EWJ June 2024 web - Journal - Page 67
Scars that cannot be visibly reduced by Medical
Tattooing;
• Hyper-pigmented scars (darker than the surrounding skin)
The cheek area as shown below responded well in the
first session with a decent coverage and colour match.
All that was required in the second treatment was to
colour in any patches, add some fine-tuning such as
freckles, and blend the edges. The whole treatment
including the healing time took 2 months and had
huge results on the visible impact of the graft, and the
confidence of the client.
• Unhealed scarring
Each treatment is performed four to eight weeks apart
for the best outcome, and approximately two to four
treatments are required for smaller scars, and three
to six treatments for larger areas.
Skin tone is a mix of colours taking into consideration
the vein colour, undertone, shadows and highlights,
wrinkles, hair, freckles, moles and other skin characteristics. Medically certified coloured pigments are
mixed by eye and then implanted into the skin in a
mosaic pattern, visually breaking up the line of the
scar.
The results are immediate, although the final result is
achieved once all the layers of the skin have fully
healed, usually over the following four weeks.
Patient stories
Skin Graft Re-pigmentation with Medical Tattooing
Medical tattooing is safe, effective and low-risk for all
types of skin grafts, on any area of the body, on any
skin tone.
A client had a skin graft around the inner corner of
her eye. Grafts often have defined edges and can look
different from the surrounding skin, even though the
skin has been taken from the same person. It’s not always a simple job of colouring in the graft to look like
the rest of the skin as the treatment needs to be
changed depending on the area concerned. The eye
area needs a detailed type of tattooing incorporating
wrinkles, skin texture, shadows and highlights whilst
trying to camouflage the fact that the graft area is also
more physically pronounced.
Above, ‘Before and After’ two skin graft medical tattoo treatments
Anaesethic can be used on the area so the treatment is
comfortable and each treatment can last from thirty
minutes up to three hours depending on the size of
the graft.
The patient below had hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation in the same graft site area. Medical Tattooing will not cover the hyperpigmentation so we
concentrated on the pale areas of hypopigmentation
blending it to his natural skin tone, which meant the
areas of hyperpigmentation did not stand out as
much.
Above, ‘Before and After’ three skin graft medical tattoo treatments
Dog attack injury
I was approached by a young client who had experienced a dog bite at a young age. She had received surgical treatment at the time and was left with
asymmetry in her upper lip and a lack of a cupids bow.
Above, ‘Before and After’ five skin graft medical tattoo treatments
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
65
JUNE 2024