Scars make better stories than tatoos

[Wahine]

First of all, I have nothing against tatoos.

I'm starting this thread because I have an amusing story that led, eventually to a scar. Well, I have several stories of this nature and I could carry the thread all by myself, but I'm hoping that others will contirbute.

Who doesn't like to compare scars.

My first story: In Prep for the Wedding

So, some of you may have guessed already but once upon a time I was a very durty gurl. I used to MTB every Wed morning with my best girl friend and we rode hard. I never came back without bruises, scratches, mud etc. The two of us also climbed together, a lot. She was my maid of honor and we did a double back bicep pose for the cameras in our fancy (backless of course) dresses on my wedding day.

DH, forbade me from MTBing for 4 weeks before the wedding. He hadn't seen my dress but knew that it was strapless and backless. He was very worried that I would show up on the day with a big raspberry on my exposed flesh. He advised my maid of honor of this rule as well and recommended that she also follow it as her dress did not leave a lot to the imagination either.

I was a very good girl and did as I was told. We (MofH and I) did participate in a climbing comp the night before the wedding but she wouldn't let me do anything too risky. We kept it very tame.

About 3 days before the big event I took my SUV to the car wash. One of those wand wash deals. Like I do everytime I wash, I climbed up on the running boards to clean the roof. Unfortunately, this time I slipped. In an automatic reaction I pulled my arms in and grabbed the rack to keep from falling to the ground. My strong climbing arms held me up, Yea!! But what was that burning I was feeling on my forearm? :confused: The pressure washer I was using was pointed right at my arm and was taking a good few layers of skin off as I hung there from the rack. :eek:

The result: a second degree burn on my forearm about 5 inches long and 2 inches wide. Not attractive at all!! :mad:

I had to phone the florist to make sure that the bouquet was going to be large enough to hide this in the photos. It was. But it was pretty amusing explaining to the guests why I had this big burn on my arm. None of them could believe that it was from washing the car when I do so many other "high risk" activities.:p :p

Well, the scar makes a good story.

So lets here em ladies!!

[KnottedYet]

I've got cancer scars (boring) and scars from falling thru a window. A few others here and there.

Actually, I want a cuff tattoo on my right bicep (deltoid insertion level) of a bicycle chain, just like Doc's temporary tattoos. I think I'll do it as my 15 years cancer-free celebration. (2010, whooo-hooo! Beer for everyone, and I'm buyin'!)

My 10 year celebration was getting my nose pierced, but it took me 11 years to get up the nerve! :D

[Wahine]

I've got cancer scars (boring) and scars from falling thru a window. A few others here and there.

Actually, I want a cuff tattoo on my right bicep (deltoid insertion level) of a bicycle chain, just like Doc's temporary tattoos. I think I'll do it as my 15 years cancer-free celebration. (2010, whooo-hooo! Beer for everyone, and I'm buyin'!)

My 10 year celebration was getting my nose pierced, but it took me 11 years to get up the nerve! :D

Cancer scars are cool. Not cool that you had to go through it but cool that you were tough enuff to beat it. And be careful what you say about beer, us Canadian girls can drink you folks under the table. It could be a big bar tab.:D :D

Congratulations Knott. I honestly hope that I can have a beer with you sometime in celebration.

[LBTC]

Yup, cancer scars are cool. Way to be a survivor, Knot!!

Scar stories....

Well, a million years ago, so it seems, we were out on the mt bikes on a dirt road, DH and buddy Scott and me. Well, my mind got to wandering at one point, when we were close to a steep drop off and I was picturing DH and how he said he had driven my cute little Tracker on this narrow winding road and I know how he drives so I was quite aghast that he had taken it down this road!! No sooner had this thought registered, and I was flying off the bike! At some point between the sudden dismount and the landing, I scraped my shin on something....pretty deep and bumpy. We bandaged me up so the grass wouldn't hurt slapping against my leg on the way out, and rode the rest of the way out. I have about a 4 inch x 1/2 inch scar on my right shin and the reminder is always there. Don't think about anything else when on the mountain bike!

Buddy Scott brought the story up at my 30th birthday party. He was impressed that I didn't cry! I might have cried then, it felt so good to know that I had his respect. :o

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Aggie_Ama]

My only scar is from busting my chin open at age 4. NO good story there.

I have two tattoos and want to get one removed. Actually, I may just get a really good artist to do a great touch up on it. I don't know, it was what I always said I would get. I got it and 8 years later I am thinking I should have been more creative!

Now my brother has an ugly scar from breaking a toilet the night of his bachelor party. That is one heck of a story. He is divorced from the witch, so it isn't quite as fond of a memory these days.

[colby]

Great story, Wahine. (And Cancer scars do count, Knotted ;))

I don't really have any obvious or fun ones. I have what used to be a deep scar on my hand from scraping the lane lines doing butterfly the first time in competition in swim team (must be down to 1" long, now). I must have scraped that plastic pretty hard on the outside of my hand to get a scar that's still here 15 years later! I have a 1-2" scar on my forehead from smacking into a fireplace when I was very very young (old enough to walk... into the fireplace :p). I can only imagine the screaming if the scar is still around what must be 25 years later (I vaguely remember it).

I do wear shorts and tshirts to work (casual Friday every day!), so if I have any scrapes or scratches, they are very noticeable. I do get comments asking what I was "up to" over the weekend. :)

I always love sunburns. You can tell what I was wearing/doing by the sunburn. Bike jersey/gloves burn, kayaking burn, swim suit burn, trisuit burn, sunglass burn, goggle face...

Hoping for more scar stories :)

[crazycanuck]

I'm rather boring & have very few scars..I will tell the hit head on pavement at 30km/hr story after.

