Scarification

Scarification is a permanent body modification that uses scar tissue produced by the body to form designs, pictures, or words in the skin. Scars are most often formed by cutting or branding the skin. Scarification is sometimes called cicatrization (from the French equivalent).

Methods

Scarification is not a precise art; there are many variables, such as skin type, depth of the cut, and how the wound is treated while healing, that make the outcome somewhat unpredictable.

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The body creates the scar, not the artist; it is important to keep in mind that a method that works well on one person may not work so well on another. Also, the scars tend to spread a bit as they heal, so scarifications are usually relatively simple designs -- small details can easily get swallowed up in the healing process.

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• Branding
• Strike branding -- This is basically the same process used to brand livestock. A piece of metal is heated and pressed onto the skin for the brand. However, the brand is usually done piece by piece rather than all at once. For example, to get a V-shaped brand, two lines would be burned separately by a straight piece of metal, rather than by a V-shaped piece of metal.
• Cautery branding -- This is a less common form of branding that uses a tool similar to a cautery-iron to cause the burns.
• Laser branding -- The fancy term for laser branding is "electrocautery branding." The electrocautery unit is more like an arc welder for skin than a medical laser (though it is possible to use a medical laser for scarification). Electric sparks jump from the device to the skin, vaporizing the skin. This is a more precise form of scarification, because it is possible to regulate the depth and nature of the skin damage being done.
• Cold branding -- This rare method of branding is the same thing as strike branding, except that the metal branding tool is subjected to extreme cold (such as liquid nitrogen) rather than extreme heat. This method will cause the hair on the brand to grow back white and will not cause any keloiding.
• Cutting (not to be confused with self-harm)
• Lines are cut with surgical blades. Extended cutting techniques include:
• Ink rubbing -- This is where tattoo ink (or another sterile coloring agent) is rubbed into a fresh cut. Most of this ink will remain in the skin as the cut heals, and will have the same basic effect as a tattoo. (Though, as with tattoos, it is important not to pick the scabs because this will pull out the ink.) The general public often interprets ink-rubbings as badly done tattoos.
• Skin removal/skinning -- Cutting in single lines produces relatively thin scars, and skin removal is a way to get a larger area of scar tissue. The outlines of the area of skin to be removed will be cut, and then the skin to be removed will be peeled away. Scars from this method often have an inconsistent texture.
• Packing -- This method is uncommon in the West, but has traditionally been used in Africa. A cut is made diagonally and an inert material such as clay or ash is packed into the wound; massive keloids are formed during healing as the wound pushes out the substance that had been inserted into the wound.
• Abrasion -- Scars can be formed by removing layers of skin through abrasion. This can be done using a tattooing device (with no ink), or basically anything to remove skin through friction (such as sandpaper). This method of abrasion is somewhat common for people who wish to do their own scarifications, and are just trying things out -- they will use a needle/pin to scrape away the skin into the pattern they wish. This is not recommended -- safety first!
• Chemical scarification-- This type of scarification uses abrasive chemicals to induce scarring; the effects are typically very similar to other, simpler forms of scarring so there has been little research on the method.