I recently had my second scarification experience. Because the past one didn't go so well, I decided to do another one. One that I could possibly enjoy for the rest of my life. A star. Only this time, I decided to use some better tools such as a scalpel, rather than a threading needle like the last time.

Fortunately, this time I believe I was more prepared. The last time I had done a scarification, I had used a needle. But not just any needle, a threading needle one would use for sewing. I suppose it worked well, aside from the scraping of the skin and it lasting only about a year, that I decided it was time to use the right tools. A good friend of mine that had a doctor for a father, somehow managed to get a nice, sterilized scalpel. To me, and I'm sure to most people that have done a scarification, this works MUCH better than some stupid threading needle. After cleaning the scalpel once again, just in case, and cleaning the area I had decided to put my star, I took a deep breath and began. At once, I found how much easier it was to use this scalpel instead of the threading needle. I didn't really have to go over it nearly as much as the needle. I also noticed that it made clean cuts instead of the scraping of the skin that the needle made. This also helped with there being a less amount of pain, which I thought was good. My first scarification had had a burning sensation for quite awhile after and I noticed that about every weekend I had to re-trace the scar. This time, sure there was still a burning sensation, but it didn't have to be re-traced. I'm guessing that I will have to go back and re-trace it maybe within a couple months, just to assure that it will in fact stay a scar. That's completely fine with me because now I don't have to re-trace it so often. The cuts that I made were fairly deep and more precise than my first experience, so I'm thinking that this will make the scar last longer. I'll probably update this after a month or so about how it's doing... 1 month. Well, it's been about a month and I think it's time to go over the scar once again. I figured why send this in right after the scarification experience when I can just type it out, then update it until the whole experience was finished? So there ya go. Hmm, so I finally went over the scar again because I could tell it was somewhat starting to fade. I can still see it pretty well, but just to make sure, I think I should go over it. Looking at the scar now, I can tell that I didn't go as deep as I thought I had. Again, I cleaned the scar to get rid of any germs it might have had and brought out a new scalpel blade I had got from the same friend that gave me the scalpel. And again, just to make sure, I cleaned the scalpel blade with a nice anti-bacterial soap and found a nice, lighted place to re-trace my star, which ended up being my bathroom haha. I washed my hands, scalpel blade, and the star all once again to insure that no germs were to get into the cutting. After all the cleaning had taken place, I was finally able to start the cutting once again. This time, I focused mainly on of course staying within the lines that had already been cut into my ankle, but also to make sure that this time, the blade was cutting deeper to insure that I wouldn't have to keep cutting a star into my ankle every month. After I was finished re-tracing the star, I disposed the blade of the scalpel, washed my newly cut star, as well as my hands. With this cutting, it didn't hurt as much as my scarification experiences had before. My first scarification hurt, but that's probably because I was scraping the skin instead of actually cutting into the skin. By now, I think it doesn't hurt as much because I've become used to the feeling somewhat, so that's definitely a good thing to me. I believe this time the cutting will not need to be re-traced because it was so much more deeper than it was the first time I cut the star into the skin. We'll see. 1+1/2 months. I believe it's healing well. I can definitely see a well defined imprint in my ankle that is an obvious star. I'm so happy that it finally worked! Just some ideas for people that want to try scarification... Do NOT use a threading needle like I did. All it's really good for is a temporary mark. If that's what you want, then go for it. But if
want a long lasting scar, try a scalpel. Make sure you wash all your tool, hands, and the area you plan on cutting. I tried an anti-bacterial soap and that worked well. All in all, I think this was finally a great scarification experience for me and I'm very happy with the end results.