I will however, tell you about a cool scar Ian has on his right wrist-yes from mtn biking. Whilst in NZ (Rotorua-where he's originally from), Ian went off mtn biking in Whakarewarewa/ the Redwoods (on his own as i couldn't get a new tire as mine was badly stretched after my tube exploded when we inflated it on christmas eve..& went home a few days later without any biking..:( )

Anywho, Ian decided to do one of the harder trails & had a stack. As he fell he noticed his bike flying towards his head whilst he rolled & put his right arm up.Apparently it was either be hit in the head or arm by his chain ring.
He ventures into town & oddly enough found eachother at the perfect time.( my mobile doesn't work in NZ)He tells me a visit to the A &E wouldn't go amiss. Long story short, he ended up with 9 stitches in his wrist & has a lovely scar.

I love stories :)

[Velobambina]

I have a tattoo of a bike on the outside of my left calf. Very simple & understated.

My scar stories are not too interesting, but add character to my body: a deep gash (right calf) and two puncture marks (right shin), plus road rash scars on both knees from a dog attack. Long thin slash scar on left shin from wiping out on a icy bridge while hiking in the woods. Nine-inch scar on the back of my head from a car wreck (T-boned by a red light runner). Scar on left breast from a lumpectomy (benign). Scar on left shoulder from where I fell and broke my shoulder (I was training for a marathon and tripped on a manhole cover). Several scars of varying sizes where I had suspicious moles removed. A couple cat bite scars on my right hand (one's a little pit).
Bike wipe out scar on my left thumb -- lost the thumbnail a few months afterward -- from losing control of my heavy ugly rust-orange "Sears" starter bike when bombing down a hill when I was 8 or 9. I had better luck when I inherited my sister's purple banana bike a year or so later.

[han-grrl]

Well my first scar i got 2 weeks AFTER my wedding...

I was doing an mtb race. I was have a great ride, and then part of a branch of something low got into my wheel and I endo-ed and my face smacked another part of another low branch. well my lip did.

i thought i was going to have a fat lip, but i didn't realize that i had split my lower lip and i was bleeding. When i crossed the finish line, everyone was looking at me kind of worriedly (is that a word). My friend goes "uh, hannah..." and puts a kleenex to my lip.

i looked at my bike glove and it was CAKED in blood. i had no idea. it was a deep cut, and i actually drove 5 hours back home and went to the hospital there AFTER dinner. (we had cleaned it and put a bandaid thing on it to hold my lip together). At the ER, the nurse RIPPED off the bandaid and it started to bleed again. she says "i guess i shouldn't have done that...fortunately for me, i got to see the doctor about 5 minutes later. so i was in and out of ER in under an hour. (unheard of around here). The doctor just put a glue stich on it and away i went.

My second scar is my 15 staples down my tummy from the surgery on New Years day. it actually goes around my belly button (the surgeon made sure i still had one). I used to have a belly button ring, (it actually still does go in), my husband wants to get one with a zipper end, so well, you get the idea...:cool:

[lph]

Wow, some great stories here. I have a few small scars, with mildly interesting stories:

My lower lip has a faint but noticable line and a bump inside, from a faceplant into gravel from a bike when I was 16 (story told elsewhere on this forum). Broke two front teeth, pulled them halfway out and incidentally split my lower lip wide open.

My calves have two matching circular dotted scars about the size of a coin. Any horse people recognize those? :) I rode race horses when I was 16-20, and one race (or exercise race, can't remember) the stirrup straps royally grabbed onto the skin on my calves and abraded off a layer or three. Everyone on the racetrack had those dotted scars.

I have a small raised line on the inside of one knee. I had my own horse, she was unshod, and I was carving off a little off her hoof that had grown too long and started to split. The knife slipped and tore a hole in my pant leg, but I didn't feel anything until I noticed that my FOOT felt wet... Long gash.

And my right forefinger has a distinct triangular scar at the base. I tried to punch open a window (long story, locked out, young and stupid and macho), cut myself a bit, freaked out and jerked my hand back again towards me. Result was a BIG chunk cut out, blood spurting out in a pulse. I managed to stop it, but when I tried to remove the bandage again out came a little pulse fountain again. So I called a dr, who drily told me: "If you stopped it the first time, you can stop it again. You don't need stitches."

And now of course I have a zillion little cat scars from our small but ferocious tiger, but they are temporary.

The only times I've hurt myself semi-seriously (broken bone, kicked in the head by a horse once) I healed up without scars. A friend of mine used to be irritated over how she hurt herself in invisible places while I got "hero scars" - minor injuries that didn't hurt much but were very visible :D

[Pax]

I have both, tats and scars...I like the tats because I got to pick them whereas the scars weren't voluntary.

I pretty much look like the bride of Frankenstein as far as scarring goes, I have HUGE scars from breast reduction, and then the scars from four knee surgeries/three abdominal surgeries/some small burn scars from my firefighting days/various and sundry scars from a lifetime of sports... I don't mind any of them, I earned them and they are really part of my identity, each one brings back very vivid memories of what I was doing at the time.

[DebW]

Glissade patch on the outside of my right knee from descending Mt. Ranier in 1980. Just a whitish patch of skin 3"x2.5". Only bad part was that the gauze I put over it got stuck, and when a nurse removed it 3 days later, I passed out.

2 inch scar on right outside calf from Earth Day 1975. I was collecting trash from a local pond and something sharp I'd put in the trash bag cut my leg. Got a ride in a fire truck and about 12 stitches.

A couple eyebrow scars, one from surgery to repair my broken xygomatic arch, the other from a silly game of Photon Ball (which involved playing catch in the dark on winter camping trips).

Also lumpectomy scar on right breast but that was a very long time ago and is very faded.

