Were You Ever Stabbed by a Pencil at School and Still Have a Mark? You Might Not Be Alone

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Whether it was by accident or in a playful fight, many of us might remember being stabbed by a pencil during our school days. Once we turned into adults, this one incident with a carbon writing device left us with a permanent “tattoo” on the skin.

If you are someone who has a dark dot due to a pencil in any part of your skin, you aren’t alone. In fact, these pencil markings became a topic of discussion when a Twitter user in January 2019 posted an image of his own marking and asked users to share their images of these tiny dots on their bodies, according to The Daily Mail.

Many people took to social media to share their own graphite “tattoos” and stories of how they acquired these dots that have stayed on for years.

However, does this viral trend have any scientific validity? Dermatologist Dr. Fayne Frey said those small marks are called “traumatic tattoos,” according to Today. “They are permanent stains that remain in the skin just like the tattoos applied with oxide inks,” she added.

Dr. Frey further mentioned that they can partly be removed with laser technology.

Although these markings stay for a long time, the good news is that the risk of permanent damage is minimal. “Pencil tattoos” do fade, over time, just like ink tattoos. “The main risk is really infection,” dermatologist Dr. Cameron Rokhsar, founder of the New York Cosmetic, Skin & Laser Surgery Center, explained. Therefore, the doctor has advised washing the area of marking with soap and water thoroughly and applying some antibiotic ointment on it should you find yourself stabbed by a pencil recently.

However, if any of you have had these tiny dark dots for a long time now and they haven’t shown any side effects, then you are in the clear.

Dr.Rokhsar also stated the process of fading is indeed a very slow one and shared his own experience. “When I was seven years old, my cousin stabbed me with a pencil in my arm, and the pencil broke in my arm,” he said. “I still have it; I still have that area of pigmentation.”

Unsurprisingly, the internet had discussed pencil tattoos long before it turned into a viral Twitter trend. Back in 2007, a long-running message on the forum of Mothering, a magazine that has provided inspiration, perspective, and practical advice for over four decades, had an entire thread where someone asked for ways to remove the pencil mark from her leg. Along with some advice, other forum members shared their own stories.

“Well, it isn’t really lead, so you don’t need to worry too much. It should be graphite. I think you'd have to reopen your skin to get it out, though,” one forum member advised.

Meanwhile, a second one chimed in sharing his own story, writing, “I’ve got a piece of pencil ‘lead’ in the heel of my palm. Been there since 4th grade. It’s so deep,” adding that there is probably no way it will come out.

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Another person recalled a rather painful incident that happened a quarter of a century ago. “When I was a kid, I stepped on a pencil, it flipped up in the air, and the tip came down on the top of my big toe.

“There was this grey mark but no evidence of a break in the skin. Short of cutting my toe open, no one had any idea how to get rid of it. The mark is still there 25 years later,” the poster further added.