Treating Your Cleft Lip Scar with Medical Tattooing

Choosing treatment for a cleft lip scar is deeply personal, and Rae understands that you are not simply looking for pigment, you are looking for someone who can help restore balance, confidence, and a sense of ease in your appearance. Her approach combines specialist medical tattooing techniques with careful scar preparation, bespoke colour matching and a calm, consultative process, so every stage is planned around your skin, your features, and your expectations. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all result or leaving the scar unchanged, Rae focuses on creating a natural, subtle improvement that feels right for you, giving you confidence that you are in experienced, thoughtful, and highly skilled hands.

How Medical Tattooing Works

Medical tattooing is a highly specialised technique that implants cosmetic pigments into the dermal layer of the skin to restore natural lip colour, shape and symmetry. For people living with cleft lip scarring, it offers a way to reduce the visual impact of the scar — softening its appearance and rebalancing the lip so that it sits more harmoniously with the surrounding skin and the face as a whole.

Treatment works on two levels: improving the scar itself and restoring colour and definition to the lip. The result is designed to look natural, subtle and entirely in keeping with your own features — never obviously “tattooed.” For many people, it can be a transformative step in redefining their appearance following cleft lip surgery.

The Treatment Process

Stage one – improving the scar

Treatment usually begins by addressing the scar itself. Micro-needling is used to soften the scar tissue, stimulate collagen and improve its texture, making it more pliable and better able to hold pigment evenly. The area may look red for approximately 3–10 days while it heals. Research shows the optimum results come after three treatments (occasionally up to six), spaced at six-week intervals. As this can be a tender area, anaesthetic is applied before any treatment begins.

Stage two – restoring colour and definition

Once the scar has improved, attention turns to the cupid’s bow, the vermilion border and the overall symmetry of the upper lip, so that the lip looks balanced from every angle. A bespoke colour is mixed for you: a natural outline to redefine the lip’s shape, and a second skin-to-lip shade worked over the area so that it reads as lip rather than scar. The level of definition is entirely your choice — from a soft, undefined edge (which often suits men and older clients) through to a crisp, almost lipstick-like finish. This stage typically takes three treatments at four-week intervals.

Please be aware that the colour will look darker for the first 1–7 days and will then soften to a more natural look.

Good to Know

Consultation and patch test — Before your first treatment we carry out a consultation and a patch test, to check how your skin responds to the pigment and to plan your colour and finish.

Cold sores — The cold sore virus lies dormant in the nerves, and tattooing the lip will reactivate it. This means that anyone who has ever had a cold sore — even just once — will almost certainly develop one after treatment unless it is prevented. For this reason, antiviral medication before and after your session is essential, not optional. Please tell us at consultation if you have ever had a cold sore and arrange to get antiviral medication from your GP in good time before your appointment.

When treatment may need to wait — There are some circumstances in which we’d postpone, including pregnancy or breastfeeding, an active cold sore or skin infection in the area, and certain medications or skin conditions. We’ll go through your full history together beforehand.

How long results last — Medical tattoo pigment is not permanent in the way a body tattoo is; it softens and fades gradually over time. A periodic colour refresh keeps your results looking their best.

Your healing journey — In the first few days the area may feel tender and look darker and a little swollen. As it heals you may notice light flaking, and the colour will soften considerably from how it first appears. The true, settled result is usually seen around four weeks after each treatment.

Realistic expectations — Medical tattooing camouflages and rebalances the lip rather than removing the scar entirely. Results build gradually across your treatment sessions — but the overall improvement in symmetry and colour can be significant.

Get started:

Pre-Treatment

For your comfort, refrain from alcohol or caffeine in the 24 hours pre-treatment.

If you are having medical tattooing on your face, please arrive without makeup on, or arrive early and remove your makeup 20 minutes before your treatment time. This gives your skin time to calm down and return to its normal colouring.

If you have had even ONE COLD SORE in the past, and are having a lip treatment or the area of concern goes onto or close to your lip, use an anti-herpes medication 5 x daily before your treatment and for 5 days afterwards. This will help prevent a breakout which could cause you discomfort and scarring. You will need to obtain this from a chemist or your doctor.

Please arrive for your appointment at least 10 minutes early to fill in any clinic forms, use the bathroom and get yourself settled. Rae will come to the waiting room/reception at your appointment time.

Consultation

A consultation is essential to determine a full medical history, patient expectations, suitability of treatment and a personalised treatment plan. For your safety as well as your practitioners preparation, a consultation is a requirement to determine the best course of action.

Treatment

You will be taken to the treatment room for initial photographs. Before any treatment begins, the area to be tattooed is cleaned. If required, a topical anaesethic will be applied and the pigments will then be mixed. Once the anaesethic has worked, any drawing on of features or shapes will happen. You will have time to discuss, modify, work out the most suitable shape, size and placement for you. Once this is all agreed, the tattooing will start. It is not a particularly painful treatment but more anaesethic can be applied during the treatment if needed.

Contraindications

• Very dark scarring
• Scarring that is unhealed, or red and angry
• Keloid scars
• Roaccutane use in the preceding 6 months
• Pregnancy or breast feeding

Get started:

Rae Denman Medical Tattoo & Expert Witness Ltd

Located at: Tillow Barn
Roothill Lane,
Brockham,
BETCHWORTH,
RH3 7AS