Self Harm Scars: How to Stop It

Seeing someone with strange scars can be a result of self harm. People who have self harm scars often do not know how to prevent or treat them. Plus, for those who hurt themselves, self harm scars are often a temporary way to relieve the pain they feel inside. 

If you or your loved one is suffering from self harm scars, this post can help.

In this article, we will talk about how to prevent and treat self harm scars. 

How to Stop Self Harm Scars 

Here are things you can do to prevent or stop self harm scars: 

1.     Identify your reasons and emotions. 

When you feel the urge to harm yourself, take a deep breath and ask yourself why you want to do it. 

Then, think about alternatives that will help you cope with your emotions.

For instance, if you are feeling angry, physical activities can help deal with the intense feeling. If you feel isolated or lonely, connecting with people who love you can help ease your urge to harm yourself. 

2.     Change your environment. 

Changing your environment can distract you. In particular, it can give you time away from self harm tools that produce self harm scars. The urge might just pass before you return. Plus, time spent in nature has a calming effect. 

For this, you can do things such as going to a nearby park, stopping by the grocery store, or walking around your neighborhood. 

3.     Talk to a loved one. 

Emotional and moral support from your family and friends have tons of benefits when you feel the urge to harm yourself. 

Opening up about how you feel might be hard at first. However, it greatly helps to start by sharing your feelings and thoughts with just one person. This person should be someone that you trust to give support without judging you. 

4.     Listen to music. 

Music can give you a temporary escape from the overwhelming urge to give yourself self harm scars.

Turning your attention to the lyrics and harmony of the song can also help distract you from your overwhelming thoughts. Plus, listening to music helps regulate your emotions. 

Lastly, putting your favorite music on helps you pause the desire to harm yourself long enough for you to process your feelings and find ways to cope.  

5.     Try guided imagery. 

Guided imagery is another alternative approach to giving yourself self harm scars.

By creating pleasant scenes in your mind, guided imagery helps you relax and create a happy place. Using clear and specific details about your happy place also helps relieve stress, take your mind off of self harm, and induce feelings of calm and peace. 

6.     Do something creative. 

When you feel like you can’t communicate through words, art can help. It offers an alternative to expressing yourself and distracts you from harming yourself. 

Art can also offer benefits, unlike other coping techniques. 

For one, art offers you a sense of control. It also allows you to use your hands, preventing you from giving yourself self harm scars. Plus, when you’re done, you have a representation of your feelings that you can destroy physically. 

How to Treat Self Harm Scars 

If you or your loved one is currently suffering from self harm scars, know that you can get treatment. Here are the common treatments for self harm scars: 

Therapy 

Patients with self harm scars can be treated using psychodynamic therapy. Other allied health care professionals can also help address the unique needs of each patient. 

In addition, working with mental health professionals help you or your loved one get more rapport and address the internal conflicts that lead to self harm scars. These include upsetting emotions and mental health issues. 

Camouflage Treatment 

Patients with self harm scars can also be treated using skin treatments. They can also use makeup to conceal the scars, giving them the freedom to go out and socialize. 

However, one of the main drawbacks of the camouflage approach is that it’s temporary Hence, you or your loved one needs to apply makeup regularly.

If you or your loved one do not want to do this, you can opt for permanent fixes. You can go to a cosmetic surgeon or dermatologist to have skin treatments for scars. These include laser resurfacing, skin grafting, and scar revision surgery.  

Getting Support For Self Harm Scars 

If you or your loved one has a lot of self harm scars, you must ask for help. Reach out to someone you can trust like your family, friend, doctor, or counselor. 

If you would rather talk to someone you don’t know, you can see a psychiatrist or psychologist. In case you have an underlying mental health condition, a psychiatrist or psychologist can work with you to create a treatment plan. 

You can also start building the right support system and downloading a sobriety app like I Am Sober to track your progress and manage your symptoms.