[newfsmith]

My first biking scar acquired at about age 11. I was riding home from school and was coming down a steep hill on a washboarded gravel road when I lost it. I landed on the gravel and managed to drive a piece into my right elbow. My dad had seen me fall, so came in to help me clean up. We couldn't get the half inch chunk of gravel out of my elbow without "unroofing" the overlying skin. After 50 years it has shrunk down to a 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch white scar.

Both knees have shiny spots left from road rash, but my right knee has 2 parallel lines, tatooed by my tights from an early spring crash, it didn't tear the tights but did a good road rash and tatoo.

I have a scar on my upper lip from restraining a dog, it caught my lip with its back foot and gave me a hare lip. The weird part was that I didn't feel it at all. The vet heard the skin rip and told me to let the dog go. We cleaned it up, put a bandaid on it and went back to work. It healed very well, now it just blends in with the rest of my wrinkles.

My recent faceplant on a car trunklid left me with a little scar inside my lip, but it means I can't whistle anymore. That's probably a good thing, I never could carry a tune.

My arms are so covered with cat scratch scars that at my first physical with my new MD she thought I was a cutter.

Surgicals: 2 abdominal & 2 lymph node biopsies.

[mimitabby]

sheesh, i am in awe of all of your scars.
Mine are hardly visible and not worth mentioning.

[Running Mommy]

Yep, I was on my brand spankin new specialized allez dolce back in the day when I took my first "clippy pedal" tumble. I have a perfect triple ring tat on my upper calf. I might add that my calves are HUGE, so they make a great billboard for scars.
I also have some cancer scars. They were from the freaking treatment!! I was taking an anti cancer drug and developed these nasty wounds on my calf. My doc told me that they were basically a burn from the inside out.. UGH... Or something like that. All I know is cancer SUCKS!! Right knotted?!
My body is pretty much a scar fest. When I was 17 I was in a car wreck and broke my left femur. They did surgery to insert a rod, so I have a big scar on the side of my upper thigh.
And then when I was 18 I was thrown out of a car (another acident) careened down the center of 880 in oakland like a rag doll. Road debris was imbedded everywhere so my arms and and legs have lots of little round scars.
And then there is my c-section scar. But that is a good one!! :)
Dang, now that I think about it, my body is like a road map!! :p

[Pax]

...Dang, now that I think about it, my body is like a road map!! :p

Excellent analogy, our scars make a fascinating road-map of our lives.

[Trek420]

Small scar on bridge of nose, I fell on a chicken feeder. Must have been about 4. I remember my Dad carrying me home from the chicken coop and getting 7 stitches from the family Doc.

I tried to learn to whittle wood, there's a scar on my thumb.

Laporoscopy (benign fibroids) and the burns on my tummy from a kitchen accident when I used to cook barely visible.

[bacarver]

Have you ever heard of this? I had a wreck 1 1/2 years ago when a pit bull knocked me off my bike. I tumbled and slammed and dragged and twisted several times till gravity kicked in. Anyway . . . I have a place on my back near my right shoulder blade that looks bleached. The wreck resulted in hitting the pavement with my upper shoulder blade. The skin was not broken. My shirt wasn't torn. I was bruised. Now I have a white patch which is the size and shape of a half-dollar. It's as though the impact killed the pigment cells. Now I have a very unique bike wreck "scar".

Barb

[Fredwina]

Have you ever heard of this? I had a wreck 1 1/2 years ago when a pit bull knocked me off my bike. I tumbled and slammed and dragged and twisted several times till gravity kicked in. Anyway . . . I have a place on my back near my right shoulder blade that looks bleached. The wreck resulted in hitting the pavement with my upper shoulder blade. The skin was not broken. My shirt wasn't torn. I was bruised. Now I have a white patch which is the size and shape of a half-dollar. It's as though the impact killed the pigment cells. Now I have a very unique bike wreck "scar".

Barb
I have one like, this but I did have road rash. Actually, after looking at some more, it's more the absence of freckles.
From that same accident - I hit a patch of gravel at 30MPH. - I have a little finger that's slightly bent(I broke it). Also have some scars near my eye where my glasses broke

[DebW]

I have one like, this but I did have road rash. Actually, after looking at some more, it more the absence of freckles.
From that same accident - I hit a patch of Gravel at 30MPH. - I have a little finger that slightly bent. Also have some scar near my eye where my glasses broke

My glissade patch is like that. The skin was abraded off from snow. Skin looks pretty normal now except that it lacks pigment, though small circles around hair folicles still have pigment.

[Veronica]

I have a chain ring scar on the outside of my left leg from 1989. It was one of our first rides and we were on a beach. Thom decided to come up beside me and tickle me. I was startled and turned my bike into his and down we went. I landed on his chain ring. I took the sock off my water bottle, wrapped it around my leg to catch the blood and finished the ride.

He says now there's no way I'd topple over like that. I've come along way baby. :D

V.

[margo49]

1 big and 2 small scars on right forearm and one on my left hip from getting "doored" by a "milko" in Oz (1985)
Left-mastectomy scar + lymph nodes (1996)
5 cm skin cancer scar on my back; like all of us from DownUnder (1999)
A network of jaggy scars on inner side of right upper arm where all the bones were sticking out (after someone (male) reversed a tractor into me and I nearly died from being squashed against a concrete wall only to be saved in the proverbial nick of time by the SO) + 25 cm surgical scar on the outer side from where the reconstructive lego/meccano was carried out. (2004)
Broke my nose last year after falling off the bike on a little sandy downhill slope but no scar and it also straightened out the kink that was the result of the previous broken nose (1982)
Do episiotomy scars and birth tears count?

[DeniseGoldberg]

I still have what looks like a new bruise on my face that is left from my bike crash (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/denise2004crash) in the spring of 2004 (old and new photos in my crash photo gallery (http://denise.smugmug.com/gallery/280177). (The first photo is a doozy, taken 2 days after my accident, look at the 2nd page of the gallery for a current view.) It's smaller than it was, but I'm assuming (and have been since not long after the crash) that the mark is here to stay.

