WhitneyBranding
December 28th 2008 22:22
There are many different methods of scarification, one of which is branding. Typically, branding is performed with a heated material, usually metal, that is applied to the skin in order to cause a burn that will become a scar. Ideally, the brand will be a raised scar that is slightly lighter than the color of the skin, but there are many instances where the color and hieght of the scar will vary. There are even instances where the scar will sit into the skin instead of raise on top of it.
If you are interested in this procedure, you need to make sure that it is done by a very experienced practitioner, as this controlled injury is not safe.
The Pain
The first thing that you are probably wondering is how much it hurts to get a brand. Well, for the most part, how much it hurts will be dependent on your pain threshold, but on average it's not going to hurt as much as you'd think.
Most of the pain is going to be psychological.
You will feel most of the pain for just a few seconds until the nerves are burned away.
The Procedure
There are different methods to a branding; the more traditional method is through strike branding, but you will now find that electrocautery and electrosurgery branding (laser branding) are more common.
Sometimes hand cautery pens are used as well.
Healing a Brand
Getting a brand is going to take a long time to heal, as they go through several phases of healing, each phase varying from brand to brand.
The phases typically include:
1. A scabby phase, where the brand will just look like a nasty wound.
2. A red phases, where the brand is healing into a bright red scar, which will slowly start to lighten.
3. A complete phase, where the scar is now slightly lighter than the surrounding skin color.
You will find that the initial healing will take about 1 to 2 months, whereas it will take about 6 months in order to completely heal a brand, but the exact time will vary from brand to brand and person to person.
Brand Aftercare
You will find that there are a few different methods to caring for a new brand. The more common method is the LITHA (or "Leave It The Hell Alone") method. As long as the initial brand was done properly, by leaving it alone, your body will generally heal with a pretty consistant wound. The main problem with this method is that if your genetics are prone to keloiding, the amount of raised scarring will be pretty minimal.
Otherwise, you can consider the method of irritating the wound by using a variety of techniques. You can pick at the scab, rub it with steel wool or a toothbrush, or use chemical and exfoliant formulas on the wound. By irritating the scar, you will increase the likelihood and the amount of scarring, but by irritating the scar, you may find inconsistent scarring where part of the scar is raised higher than other parts.
You can alwasy have a brand touched up using secondary scarring sessions if it doesn't heal the way you want it to.
Health Issues
If you get a brand using a surgical cautery, you may develop warts due to the vapors that are given off by the cautery.
Infection during the healing process is another concern.
Removing a Brand
Theoretically, you can have a brand removed by using lasers and other advanced techniques, but this is very expensive and typically not effective.
Realistically, you can't remove a brand.
Do not get a brand, if you think there is possibility that you may want it removed.
If you are interested in this procedure, you need to make sure that it is done by a very experienced practitioner, as this controlled injury is not safe.
The Pain
The first thing that you are probably wondering is how much it hurts to get a brand. Well, for the most part, how much it hurts will be dependent on your pain threshold, but on average it's not going to hurt as much as you'd think.
Most of the pain is going to be psychological.
You will feel most of the pain for just a few seconds until the nerves are burned away.
The Procedure
There are different methods to a branding; the more traditional method is through strike branding, but you will now find that electrocautery and electrosurgery branding (laser branding) are more common.
Sometimes hand cautery pens are used as well.
Healing a Brand
Getting a brand is going to take a long time to heal, as they go through several phases of healing, each phase varying from brand to brand.
The phases typically include:
1. A scabby phase, where the brand will just look like a nasty wound.
2. A red phases, where the brand is healing into a bright red scar, which will slowly start to lighten.
3. A complete phase, where the scar is now slightly lighter than the surrounding skin color.
You will find that the initial healing will take about 1 to 2 months, whereas it will take about 6 months in order to completely heal a brand, but the exact time will vary from brand to brand and person to person.
Brand Aftercare
You will find that there are a few different methods to caring for a new brand. The more common method is the LITHA (or "Leave It The Hell Alone") method. As long as the initial brand was done properly, by leaving it alone, your body will generally heal with a pretty consistant wound. The main problem with this method is that if your genetics are prone to keloiding, the amount of raised scarring will be pretty minimal.
Otherwise, you can consider the method of irritating the wound by using a variety of techniques. You can pick at the scab, rub it with steel wool or a toothbrush, or use chemical and exfoliant formulas on the wound. By irritating the scar, you will increase the likelihood and the amount of scarring, but by irritating the scar, you may find inconsistent scarring where part of the scar is raised higher than other parts.
You can alwasy have a brand touched up using secondary scarring sessions if it doesn't heal the way you want it to.
Health Issues
If you get a brand using a surgical cautery, you may develop warts due to the vapors that are given off by the cautery.
Infection during the healing process is another concern.
Removing a Brand
Theoretically, you can have a brand removed by using lasers and other advanced techniques, but this is very expensive and typically not effective.
Realistically, you can't remove a brand.
Do not get a brand, if you think there is possibility that you may want it removed.
| 74 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Anonymous
For me it took about six weeks for it to stop scabbing over, and another two months or more to heal completely. Then again it is a very large branding, and I wasn't eating properly at the time, which could have slowed the healing process somewhat.