'I love my scars': women share their stories

Psychical scars have the ability of manifesting as emotional scars if they have a negative impact of our lives. An article by Psychologized says, "The emotions surrounding the physical scars can also leak over into the emotional and psychological and cause people significant self image issues and lower self confidence."

According to Arylide Life Sciences in some cases scars are linked to a painful episode and for some people such scars are "a constant reminder of the traumatic event that caused it." 

The psychological effects of scars that are linked to traumatic events are, "distress, poor self-esteem and difficulties in social situations, all leading to a diminished quality of life," states Arylide Life Sciences. 

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We are seeing more women on social media start to take their power back and embrace their scars and imperfections because they don't take anything away from who they are: 

That is why campaigns such as Scar Tissue are important in helping people come to terms with their scars and realising the impact these scars have on them - physically and psychologically.

Started by three young women namely Khuselwa Tembani, Mananya Senona, Sheyvonne Mainka and Jenna Sutcliffe from Rhodes University, Scar Tissue is "run by people with scars for people with scars" as stated on their website. 

They believe that conversations "around scars, stretch marks and other skin imperfections have begun to make their way into public conversations about the body and how it is represented and shown to the world" and have given women a platform to share their stories.

Khuselwa says that they wanted to started a campaign that mattered to them. "We were all interested in things that had to do with the body and I think that was because we are women and we have been so controlled by society when it comes to our bodies. When we think about something that we want to speak against, it has to do with our bodies, our being as women," she says. 

READ MORE: “A debilitating accident taught me self-love, how to embrace change and give back”

Here are some of the inspiring stories the women have shared so far: 

Charissa Cassels

Charissa says the relationship she has formed with her scars is symbolic - she always tries to give meaning to give to her scars. For example, she found that the scar on her back is the shape of wings and when she would get stressed, her scars would become whiter and in those times she felt that God was with her.  

Charissa believes that the minute we start embracing our own scar maybe other people will find beauty in them as well. 

Watch: Scar Tissue - Charissa Cassels

Kate Middleton 

Kate suffers from a skin condition called Keloiding. According to Healthline keloids form "when the skin is injured, fibrous tissue called scar tissue forms over the wound to repair and protect the injury. In some cases, scar tissue grows excessively, forming smooth, hard growths" which are then called keloids. So as a result of that condition Kate has a lot of scars all over her body. 

When she was 7 years old she suffered between second and third degree burns on the side of her face which scarred her. As she got older she was bullied and was called names such as 'scar face'. 

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"Now that I am older, I can see that I am not my scars and my scars do not make me who I am," she says. 

Watch: Scar Tissue - Kate Middleton

 One of content producers, Carmen Williams shares her relationship with scars. 

Do you have a scar that has shaped your life? If you would like to share your experiences with us, please mail us on chatback@w24.co.za

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