Funny, if you'd asked me before my accident if I thought I'd care about a permanent bruise on my face, I think I would have said yes. But luckily, it doesn't bother me at all.

--- Denise

[DebW]

Do episiotomy scars and birth tears count?

whoooo, haven't thought to try and look for those. Out of sight, out of mind, let's not count them. (no tears for me. hope you healed well, Margot.)

[KnottedYet]

haven't gone looking for mine, either...

[margo49]

Who knows what it all looks like by now!
The kids are beautiful, that is enough, imo!

[Bluetree]

In art school I had sculpture classes that dealt with hot liquid metals and wax. Once the molten stuff dripped on my wrist and burned through several layers of flesh. Luckily it, it missed an artery. I now have a jagged two-inch scar across the bottom one of my wrists, which looks like a suicide attempt to strangers. It has faded over time, but for years it looked pretty horrendous.

[margo49]

I cede the crown I was given on the last scars, fractures, and injuries thread to Bluetree. I might be more "tore up" but that is the absolutely winning story!
Queen receives the "unobtanium" medal on a purple sash for sheer numbers and variety!

[Eden]

In art school I had sculpture classes that dealt with hot liquid metals and wax. Once the molten stuff dripped on my wrist and burned through several layers of flesh. Luckily it, it missed an artery. I now have a jagged two-inch scar across the bottom one of my wrists, which looks like a suicide attempt to strangers. It has faded over time, but for years it looked pretty horrendous.

hmmm - looks like I must not scar easily - even my road rash patches from last year are gone now. I do have a pinpoint "tatoo" on my left palm from when I caught a pencil that I had just sharpened to a wicked point and it stuck directly in my palm. The graphite is still there.

My mom on the other hand had a real cutey on her elbow - long ago when she was a teenager she was diagnosed with a heart murmer (turned out to be nothing really),but the only way to check it back then was to use a catheder - which they put in through the elbow. The scar it left was a real lu lu. Looked just like a frankenstien monster scar with the stitch marks visible and everything.

[Wahine]

hmmm - looks like I must not scar easily - even my road rash patches from last year are gone now. I do have a pinpoint "tatoo" on my left palm from when I caught a pencil that I had just sharpened to a wicked point and it stuck directly in my palm. The graphite is still there.


Hey I have one of those too. In my forearm, but mine's from art class and we were doing pen and ink drawing with the oldschool pens that you dip in the ink. and I dropped and inked pen that lodged its point into my left forearm. I also call it my tatoo. :p

[Pax]

...Queen receives the "unobtanium" medal on a purple sash for sheer numbers and variety!

I'd like to thank the academy...

:p

[alpinerabbit]

I have chickenpox scars from two years ago. It was nasty.

[SalsaMTB]

The only cycling related scar I have is from a chainring. Three nice lines going down my left ankle. In some weird way, I really like this scar. It happened last year when I crashed on my mountain bike. I think there used to be 4 lines, but one faded. It makes me sad to think the rest might fade also :( I know, I'm weird.

[Wahine]

I have chickenpox scars from two years ago. It was nasty.

Ooooooo. I had the chicken pox as an adult. It's nasty. The only place I didn't get them was on my hands and feet. I even had them in my throat and up my nose!! :eek: :eek:

I looked like hell for months. I didn't go out in public unless I had to for literally 2 months. :(

Most of my CP scars faded and aren't noticeable except for one on my left rib cage that I scratched like crazy before I figured out what it was.

[Wahine]

Well now that I know there are awards to be had...

I was going to save this one for a night when I'd had a few drinks. But maybe it's better this way.

It was 1997 and I was lucky enough to be chosen to participate in an international level multisport event. This event took place in Whistler BC and was meant to challenge athletes from different walks of life in ways that would produce the best possible visual spectacle. It was ridiculous and it was a made for TV event.

So one of the events was the "Downhill Run". They took us up to the top of mount Whistler and we had to run down the glacier, across a talus field, up a ridge, over another ridge, glacier, talus field and finally down a very steep grade. This would have be a double black diamond run in the winter. At this time of the year, it was snow free and made up of scree, the slate kind.

By the time we got to the scree slope we all had shot quads. We all fell. Now, I don't know if you've ever seen slate when it's broken or chipped, but it's effing sharp. I fell onto my rather large (musclular that is) rear. the moment I got up I could feel the wind on my azz. I continued to run. The cameras continued to roll including helicams and a guy chasing us down the hill with a cam on his shoulder. The whole time I'm thinking "well he's getting an eye full".

So we get to the finish line, and I say to one of the other girls, "I think I tore my tights." To which she replies "Tore your tights? You should see your azz!"

Well I had quite the gash. The athletic trainer came over and I got to lie spread eagle, face down on a big boulder while he tried to clean things up for the next event, about 2 hours away. I'm laying there, getting a huge slash in my butt scrubbed out with a nasty hibitane brush while being interviewed on camera for a nationally sindicated program.

The trainer was unable to clean the gash adequately so he sent me to the clinic in town. They had to freeze me and do a surgical excision. Apparently, I had a piece of Mount Whistler lodged in my left cheek. 17 stitches, a 5" long peice of slate and a flattened area on my bum (they had to take out a bunch of surrounding fat) later, I was good to compete the next day.

My incision healed and my scar looked quite nice until my fat cells decided to fill back out to match the other side, then the scar stretched way out. Now it's pretty hideous. But hidden, unless I wear a thong bikini.

And yes, parts of this whole even did in fact end up in the program, much to my em-bare-azz-ment.:D

Now that's gotta be worth some kind of an award.

