Skin is a seamless organ. It's like a fine cloth protecting your valuable assets. But that means that one small tear can make a big difference in the way it looks. Surgery, burns, injuries, or other traumas can cause a scar.
And one Reddit post by a user with a now-suspended account vividly illustrates just how difficult life can be by "wearing" one. In it, the woman recalls a particularly unpleasant flight during which a nearby seated child started making a scene because of the unusual mark on her face.
Unsure about the way she handled the situation, the Redditor shared the experience with the platform's 'Am I the [Jerk]?' community, asking for its members' unbiased opinions.
This woman went through a lot and will remain with a scar on her face for the rest of her life
Image credits: Mortal Engines (not the actual photo)
And her online confession shows just how insensitive people can be about it
Image credits: Jeffry Surianto (not the actual photo)
"I said, 'This is my face. The only ... [one] I've got"
Image credits: Yan Krukov (not the actual photo)
Image credits: f**keduppface
There are different types of scars. They may appear flat, lumpy, sunken, or colored, and may be painful or itchy. The final look depends on many factors, including the skin type and location on the body, the direction of the wound, the type of injury, the age of the person, and their nutritional status.
Research, just like this Reddit post, shows that visible scars can have a profound effect on self-confidence, regardless of the original cause. For example, there was a study published in the Journal of Plastic Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery that sought to determine how skin scars affect a person's quality of life.
Researchers gathered data from thirty-four patients with a wide range of scar types, severity, and onset. They collected 573 statements related to need impairment by skin scars, which were classified into 44 themes covering five main areas:
- Physical comfort and functioning;
- Acceptability to self and others;
- Social functioning;
- Confidence in the nature and management of the condition;
- Emotional wellbeing.
"The majority of respondents were unhappy with their scar's appearance due to their perceived stigma and psychological associations, and thus adopted different coping behaviors to hide or compensate for them," the authors of the study said. "Often this made them unsociable and interfered with their communication skills, personal relationships, work life, and leisure activities."
So instead of demanding that people with scars retreat into the shadows to "protect" their children, maybe they should teach the young ones empathy instead?
People were furious with the father and said she did absolutely nothing wrong
