Scar tissue: what a permanent makeup master should know

Yaroslava Farah, certified master trainer of Bio Evolution, prize-winner and winner of several prestigious competitions and competitions in the Middle East and Dubai, founder of the Line Refine micropigmentation studio school (Lebanon), since 2016 - a permanent speaker of the Permanent Makeup Conference (Kharkov) ), winner of the Inspiration Cup, awarded as a speaker by the audience of the ANTI-Conference on the PMU platform-2019

Let's look at the process of tattooing from a biological point of view. Each time the needle punctures, it creates a wound in the skin and causes the body to respond with inflammation. The cells of the immune system are sent to the site of damage and actually "eat" the invading pigment. They are what make the tattoo last. Since the cells of the human body do not have the ability to dissolve and remove the pigment, it remains as if encapsulated and visible through the skin. Our skin is constantly regenerated, damaged cells are replaced by new ones that form in the basal layer of the epidermis. Thus, the tattoo made above this layer brightens, and the pigment, which is embedded deeper, remains in the skin forever. Permanent makeup is applied for the first time only once.

With the growing popularity of the permanent makeup profession, more and more women are becoming happy (and sometimes not so) owners of eyebrows, arrows and lip shading, but all this needs to be renewed every 8-13 months. Ladies with skin traumatized by unsuccessful permanent makeup or its removal have become frequent clients of experienced masters. Many women have learned from their sad experience that unprofessional use of laser technology, as well as the abuse of removers (aggressive chemical compounds), leads to burns and, as a result, defective healing. Such clients especially need the help of qualified permanent professionals. And many practicing masters daily face the need to perform work on the skin with a modified structure. There is even the expression "hackneyed skin", used in relation to skin in which it is difficult to add pigment.

How to help your skin recover

Not everyone knows that there is a technique that can help the skin to rehabilitate, and permanent masters can do their job easier and better. Back in 1997, Drs. A. Camirand and J. Duset (Camirand A., Doucet J. Needledermabrasion // Aesth Plast Surg. - 1997; 2, 1: 48-51) used the tattoo machine for their clinical studies on the effectiveness of percutaneous induction of collagen synthesis in the fight against scars. They found that with a minimal violation of the integrity of the epidermis, a needle that causes local damage to the capillaries of the upper layer of the dermis causes a natural response of the body to skin damage.

In the routine process of the body's fight against injury, the immune system releases antibodies, releases growth factors and infiltrates fibroblasts - the main building cells of our body, which produce a large number of collagen and elastin fibers. Which leads to an improvement in the condition of the epidermis. Clinical studies have shown that, in comparison with scarred tissues, in the treated areas, the collagen "firmware" is compacted and the stratum corneum of the epidermis has a uniform structure. An important advantage of this method is the absence of anatomical restrictions for the procedures. Percutaneous induction of collagen synthesis is a specially developed microinjection technology that works on the principle of controlled damage to the epidermis and dermis by conducting a series of high-speed micropunctures in the treatment area.

This procedure can be carried out using any device that works with needles with a diameter of 0.2 to 0.35 mm. In order to promote reparative processes occurring in the skin, we can also use micropunctures as channels for the targeted delivery of pharmacy vitamin preparations that accelerate regeneration. Needle micropunctures are what we do in our daily work. The use of this technique for the rehabilitation of the skin in the area of unsuccessful tattooing is more justified than its subsequent injury by attempts to introduce pigment into the scar tissue. But to use this technique, as well as to work with removers, you need to take a training course.

Transcutaneous induction of collagen synthesis is an effective minimally invasive method of skin remodeling using its own biological resources and can be used by permanent makeup masters to improve skin quality without purchasing any additional equipment. When explaining to the client the specifics of working with deformed skin, we must be able, without frightening him or setting him up negatively, to reasonably explain what condition of the skin we observe and what forecast, based on this, we can give. To increase the effectiveness of the procedures, we can recommend to the client an affordable course of preliminary preparation - strengthening the protective properties of the skin. If further removal is required, we can help create conditions in the skin that are unfavorable for pigment stabilization. Understanding the essence of reparative processes occurring in the skin, we can also contribute to rehabilitation using micropunctures as channels for the targeted delivery of vitamin complexes. If you are interested in the topic, I will be glad to see you on the online course of Yaroslava Farah.

The material was first published in Permanent No. 1(13)/2019