[maillotpois]

Great story Wahine!

I'm like Running Mommy - my body's a total road map, mostly of surgeries, including child removal.

C-section scar (no way that kid's big head was coming out of my on its own! :eek: );

Scar on one hand from ganglion removal surgery and on another from a burn as a very little kid;

My knees are covered with little scar patches from childhool injuries;

Most recent long scar on the inside of my calf from "suspicious" mole removal by a riding partner (dermatologist) who decided to go back in and get more after the biopsy. We call her the butcher. She's also a ruthless cyclist;

Oddly, I don't really have any cycling scars, though I have crashed. :rolleyes:

DH has a great chainring scar from a stuck gear smashing into his calf on our first century.

[MomOnBike]

I can't come close to some of the stories already posted, but I've got a few - mostly on my hands, poor things, no wonder they hurt.

I've got one on my palm from when I was running in the dark, trailing my hand across a counter, and hit an exposed nail. That probably should have had stitches.

The other (left) hand has a jagged scar across the base knuckle of the thumb from where I was washing dishes and a cheap glass expleoded in my hand and cut a huge gash in my thumb. We cleaned it up as best we could, got ready ... oh, I forgot to mention DH & I were playing a concert that night ... and drove 30 miles into town to the emergency room where I got the hand stitched up. Yes, we were wearing our Concert Blacks.

I had to borrow a different bow (German), 'cause I couldn't handle mine (French), but I played the concert, thankyouverymuch. The thing that stands out about that night was Elder Daughter, as we were wrestling the bass and horn out the door, saying "Don't bleed on your bass, Mommy!"

[Wahine]

I can't come close to some of the stories already posted, but I've got a few - mostly on my hands, poor things, no wonder they hurt.

The other (left) hand has a jagged scar across the base knuckle of the thumb from where I was washing dishes and a cheap glass expleoded in my hand and cut a huge gash in my thumb. We cleaned it up as best we could, got ready ... oh, I forgot to mention DH & I were playing a concert that night ... and drove 30 miles into town to the emergency room where I got the hand stitched up. Yes, we were wearing our Concert Blacks.

I had to borrow a different bow (German), 'cause I couldn't handle mine (French), but I played the concert, thankyouverymuch. The thing that stands out about that night was Elder Daughter, as we were wrestling the bass and horn out the door, saying "Don't bleed on your bass, Mommy!"

I have to say, that's a good story. I love that you played anyway and the bit abot not bleeding on your bass. :p :p

[Pax]

One time when I was a kid I was trying to pull a piece of bamboo out by the roots to make a fishing pole, I yanked and pulled and tugged and when it finally came loose I tumbled back wards and fell on to a previously cut piece of bamboo...it poked a couple of inches into my right butt cheek. So there I was, piece of bamboo in my hands and another sharp piece sticking into my cheek...my brother watches this in horror and takes off running to find my folks, I extricate myself from the bamboo and limp over to the road to wait. My dad shows up in our little kharman ghia and tries to figure out how to transport my bleeding butt to the base dispensary...we settled on me being on my hands and knees in the tiny back seat with my head hanging out the window like a St. Bernard. Ten stitches later and I was good as new...now I have what looks like cool bullet hole on my butt cheek :D

[Wahine]

One time when I was a kid I was trying to pull a piece of bamboo out by the roots to make a fishing pole, I yanked and pulled and tugged and when it finally came loose I tumbled back wards and fell on to a previously cut piece of bamboo...it poked a couple of inches into my right butt cheek. So there I was, piece of bamboo in my hands and another sharp piece sticking into my cheek...my brother watches this in horror and takes off running to find my folks, I extricate myself from the bamboo and limp over to the road to wait. My dad shows up in our little kharman ghia and tries to figure out how to transport my bleeding butt to the base dispensary...we settled on me being on my hands and knees in the tiny back seat with my head hanging out the window like a St. Bernard. Ten stitches later and I was good as new...now I have what looks like cool bullet hole on my butt cheek :D

LOL - my transport down the mountain was very similar. They laid me out on my stomach in the back of a cargo van on the floor and drove down the maintainence road. Bumpy!! Then at the emerg they gave me my Tetanus shot in my right shoulder. So, between the pain from the laceration and the shot I could not sleep on my back or either side. I am not a stomach sleeper so that was tough. After two nights I figured out that if I lay on my back on the hotel room couch with my legs draped over the arm of the couch, I could lift my bum slightly and sleep. It was pretty silly. but not as silly as sitting with my butt in the kitchenette sink to soak it with epsom salts. :p :p I think I have a picture of that somewhere. Hmmmmm, don't think I'll post it.

[Crankin]

I've had a few crashes, but no permanent scars. I might have a very faint outline of a bruise/slightly discolred skin from my recent crash in January, but nothing else. My first scar is on my right knee. I got it when I was 2 and a half, running up the street and tripping and falling on the unpaved road. Got some gravel in there. My first bike crash caused a huge hematoma on the same spot, but all signs of that receded. I have 3 scars on my face, from a car accident when I was 15. One across my eye, one on my forehead, and one on my nose. They aren't too visible and that crash transformed me into an instant seatbelt wearer in 1969, long before it was common practice. I also have a tiny scar on the inside of my left wrist that occured when the knife slipped as i was cutting a too frozen bagel when I was in college. I remember being asked at school if I tried to kill myself :eek:. Other than that, I have a c section scar from the baby I lost in 1981. It is barely visible and I was happily able to have my 2 boys vaginally after that.
That's it.

[Aint Doody]

Well, let's see. I have some scars above my temple from my road bike crash due to a dog. My glasses broke; I felt lucky that my eye wasn't cut. Then I have road rash scars on one knee when I went down on a railroad track crossing. But I think my favorite is a long straight line on my shin. I was out XC skiing with some friends. We have this one wonderful man who is orginally from Bangladesh who skis with us. He'd fallen and to avoid him I skied into a bush. Didn't even phase my pants, but left me with a nasty skin removal up my shin.

