for a face you love to live in

Scar management

Scar management is another paramedical process.  Using my tattoo machine, I am able to release and smooth out scar tissue.  It takes time (a period of months, and two or more treatments), but it can result in a dramatically improved appearance.  Those with scars from surgery, an accident, or acne can gain smoother skin.  To accomplish this, the scar is needled, using the tattoo machine without pigment.  This breaks up the rubbery tissue so that new skin can grow in through it.  After the desired smoothness is reached, any residual discoloration may be camouflaged with skin-toned pigments.

 

This young man was in a car accident five years ago.

This photo shows the healed results, so far, of two rounds of needling, done over a period of nearly three months. Improvement will probably continue during the next several months.

 

Recent News

Roanoke permanent makeup and paramedical clinic TBD in June

By Mary Hunter on January 9, 2012

I plan to be back in Roanoke  soon, the date still to be determined (possibly June 15). The location is  Medical Grade Skin Care, Inc., 4523 Brambleton Avenue SW.  To make an appointment please contact Betsy McClearn at 540/774-3223.

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New York Times: “Tattoos as Makeup? Read the Fine Print”

By Mary Hunter on July 14, 2011

Thanks to a recent caller who referred to this article from February 2011.  It is a well-stated and apt warning for anyone considering permanent makeup, and, I believe, presents a more balanced report than the NPR story.   As noted before, I welcome all questions about my materials, my methods, and my qualifications.  Please read the About page on this website, which includes references to my training and to my relationship with the medical community and with highly respected, local aesthetic practitioners.  I frequently consult with them in the case of skin conditions and scar management, and I have been honored by their continuing referrals.

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Responding to “Tattoo Ink Stained by Safety Concerns”

By Mary Hunter on May 10, 2011

I’ve been alerted to a recent NPR story and its FDA reference.  Readers and listeners should make the distinction between tattoo inks and permanent makeup pigments–their formulas are very different; beyond that, I can’t comment on tattoo inks.  As others have pointed out, the same color compounds that are used in permanent makeup pigments are the ones used in food, which we ingest in far greater quantities, and prescription drugs.  They are approved for these uses, as well as in topical makeups that are applied every day.  To these are added either alcohol or distilled water (and sometimes glycerin), as vehicles for the pigments.

In answer to the question of pigment and MRI safety, I am not aware of any actual cases of MRI difficulties, and  I quote from my professional organization’s website (www.spcp.org):
” According to Dr. Frank Shellock of Tower Imaging in Los Angeles, CA, a top expert in MRI safety, [out of the thousands who have had permanent makeup applied], only a handful of people have reported minor problems around the eye area and no problems around the lip or brow area. … Test studies have confirmed that the ‘iron’ particles in pigment are too microscopic to react as true metal pieces but rather are more accurately compared with ‘metals’ which already exist microscopically in the body.”

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