is preferable where scars are situated on the face or on areas where it would be difficult to keep a gel sheet in place. You can also wear make-up over the creams. If for some reason you cannot or don’t want to get them from your GP then it is possible to purchase them yourself (type the brand names into a search engine and you will find online shops which stock them) but they are expensive.

For some scars are an unwanted by-product of self harm which may cause distress, embarassment and shame and therefore the treatments above are a possible solution to this. However for others scars may hold important significance which they don’t want to erase. They may symbolise emotions that the holder cannot express, a physical sign of psychological pain and serve as a needed reminder of internal battles which have been won. In these situations treatment which permanently gets rid of these signs may not be appropriate. However you may still wish to keep scars secret and therefore it may be worth considering skin camouflage treatments whereby specialist make-up is used to hide scars.

The British Red Cross provide a skin camouflage service in which specially trained volunteers teach people to use cover creams, matched to the persons skin tone, which are long lasting and waterproof. To take advantage of their service you will need a referral from your GP who will then also provide you with the creams on prescription. For further information on skin-camouflage treatments, including those that can be purchased without prescription, see http://www.skin-camouflage.net .