[chickwhorips]

i don't have any cool scar stories. though my tattoo has an interesting story.

the scar that i still have, is from my appendix rupturing. i had a really bad scar from that, and got a scar revision done on it, hey they included a tummy tuck in there, so i wasn't complaining! that and now my scar looks so much better.

the times that i have gone over on my bike, haven't left any major scars. i say this now, the next time i get on my bike i probably will have a major story.

oh wait! i'm working on two other scars on my feet as we speak. one is already healing on my right foot, and next week will be my left foot. so i guess i'll have 3 major scars, two due to needing to get them.

[Kitsune06]

Good Lord, ladies. We already have a 'scars' thread, titled "Show us your scars!"
I'll take some pics. Nothing too exciting. A nice one above my knee from a scalpel incident *cough*
some streaks and discoloration left from the gravel patch-out (nice holes etc...)
some brands etc, self done,
tattoos,
etc
yay. :rolleyes:

[Bad JuJu]

Holy mackerel, this place is scar city!

I have no cycling scars, sadly ;) , but I have an obvious calcium deposit at the top of my left shoulder from a motorcycle accident when I was 23, a "bikini" scar from surgery to remove a tumor from my uterus when I was 28, and a scar from a dog bite when I was 5 (that one's almost indiscernible now). I actually kind of like that last one because regardless of that traumatic event, I somehow didn't grow up to be afraid of dogs--guess my folks did something right.:)

[Pax]

Another fun scar story...

When I was seven I was walking to school and decided to cut through a construction site as a short-cut, my brother said "you'll get in trouble, you better not". So off I waltzed into the construction site...and out I waltzed moments later with a plank stuck to the bottom of my foot with a nail protruding all the way through my foot and sticking out the top. My response, "well crap", my brothers response (heavy sigh) "I'll go get mom". It was a repeating pattern in my childhood. :D

[Aint Doody]

Yikes, Queen! That makes me hurt.

[MomOnBike]

Queen, we obviously grew up in different families. Our response in that sort of situation generally was: GASP!! "Don't Tell Mother!!"

Guilty parties in the above to include my father.

... and your story reminded me of the time my sister & I were jumping back and forth between our twin beds. After a while, to make the activity more chalenging, we turned out the lights. I, uh, jumped a wee tiny bit too far and landed on Sister's record player, right on the sharp, pointy, metal part that held the play arm. I haven't checked the bottom of my foot recently to see if that scar is still there, though.

Big crashes and shrieks bring Mothers running, whether or not you want them...

[Kitsune06]

Yeeeahhh reminds me of a metalworking project I was dinking on involving a tin can. You can pry the suckers a little ways but don't be surprised when they spring shut again and catch your knuckle :eek:. My first experience 'seeing inside myself'. What joy.
I run upstairs, wash it, wrap it, unwrap it, think "Oh boy, that's not gonna stay shut" wrap it again, and go about my business.
We get together for dinner, I have a hand under the table. Mom is suspicious. naturally She asks. I talk around it. Eventually she gets it out of me. :rolleyes: we make a looooong family trip down to the ER so I can get stitched up.

[divingbiker]

Hmmm...I didn't think I had any interesting scar stories until I started to think about it. I have a divot in the outside of my left foot from getting a big hunk of glass in it when I broke a glass bottle of soap bubbles as a kid (back before everything came in plastic bottles.) I had to have a mustard plaster or something like that on my foot every night until the glass was somehow magically drawn out. It was probably a half inch square piece of glass in a very small foot, if I remember right.

Then when I was about four I decided that I would stop the blades of a fan with my hand. Again, this was back in the olden days when there were large gaps between the wires on the fan cover. I stuck my hand in the fan, it didn't stop, and I bled quite a lot. We put a rag over my hand and walked the block across the railroad tracks to the hospital. Don't remember any details but we went out to dinner afterwards (we called it supper, and it was a very rare and special treat) and I've got some faint scars on my fingers.

My knees are always pink because they are one big mass of scar tissue from falling down on my bike on gravel roads repeatedly. I have a couple of new scars on my knees from more recent bike crashes.

When I was in college, I worked in a hardware store and was opening boxes with a utility knife. I somehow managed to slice open the meaty part of my hand between my thumb and index finger, all the way to the bone. They weren't too happy with me ruining their string of x days without a workplace accident, but I ended up with a few stitches and a nice scar.

And then of course I have a bellyful of scars from the laparoscopic hysterectomy that went bad and ended up being the old fashioned kind, with a big bikini line scar, catheter scars etc. Lovely.

Wow, this turned out to be long.

[CyclChyk]

I like my tats MUCH better than my scars altho my scars makes much better stories......

Not to mention my 8mo old hematoma that won't go away...........

[Kitsune06]

have you tried a daily gentle massage with vitamin E oil? vit. e oil and massage will fix *so* much, you end up realizing in body mod.

Each (tats and scars) has their place... then you get to the places where the line is blurred (http://www.bmezine.com/scar/bme-scar.html).

Branding and scarification are still a long way from being mainstream, though. Just an interesting thought. Still- there's an effect there you can't get with ink- the smooth silvery lines of scarification (by cutting or branding) are unobtainable any other way.

All depends on how you want to paint your canvas.

[KnottedYet]

Branding and scarification are still a long way from being mainstream, though. Just an interesting thought. Still- there's an effect there you can't get with ink- the smooth silvery lines of scarification (by cutting or branding) are unobtainable any other way.

