Vaccine appointment and visible self-harm

[badlydrawnbear]

I am looking at booking my Covid booster, but have obvious, superficial self-inflicted injuries to one arm. Will they care? Do they have a policy for escalating this or not? Or is it literally you turn up and they jab you and that’s it? I don’t have a believable lie if asked what happened.
I had my first 2 doses at work. I have to wear short sleeves at work so have to minimise visible injuries, but am currently off sick (for reasons not directly related to my self-harming). I am also eligible for a flu vaccine that I would otherwise get at work which I would probably get at the GP surgery, so I know that will be an issue and will likely have to wait or not happen

Are they recent injuries? As I think that would make a difference, do you have any current MH support? They may contact your GP about it if they are concerned about you and the injuries are recent.

why not just have the jab in the non-injured arm?

Are they low down could you wear a tubigrip? Claim you twisted your wrist?

They are there to vaccinate you, that's all. What kind of escalation do you think may happen?

Don't miss out on health care provision because of this, if your on the flu jab list it's because you need it. Would a cold shoulders type top cover it, then they'll jab through the hole.

I took my teen dd to have hers and she has marks all up her arm. It only occurred to me while we were there whether they might mention this at all but nothing was said or done.
Try not to worry, I’m sure they see it a lot especially doing young people now.

And also if it helps, if it’s only one side, they do give you a choice of side.

Or wear a cold shoulder top like Dolly Parton!

If the injuries are recent it seems very possible that they will mention them and perhaps ask if you want a GP appt. But as for 'escalation', that seems very unlikely. You have to beg and beg for mental health intervention, even if you are suicidal. Self-harm is common and I don't imagine the NHS has the resources to proactively intervene when they notice it.

I have old self-harm scars all up my lower right arm, and it is a perpetual source of embarrassment to me whenever I give blood or go for a jab. I'd be interested to hear from any nurse or doctor how often they see these sorts of scars and how they feel about it when someone presents with scars.

They’re there to vaccinate you, not to force you to accept help that you clearly don’t want. Also, I imagine it might be policy to not say anything as it might put people off for coming back for their next shot.

I'm currently in a cast due to a broken wrist and had my flu jab the other day I wore a vest top with cardigan and just pulled one side of the cardigan down over my shoulder and they jabed like that.