Addiction Black Tar Track Marks, anyone else with this issue??

[HeroinHero95]

I have looked through the archive trying to find out if anyone else on here has had the same problem I do and didnt find anything. I'm a BTH (black tar heroin) IV user, and have been for almost a year and a half. I've been clean for almost two months. So the scars and "tracks" have had plenty of time to heal up, the skin tissue is normal, but where my veins are is essentially "tattooed" due to missing shots. They are black and blue (not bruised) and seem to be staying that way. I have heard of people getting "tattooed" from BTH missed shots, and collapsed veins. I just want to know if anyone else has had this happen, and if it has faded away or am i going to need to get real tattoos to cover it up? Vitamin E oil, scar cremes, arnica gel etc. worked for the skin tissue damage, but doesnt help with the coloring at all. Thanks BL fam.

 

[southeast]

I'm sorry that's great your clean though. I have track scars too. It sucks. I've known someone who used tar mostly and after being clean for quite a while... Several months more than you who it was just lines up and down the arms. Someone else with more personal experience can attest better to if this will get better...
But, this I do know, you can def tattoo over tracks. I have a pretty covered arm that used to look awful from tracks and no one seems to notice now. My other arm needs to be done cause now it's bad too... The only trouble is scar tissue can make you a bit more sensitive but if you can take that then do it! Good luck, so sorry I don't have more to say to your original question.

 

[sekio]

OD -> sober living

 

[HeroinHero95]

Thanks man. You we're definitely helpful. I'm not wigging about the tracks too bad, It's whatever, it just sucks that its the middle of summer and i have to wear long sleeves to work. I dont mind if any random person outside of the work place see's them, im not ashamed. It's just my first job since being clean and I'd like to maintain a somewhat respectable level of professionalism. Maybe when i've worked there long enough i can talk to the higher ups and explain my situation. idk.

 

[The Doc.]

That's tough I know what you mean sometimes you foret about them and run into someone in public or work and they see the tracks and give you that lookyou know the look I'm talking about. I've had the same things from shooting coke and China white. I always still wore short sleeves tho as I work in forestry by myself cutting with a chainsaw all day so nobody seen me but I could see how that would be a problem at most jobs. I don't know if I would go tell your job cause of the stigma associated with IV drug use and most people think once an addict always an addict.

 

[HeroinHero95]

That's tough I know what you mean sometimes you foret about them and run into someone in public or work and they see the tracks and give you that lookyou know the look I'm talking about.

I know that look all too well ahah. I'm not to concerned about losing the job, i'm moving back to Denver (the place where i was addicted) from piss ass Missouri in a month so this job isnt all too important, hopefully by the time i'm looking for a job in Denver the marks will have faded. one can always hope.

 

[Breathe]

I was super strung out for about nine years, all BTH except for when I went to the east coast for a bit.

My tracks were fucking insane, and looked so terrible.
But.
It was suggested to me to try using vitamin E on them, as well as sitting in a sauna quite often. Like REALLY often.
So I did.
That seriously took years off their healing time.
My arms look -almost- trackless, comparably, now. There are still discolorations from one miss of a goofball, it looks like a bullethole;
on my neck at the collarbone, from the neck-shooting days. bleh.

I also once heard a chick tell me that she used to take epsom salt baths with peroxide and like baking soda or something.
Her tracks were also gone, but it is hard to tell if that was the reason.

If nothing at all, time will heal them. But seriously - sit in a sauna for like an hour a day, if you have access to a gym.
Rub Vit E oil on all the gnarly spots. It will help. PM me if you want more info.

 

[neversickanymore]

If nothing at all, time will heal them. But seriously - sit in a sauna for like an hour a day, if you have access to a gym.
Rub Vit E oil on all the gnarly spots..

Good advice here.. if you don't have access to a suna then I would use a wet rag heated to a high but not burning temp and apply it over and over when you have a chance. This increases blood flow to the area and will facilitate faster healing.

A friend of mine had this very issue and you can not even see any evidence at all anymore and she was literally black in many areas. As has been said time will cure this, but you can make it go faster with heat, oral vitamins, and vitamine rubs.