Unless you're one of the lucky folks who make thick ropy keloid scars instead! :D

Once I was wearing a tank-top (which I hardly EVER do). This guy sitting next to me (waiting for our haircuts) got all excited when he saw my cancer scar, he thought it was a scarification and very cool!

[Pax]

Unless you're one of the lucky folks who make thick ropy keloid scars instead! :D

Once I was wearing a tank-top (which I hardly EVER do). This guy sitting next to me (waiting for our haircuts) got all excited when he saw my cancer scar, he thought it was a scarification and very cool!

All my scars go hypertrophic (similar to keloid), I never knew I was cool! :p

[CyclChyk]

I think I am too much of a pansy for scarification :eek: ............... I'll stick with the needle and ink for the time being. Altho I must confess when I was little I would pick any and all scabs just so they WOULD scar cuz I thought scars were sooooooooooo cool. Needless to say, I have a LOT of scars.....

[Wahine]

That scarification link made my stomach turn. I'm not putting it down. I just got a little grossed out by the mental image of the process of skin removal or branding. Ick.

I had a client once from central africa that had traditional scarification done to his entire face. it was in an amazing whorling pattern. It was far more beautiful than any other body art I have ever seen.

[Kitsune06]

I have a couple of brands of my own, but I must admit, they're not quite to the quality I would want them. I want to have a real artist do that for me at some point- once I figure out what I want. I think scars have definite appeal to them over ink. It's a pattern in the layout of your skin and body... what is more unique than that? take a wound and let your body do with it what it will- beautiful. and if it's still tight, take some vitamin e and do some gentle massaging of the area. helps a lot. my brands are 5 or 6 years old now... the 'best' of my scars is closer to 10-12. we shall see.

[missymaya]

I've read some articles on scarification but it really never interested me and I've always associated branding to 2 things: cows and fraternities. I know there's more to it than that, but I just can't get over that. I'll just stick to the needles and ink, thank you:D

[emily_in_nc]

No interest in tatoos, intentional scars, or piercings other than one hole in each ear (I'm a complete pain wimp!), but I have a very nice 6" scar on my right ilium from my pelvic fracture and subsequent surgery in 2005. When I first saw the frightening incision, angry and red, with stitches, I never believed it would turn into this tiny, white, nearly invisible hairline scar over time. My surgeon did good! I could even wear a bikini if I didn't have middle age spread around my hips! :D

Emily

[silver]

I just saw this thread. You guys have some impressive ones. I'm probably middle of the pack :p

Starting from the top:

top lip - vertical scar - fell on step at age two and got stitches and then feel the next day and ripped the stitches out

Left shoulder blade - silver dollar sized white spot - road rash from Bike wreck in 10/06

both breasts underneath - one inch scars from implants in 05

right side next to breast 1.5 inch scar from chest tube placement - bike wreck 10/06

both elbows red road rash scars - bike wreck 10/06

both wrists - red road rash scars - bike wreck 10/06

right hip large dark patch about 6 inches by 4 inches from hematoma with a 2 inch scar from the open wound (seems like the hip bone cut the skin open from the inside) bike wreck 10/06

half inch scar on my right thigh - needed 3 stitches - accidently cut by knife by a friend. She had it in her hand and I was sitting next to her. she moved her hand down to move the chair back so she could stand and cut me. It was the strangest thing to look inside before it started to bleed.

both knees - red road rash - bike wreck 10/06

right knee - chain ring scar - no motion fall over

left calf - three cogs of the chainring form triathlon - 8/06 - I was running the run part and a friend said what happened to your leg? I didn't want to slow down so I asked the next person that I passed if my leg was bleeding and which one. Blood was dripping down my leg to my sock, still not sure what I did.

bottom on right foot, 2 inch surgical scar from removal of bone chip (probably due to running)

Mr. did I miss anything?

[Aint Doody]

Yikes, Silver! I think you win........

[Kitsune06]

I... uh... don't think we're having any kinda competition...

[ClockworkOrange]

I've read some articles on scarification but it really never interested me and I've always associated branding to 2 things: cows and fraternities. I know there's more to it than that, but I just can't get over that. I'll just stick to the needles and ink, thank you:D

Cows, fraternities and BDSM'ers!
Scarification. This can be the most dangerous of all the body arts. Not to be tried at home.

Branding causes a 3rd degree burn which is highly susceptible to infection. The artist cannot create the scar; the body does, as each body is different, each scar will be different!

Hmmmm, think I will just stick to my one tattoo.

Goodness, I am lucky after reading the scars that many of you have, I have an appendicitis scar, nothing else worth mentioning.

Yes, Silver...........think you deserve an award.

(Off thread...........Silver, congrats on becoming a Spin Instructor) :D

Sally

[Kitsune06]

Mine are pretty tame.
Right ear- (now) mild ridging from a dog attack when I was 2 or 3. Don't remember much of it anymore.
2" scar runs from between my index and middle finger knuckles to mid-way down on the back of my left hand,
an ink spot on my thumb knuckle, left hand, (don't ask)
pencil 'tattoo' on left palm, 'catching' the pencil my darling little sis lunged at me with
a multitude of much smaller scars up my arms from soldering, dropping things in pickle, injuries, etc (I'm serious, I do not look good under blacklight as far as my arms are concerned)
1/2" roundish scar from a 'brand' that didn't turn out on l bicep
1" dia pentangular scar from a brand that turned out a little better on my shoulder (both were more for myself than anything else)
two tolkein runes beneath the pentangle that turned out very well and are now mostly invisible aside from the obvious discontinuity with the rest of the surrounding skin
Crossing over...
The bridge of my nose has a permanent bump from breaking it as a kid (and probably a re-break later moshing)
a smaller scar on the top of my shoulder from a playground incident (ok, I got run over...)
middle finger, last knuckle is a little 'bigger' and 'crunchier' than the rest, from an old football injury
index finger, 2nd knuckle has a scar from when I got two stitches
round scar on top and bottom of wrist from cat bite abt 5 years ago
Moving on...
some decent scar tissue on my chest (only visible via blacklight) from sliding down a tree having tried my dad's climbing tree stand. Bad times.
Left leg, just above my knee I have a 1.5" long, 1/4" wide scar from attempting to carve with a scalpel. I ended up slipping and carving my leg. oops.
Left knee- still some pink divots and streaks from high velocity gravel implantation. =P
Right calf, very faint now, was much more prominent, 5" long narrow scar from a logging incident
I think that's it for me. I do appreciate brandings. the design has to be fairly open, fairly simple, because it *is* your body making the design, not you. You have to work *with* nature instead of against it. Therein lies the art.

