Well, it’s been two years since the very first Friday Follow-up post.  In that time we’ve seen some of the most incredible scars, and heard some remarkable stories.  The main purpose of the follow-up is, and always will be, to showcase scarification and branding beyond the first day.  Two years ago, seeing healed scars on ModBlog was pretty rare, mostly due to the fact that scarification takes so long to heal.  With a tattoo or piercing, then end result is visible immediately, and you have a pretty good idea of how it’ll look in a few months time.  With scarification taking so long, it’s no wonder that artists don’t have as many healed photos as they do fresh ones, so many things can happen over the course of a year that can make it difficult to get a new photo.  This is especially relevant to artists who tour, as they may not return to a location for a significant period of time.

The reason I’ve bringing all this up today is because when I was browsing the galleries I recognized a scar that I first featured two years ago, when it was still fresh.  In fact, it was also one of the very first Friday Follow-up posts that showed how it had healed after three months.  Now here we are today, two years later, and we have an opportunity to revisit a scar, and get a good impression of just how much scars can change over time.

To start with, here’s the original photo from August 2010.

And now the initial follow-up from November 2010.

As you can see, the keloids are raising up, and the scar has taken on a distinctive reddish tone.

And finally, here’s how it looks today, two years later.

Such a drastic change from the first follow-up.  The scar is clearly defined, and you can see how it has raised up more in the upper abdomen, as opposed to the lower, due to movement.  The biggest change comes from the colouration.  Over time the redness of the fresh scar has died down completely and has reverted to the original skin tone.  Some scars lighten the tissue over time, however it seems here that the pigmentation has almost completely been restored.

A big thank you to Gabor Zagyvai (IAM: Wyrd) for continuing to send in updated photos of the scars he has done.

Here’s an oldie but a goodie.  This scarification was done by Lukas Zipra back in 2002, three years before the first Scar Wars.  You can also tell the age by the environment, as you don’t see too many professional scarification artists these days working on someone with only a bedsheet between the client and the furniture.  The young lady in the photo is IAM: AstridVanD, formerly known as Dark Delilah.

IAM: Chasethebeard sent in this fly scarification that he did on a client.

Chase works at Ironclad Tattoo Co. in Troy, MI.