 

[jennay]

Hi, i have the same issue!! Its like black and blue tatooed veins. So u guys are saying it will go away over time?? Im so scared that it wont. It looks so ugly. I never had an issue with powder when i was in ny. I moved to west coast just a few months and im all out of veins and all of them all bruised like marked... i pray they go away. Cus they arnt like normal track marks. Its inside.

 

[Breathe]

Jennay - Yes, time will heal them - but if you want to take years of the healing time,
you can try the sauna technique.

My last post was a couple years ago and I've had time to refine the technique as follows:

- sign up at a gym that has a sauna
- buy some Vitamin E oil and also some Coconut Oil
- drink a bunch of water
- before you enter the sauna, go to the shower and rinse off
- rub a thin layer of coconut oil all over yourself
- rub vitamin E oil onto the real trouble spots (any scars and tracks)
- go sit in the sauna for about 20min
- try to stay inside for the whole 20min
but if you cannot, then step out for cool air whenever you need it
- because of the coconut oil on your skin, you will -pour- sweat.
- you can even put the coconut oil in your hair for a heat-treatment!
- repeat this everyday, if possible - or as often as possible.
- if you know you can handle doing an hour in the sauna with a few short breaks,
then you can pull it off a little faster. Never push yourself to stay in there if you
start feeling faint, dehydrated, etc..
- Drink lots of water before, during, and after.

I used to have such horrible, black, scarred tracks.. They were so bad,
that when I got arrested one evening, and the cops found rigs and shit (meth)
in my car, they asked to see my arms. I rolled up my sleeves and showed them,
and they both reacted in surprise and shock. "Holy shit" and "oh man oh man".
They explained that they were part of a sort of drug task force in Huntington Beach (my hometown)
and that in the few years they had been dealing with heroin and meth addicts, they had never
seen arms like mine. Lol. They asked me in confidence if they could take a couple of pictures
of my arms for their "documents". I'm guessing that picture of my arms was shown to other
officers in that task force? I told them I had better not see that picture on Facebook.
We had a good laugh, and then I went to jail! Good times.

Anyway so when I tell you that I took years off their healing time, I am not kidding.
The difference was remarkable, and very noticeable because of the severity
of the tracks.. I did the sauna thing every day for 2 months, and then ever since
then, I've done it on average about 3 times a week, whenever I would get sober.

I no longer have those tracks - even after the gnarly run I went on in 2015-16 - I was became homeless
and didn't shower often, gross living conditions and still - I was able to get rid of what I had accumulated
during that run, in just a few months of sauna cleansing. The black color is literally gone.

PS - detoxing in a sauna like that is beneficial for your body in many, many ways - look it up!
You'd be doing your body a favor even if you didn't have tracks.

Good luck -and I hope that helps!

 

[MrRoot]

I can't advocate enought the health benefits of a sauna but I am lucky to live in Finland where everyone has a sauna in their apartment or a shared sauna whle living in some of the block of flats and don't have room for their own. Although we warm it to something like 110-120 celsius degrees instead of those barely warm levels in example in the US..

It is beneficial even while going through withdrawals as it helps with the feeling of being cold and having shivers well as increase your blood flow while being therapeutical to your mind in a some kind of sense.

I actually have two saunas. One which I use during the winters as it situates in my washroom and it is electric sauna and another one in the other building of my property and it is a real wood heated sauna.

IDK about the sauna culture so much in the US but we go to sauna naked (no matter the gendee) while having get to togethers with my friends and it often included spending much more time than that 20minutes you suggested as we spend time drinking beer while on the sauna and talk about everything that comes into mind.

Being naked while on a sauna is a huge benefit as you leave behind all of your status and it is possible to have meaningful discussions between people from different backgrounds.

Even workplaces have sauna evenings and while you are naked there is nothing separating CEO from a normal salary slave this way and they wouldn't engage otherwis into the discussions they do in the sauna.

 

[Stargazer]

Thanks for all the beneficial information everyone. HeroinHero95-and especially to you-I genuinely hope that it helps w your tracks. I am an IV heroin user-(currently trying to get my shit back together after a over 2 month slip. Im on day 7 of not using) and I feel your pain from "normal" (?) powder tracks. I use my hands and wrists.