[CyclChyk]

I'm hoping I'm not the only one with this particular kind of scar but in my younger more *stoooooopid* days, we did this thing (when we drinking of course) where two people would place their arm side by side and lay a lit cigarette at the junction of the two and the person who pulled their arm away first lost. Not that there was a prize or anything but it was *cool* to end up with the resulting scar.

Yes I have that scar. Yes, I am a loser.....................

I did mention it was my MUCH younger days, right?:o

Oh and of course there is the way cool scar on the inside of my right calf where I dismounted on the wrong side of my DH's Kawi and the pipes left a lovely burn.........

[Wahine]

I have a similar scar in that it is kinda stupid. Mines a perfect cresent shaped scar on the flesh between my thumb and index finger from a mercy fight I had with a girl with long nails. Her nail litteraly dug into the flesh of my hand, DEEP. But there was no way I was giving up.

So I've told my funny stories. Here's my list:

- 2 scars on head, from 2 different injuries, one bike related, one from a game of duck duck goose.
- 3 long skinny scars on torso from bra chafing during a race
- 1 long skinny scar on flank from cat
- 1 oblong scar on flank from chicken pox
- multiple elbow scars from road rash and fry basket burn when I was a teen working at MacD's. That one's kinda cool because it's basket weaved.
- One very large scar on wrist/forearm from carwash incident (see above)
- 1 pin point tatt from art class (see above)
- Cresent scar left hand (see above)
- 6 or 7 knuckle scars from my climbing days
- Scar on the tip of my outie belly button from chafing while running
- Huge scar on my azz (see above)
- Multitude of tiny to medium scars on my legs from knees down from either bike crashes, platform pedal wounds, fin wounds (surfing or windsurfing) and one nasty one from cutting my knee open on lava rock while body surfing. Oh... and that nasty coral incident that took a layer off the top of my foot.

I'm lucky, my scars fade away until they are almost not noticeable. Except the one on my butt and the burn from MacD's. Unfortunately the burn has faded enough that you can only easily see the worst part of it now and you can barely see the basket weave.

I have not surgery scars *knocks on wood*, tatts or brandings.

[silver]

a multitude of much smaller scars up my arms from soldering, dropping things in pickle, injuries, etc (I'm serious, I do not look good under blacklight as far as my arms are concerned)


What kind of metal work do you do? I'm a silversmith.

This reminded me, I do have silver embedded in my left middle finger in a spot that I stupidly and repeatedly saw the same place open again and again.

What's this about the black light?

[Kitsune06]

oh, I just dink around, really. have the little swedish needle files, the jewelers' saw, some soldering gear and now and then little sheets of metal to work with. I do lost wax rings where I can find places to do the investments (no kiln of my own)

black lights pick up incongruities in the skin- not sure how/why. scars appear either lighter or darker- probably same or similar reason why bodily fluids are picked up via blacklight, too. :eek:

[wannaduacentury]

These are kinda silly to all the other major scrapes you ladies have(love the stories though). The main ones I have are when I was in 8th grade, I ran my 3 wheeler into barbed wire and had to have stitches in my neck(missed my carotid artery by mere millimeters-got it stitched up and off I go. I was going slow btw. And yesterday 2/17 I went on a club ride and was unclipping to stop, I had my left undone and was working on my right and down I went LOL. I hit my knee and scraped it( my knee still hurts b/c I landed on it but the scrape now matches my left where I fell riding clipless last summer. Bike wasn't hurt either.:rolleyes:

[Mr. Bloom]

I just saw this thread. You guys have some impressive ones. I'm probably middle of the pack :p

Starting from the top:

top lip - vertical scar - fell on step at age two and got stitches and then feel the next day and ripped the stitches out

Left shoulder blade - silver dollar sized white spot - road rash from Bike wreck in 10/06

both breasts underneath - one inch scars from implants in 05

right side next to breast 1.5 inch scar from chest tube placement - bike wreck 10/06

both elbows red road rash scars - bike wreck 10/06

both wrists - red road rash scars - bike wreck 10/06

right hip large dark patch about 6 inches by 4 inches from hematoma with a 2 inch scar from the open wound (seems like the hip bone cut the skin open from the inside) bike wreck 10/06

half inch scar on my right thigh - needed 3 stitches - accidently cut by knife by a friend. She had it in her hand and I was sitting next to her. she moved her hand down to move the chair back so she could stand and cut me. It was the strangest thing to look inside before it started to bleed.

both knees - red road rash - bike wreck 10/06

right knee - chain ring scar - no motion fall over

left calf - three cogs of the chainring form triathlon - 8/06 - I was running the run part and a friend said what happened to your leg? I didn't want to slow down so I asked the next person that I passed if my leg was bleeding and which one. Blood was dripping down my leg to my sock, still not sure what I did.

bottom on right foot, 2 inch surgical scar from removal of bone chip (probably due to running)

Mr. did I miss anything?

Yes, from head to toe - one beautiful woman!

[Kitsune06]

:) :D :)
The things some people overlook! :rolleyes: ;)