Bizare Scarification Marks

A few months ago, I met this little girl of about 1yr plus some months  at one of  the centres of NIMC( National Identity Management Commission) . The parents of the little girl came to have their data captured. I was waiting  patiently for my turn when the little girl ran towards where I was .She stood there for a while smiling. I said to her , 'how are you cutie'?  She had a scarification mark on her face , to be precise on the outer corners of her eyes.
I turned to the mother and asked her why she did that to the pretty girl's face in this 21st century.    She answered me by saying " she was always falling ill and rolling up her eyes"
This mark prevents the illnesses. The father joined in the conversation and buttressed the point. I started telling them the risks the child will face  when they use unsterilized sharp objects to make the marks.
The father truncated my discussion by saying that they use new razor blades . I counselled both parents but I ended up not convincing them because the father told me that he will do same on the unborn children.
I was dumb struck and didn't know what else to tell them so that they can change the ideas they have about the scarification marks.
At that moment I felt I have lost the match . There is this feeling we get as medical doctors when you treat your patient and when you are able to counsel your patient and he accepts the idea. It was just different in this  case.
In Nigeria , there are different scarification marks that are peculiar to a particular tribe. Those of the Yorubas, Hausas  and Ibos are quite different from each other. I know about religious or cultural reasons for having scarification marks on the body but my post will focus on the health related aspects of the marks.
These marks are seen on the face , on the back, on the chest , on the abdomen or any other part of the body
They are mostly performed by herbalists, traditional healers etc .They use herbs, roots, plants etc which are ground and applied into the incisions made.
The medium to educate people decades ago was absent but now we have different media where people could be educated about their healths. People still do it but we wont relent in passing the word down to the grass roots, the need to stop such practises.


 The scarification marks are done for the following reasons;
1. Seizures (convulsions) ; This is  what they refer as 'akwukwu' in igbo language , 'giri' in yoruba  or jijjiga or 'farfadiya ' in hausa. In seizures there is sudden disruption of the normal electrical activity of the brain leading to altered consciousness, abnormal repetitive muscle jerking and other neurological deficits. 
2. Swelling in any part of the body e.g on the abdomen
3. Hyperactive precordium(left side of the chest): Here there is visible beating of the  heart seen on the chest 
4. Jaundiced children
5. Children that always  fall sick


 Complications that could arise are as follows;
6. There could be infection at the site of the incision
7. HIV and viral hepatitis  could be contracted when unsterilized sharp objects are used
8. Hypertrophic scars or keloids  could develop depending on the type of incision made .
9. Death could occur due to sepsis  or even the disease it self
The summary of this is  that making marks on any part of the body does not cure or prevent any seizure or any other disease .  
Always  bring the child or the adult to the hospital for immediate medical intervention. For prevention, vaccination is the key.
Please quit all those harmful traditional practises. Please do share your experiences and you can also contribute to the post.
Stay healthy people. Thanks  for  visiting.