Something Ive found that helps -I mean tremendously- is rubbing cortisone cream and/or NeoSporin gel on them. It helps both skin and tracks. Ive used really inexspensive cortisone cream labeled "Anti-Itch Cream" with 1% cortisone I also got one that was $5 more and the cheaper one worked better. So you never know. I only mention these creams/gels because the healing-overnight even is amazing.

From the great help that everyone is saying a sauna has in conjunction w using cortisone afterwards-it could give you better skin than you started with. I don't have access to a sauna right now so Im going to try steaming the bathroom by running the shower ? on hot w the door closed and sit in there for 20 minutes. I had no idea a sauna was so beneficial.

I first learned the amazing powers of cortisone and neosporin a couple years ago when I was locked up. I took a shower everyday-and my face looked like I had severe sunburn w really really dry skin on my entire face but worse around my nostrils and a few spots on my face. It was itchy, sore and painful.( It was from the water. )

I tried regular body lotion. It didn't help. So I asked a nurse at the med cart-she gave me a little thing of cortisone cream. I put it all over my face. The next morning my face was not only 95% cleared up-my skin looked smooth and beautiful. Noone could get over the result. Including me. I used both cortisone cream and neosporin gel then as well.

Since that time, Im a firm believer in those creams for healing. Hope you're well and that helps some.

 

[Jabberwocky]

This is an awesome thread. Just saying! %)

The best thing I ever did for my tracks honestly was simply healthy living, balanced diet and good hygienic practices. Vitamin E cream has also been helpful. I didn't have horrible tracks mind you, but a couple are still rather visible (one spot in particular from a miss).

Find a good dermatologist is a really worthwhile idea. Needle exchanges can help point you in the right direction if you don't know one already who is compassionate enough to work with a former (or current) drug user.

 

[Breathe]

That is so cool. I can't say I have much experience hanging out (literally) with people who
consider the sauna to be a thing, anymore than taking a shower is a thing.
I would totally do that, though. I love saunas and I've been in jail so many times
with their group shower-rooms, that being naked in front of pretty much anyone doesn't really bother me anymore.
I don't seek that out, howeever: jail did not make me a nudist lol

I hope to be able to visit Scandinavia in general, relatively soon. I also hope to relocate to another country
as well..

I think I will add all this stuff to the repair guide!

 

[Stargazer]

^^Lol!! I love that~ "I love showers and I've been in jail so many times...." You are funny! I really appreciate the refined "Sauna Technique " for healing tracks (or skin period for that matter) you took the time to post. Thanks. I'm saving that and putting in notes on my phone.

If followed on a regular basis I bet skin ~ head to toe ~ will be glowing and beautiful.

This thread got me to reading all about saunas/sudatory (new word learned today) Wow Mr. Root! I have learned quite a bit regarding the integral part saunas are for Finns, as well as all the health benefits. Truly amazing . I love learning new and healthy things.

This really is a great thread as TPD pointed out. Again, thanks for all information BL family.

-10

 

[b4c0nflava]

l

I was super strung out for about nine years, all BTH except for when I went to the east coast for a bit.

My tracks were fucking insane, and looked so terrible.
But.
It was suggested to me to try using vitamin E on them, as well as sitting in a sauna quite often. Like REALLY often.
So I did.
That seriously took years off their healing time.
My arms look -almost- trackless, comparably, now. There are still discolorations from one miss of a goofball, it looks like a bullethole;
on my neck at the collarbone, from the neck-shooting days. bleh.

I also once heard a chick tell me that she used to take epsom salt baths with peroxide and like baking soda or something.
Her tracks were also gone, but it is hard to tell if that was the reason.

If nothing at all, time will heal them. But seriously - sit in a sauna for like an hour a day, if you have access to a gym.
Rub Vit E oil on all the gnarly spots. It will help. PM me if you want more info.

I have a huge ass nasty as he'll track mark going up the huge vein on the back side of my arm from around the side of.my wrist up to my elbow and i was told by a few people that using vitamin e lotion along with the purest aloe Vera gel you can get does wonders on track marks, or any scars really even stretch marks! I just bought a bottle of each and put a bit of each if them.in my hand and mixed them together then rubbed em on my arm a d it does work fairly well. I wonder if there's actual track mark or scar cream out somewhere though