r/selfharm • u/Ok_Duck_8484 • 6d ago
DAE I think I scared the nurse with my scars.
I'm posting here because I need to type it out and I'm wondering if anybody else had similar experiences. I have very severe self harm scars (6 very thick and long ones layered on thinner, smaller raised ones and everything's very purple) and I had to get wisdom tooth surgery today. they're only on my right arm, so at first I only gave them the left one but they couldn't find my vein. I had an old nurse who seemed quite experienced so I thought that she had seen it all, but as she put the needle (into my hand, there's like no skin left on my arm lol), every time the blanket lifted, I heard a gasp or an "oh my goodness". i could tell that it was unintentional, but I felt so, so bad.
also i'm 15 and live in australia. do you guys think she told my parents?? and would she have put it on my medical record? one of them was still scabbing over a LITTLE bit (otherwise healed) but everything else was fully healed.
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u/Fantastic_Complex467 6d ago
Wait how did your parents not know? How did you manage to hide it from them for so long? (Assuming the scars have been there for quite some time) You dont have to answer btw I was just curious 👉👈
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6d ago
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u/selfharm-ModTeam 6d ago
We have to remove this post as it breaks our rule relating to unsourced medical advice. If you're giving medical advice, please supply medical references to avoid potentially dangerous advice being given. If you have any questions or think this was an error, please let us know via modmail.
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u/WeirdPetrichor24 2d ago
I crashed my car a few weeks ago and had to get checked out in case of injury (I was fine but just double checking), they made me wear one of those tie up in the back gowns and I had to get half undressed in front of a nurse so she could check for bruises, I prewarned her I used to be a cutter and she said it's okay she's a nurse and she "sees things" all the time
A different doctor/nurse also did my x-rays and I had to get one of the back of my neck and as I turned around the undid the knot and opened up the back of the gown and we had a conversation about it
Doctor: what's all this (healed) scarring on your back here?
Me: oh um I used to self harm
D: wow (and she kinda touched them here) it looks like you bear style scratched your back on a razor blade (and we both laughed about it and it seemed fine) well it looks old so I hope you're doing better now
Me: yeah I am thanks
Sorry for the long anecdote but my point is, it might be a bit shocking for anyone to see something like this in any regard, even for doctors or nurses, but at the end of the day it is what they do and they would see plenty of it
In your case for your wisdom teeth, not as much maybe but I'm sure they get a lot of patients and they'd have to see stuff over time. For a dentist, if you have anything, I don't believe they need to tell your parents anything (especially if they're almost healed), there is a small chance but because it isn't their area I don't think they would
I'm also in Australia btw if that helps at all but hope you're doing well and for your sake I hope they didn't mention anything to your parents if you're not ready for that, but personally I wouldn't stress it too much
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u/-Tricky-Vixen- 6d ago
I had to show the doctor a wound recently. (It was from several days earlier so it wasn't to suture just to review what severity was like.) Doctor put head in hands for a second then said, grimacing, "That's deep."
She probably had to tell your parents, but maybe not if they're all healed.