the art of scarring.

i was browsing BME when i came across something that i had never heard of before: scarification.

basically, this is an extreme form of tattooing, atleast from what i understand. in the basic form, it's etching into the skin to create a scar with a specific design.

from what i understood, there are several ways you can have scarification done:

-removing the skin.

-branding the design into the skin.

-cutting into the skin.

i don't understand why one would prefer to do this over tattooing.

even though, the outcome does look pretty cool.

i'd be really happy if someone could explain this to me.

i guess it's pretty much to each his own, you know?

but, this just seems a little extreme for me.

isn't it the same idea as a tattoo, just more painful?

photo credit.