Hi everyone
I just had a quick question
what are signs of scarring?
thanx

If you have reaction that's not going away after a week or two at most.

Scarring doesn't show up for several months. Some overtreated clients may need three weeks to three months to heal from a bad electrolysis treatment . If poor electrolysis is repeated for several sessions, then it may take up to 18 months for the skin to restructure itself. If the skin still looks bad after 18 months, then other measures would come into play that only a physician could prescribe.

I've had reactions that took over a year to heal, but now no sign remains.

It could also take a week for scarring to appear. For example, I used to get large scabs on my stomach. When they fell off - or were accidentally scratched off :S - the hypopigmented skin underneath was clearly a scar.

I have olive skin and for me, if the skin gets darker, it will always clear up eventually (after up to 18 months) but if it gets lighter it means it's permanent.

Most pigmentation is not scarring as it goes away after a while. Scarring is permanent damage to the skin. That requires repeated bad treatments on the same area.

Good comment, lagirl. Most don't understand the difference between scabbing and scarring - they think the terms mean the same thing.

HYPERpigmentation is usually temporary (although often long-term), but for me, HYPOpigmentation, when the skin gets lighter, has always been permanent.

Scarring does not necessarily require repeated bad treatments. My electrolysis scars (HYPOpigmented skin) occurred in the first couple of months that I had electrolysis and have not changed at all in the last 18 months. I had fairly large scabs (not pin-prick, but about 1 mm in diametre) from single insertions. When the scabs fell off, the skin beneath was paler and has remained that way.

Think about when you get a deep cut. After the scab falls off, there is a very pale, shiny bit that will be permanent. It may gradually fade over a decade, but it will always be there. This is the kind of scarring I got from electrolysis.

Pigment changes, be it hyper- or hypo-, are not scars. A scar is a change in the tissue, not the pigment of the tissue. A scar is fibrous tissue, it replaces normal tissue, due to an injury. Hypo-pigmentation is a reduction in melanin production. This can occur without an injury, think Michael Jackson, vitiligo.

Well said, Choice. I was going to say the same thing. Pigmentation is discoloration. It's not a scar as there is no damage to the tissue itself, only a change in color, which can happen due to many things or for no reason at all. They are two separate things.

I think we're splitting hairs here.

I'm not a medical professional, but as a native English-speaker, "scar", to me, means a permanent mark.

Robot Chick was asking what the signs of scarring are. Dee, a professional electrologist, says scarring doesn't show up for several months.

I have hypopigmented spots that appeared within a couple weeks of getting electrolysis, directly under scabs that I'm sure the experts here would say were the result of overtreatment. 18+ months later, the hypopigmented spots are still there and have shown no signs of fading. The electrologist who overtreated me, who is obviously a bad electrologist, told me they were scars.

I also have a quote from Dee from another post:

White spots are called HYPOpigmentation. This occurs because melanocytes are damaged from injury to the epidermis. The melanocytes stop making pigment (color) for weeks to months. Sometimes it resolves and sometimes it is permanent.

Perhaps I've taken this quote out of context. I don't know.

Whether my hypopigmented spots are permanent or just very long-term I don't know, but I sure wouldn't want to get them anywhere else, especially on my face.