What You Need to Know About Body Branding, an "Extreme" Form of Body Modification

There are a lot of surprising things about Kim Kardashian’s latest relationship, and recently, she shared another unexpected turn. On an episode of The Ellen Show, Kardashian said the comedian had paid homage to the new relationship with a permanent marking on his body. "Yeah, he has a few tattoos — a few cute ones, you know, that he got," Kardashian told DeGeneres. "But the 'Kim' one isn't a tattoo. It's actually a branding."

Branding is a type of body marking that uses heat to permanently scar the skin with a design. Also under the "scarification" umbrella is cutting, in which a practitioner uses a bladed instrument to create scar designs on the skin, Ryan Oulette, a scarification practitioner at Precision Body Arts in New Hampshire, tells Allure.

• Ryan Oulette, a scarification practitioner at Precision Body Arts in New Hampshire
• David Kim, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Idriss Dermatology in New York
• Elizabeth Kiracofe, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Chicago

What's the history of scarification?

Scarification is a popular topic of discussion at the moment thanks to Davidson, but it's far from a new practice. Historians trace scarring and tattooing back to ancient civilizations when slave owners inflicted permanent marks on slaves to indicate their ownership or to punish them after escape attempts.

According to Oulette, who's studied and delivered lectures on the history of scarification, some indigenous cultures in Africa, South America, and Australia historically used branding or cutting as a form of body art. Colonizers later appropriated body markings, and tattoos became mainstream as technology advanced.

While scarification is still an important cultural practice for some, and it’s gaining notoriety in the media, it’s important to understand how it works (including the risks). Here's what you need to know about how body branding and cutting work, according to experts.

How does scarification work?

"Scarification," Oulette says, is a catch-all term for any procedure used to form a scar in the skin. While a tattoo pushes ink into the skin with a needle, scarification either burns or cuts the skin, then forms scar tissue in a design (for example, the name “Kim”).

Both cuts and burns result in a similar scarring and healing process, says David Kim, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Idriss Dermatology in New York. When the skin is wounded, tissue breaks apart. Initially, immune cells called neutrophils rush to the area to fight off infection and help the tissue heal. "Then, fibroblasts form collagen in the skin, and create a scar to fill the gap," Dr. Kim says.

While it's possible Davidson was truly branded, Oulette says branding practitioners are few and far between, and that it’s really hard to achieve a precise design with heat. "The heat damages the surrounding tissue and not just where you strike the design," he says. "Just like if you touch a hot pan and get burned, it can create a blob on your skin." If cutting is like using a pen, Oulette says branding is more like using a can of spray paint.

Is scarification safe?

As with a tattoo or piercing, getting branded or cut isn't without risk, which is why after-care is critical post-scarification. If you’ve gotten a tattoo, your practitioner probably encouraged you to put ointment and moisturizer on the area for a week or so. "Scarification is a more significant wound, so there will be more cleaning, and a slightly slower healing process," Oulette says, adding that most scarifications heal within two or three weeks.

During that time, Dr. Kim says, it's important to watch out for signs of infection. Redness, warmth, and pain surrounding the scar may indicate a local infection, and some people experience yellow pus or discharge. If the infection starts to spread, people may experience fever and chills, and redness or warmth in a larger area of the skin. "Go to the doctor after you notice infection symptoms," says Dr. Kim. "You can start with an antibiotic ointment depending on the severity of the infection, or oral antibiotics." In the event an infection spreads to the bloodstream or gets more severe, people usually need to be admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics.

While safe, hygienic scarring practice and appropriate aftercare can prevent infection, Dr. Kim encourages understanding your personal and family medical history before pursuing scarification. Some people have a genetic tendency to develop keloid scars, a painful, large scar that heals beyond the original incision or damage.

Elizabeth Kiracofe, a board-certified dermatologist in Chicago, previously told Allure that keloids are "most common in our patients with skin of color, and those of African descent are at the highest risk for the development of keloid." If you've ever noticed an out-of-proportion scar after a piercing, surgery incision, acne, or even a mild scratch heals, talk to your doctor before going to a scarification provider.

Another consideration: Scars are more permanent than tattoos. While most scars fade over time, and laser therapy can help soften them, Oulette says there's no way to completely remove a branding or cutting mark.

Even as people look for more ways to express themselves — or their love for a partner — through body art, Oulette says he doubts scarification will trend or become as popular as tattoos or piercings are. "If you look at subgenres from fashionable or extreme, it’s one of the more extreme forms of body modification, where it’s a minimal part of an overall body art community."

Read more about body modification:

• This "Gentle Piercer" Is Changing the Industry
• The Dangerous Risks of Eye Tattoos, According to the Body Modification Artist Who Invented Them
• About to Get Your First Tattoo? This Is Everything You Need to Know

And now, watch 100 years of tattoo trends:

Don't forget to follow Allure on Instagram and Twitter.