I would be supportive on all of your articles and blogs because they are just upto the mark.
scoopon
It seemed so right. Just freshly freshmen, you and your new best friend/college roommate/total stranger from a small Midwestern town you’ve never heard of grabbed your keys and your baby-faced 18-year-old IDs and headed downtown to the tattoo studio. Eschewing bright tropical flowers and twinkling stars, you settled on a statement piece—an aqua blue peace sign on your left inner wrist.
Fast forward 10 years, and you cringe every time your French cuff creeps upward to expose a peep of blue ink when shaking hands with a colleague. What were you thinking? In a matter of 120 adolescent minutes—the time it took to ink your passion for world peace—you marked yourself for life.
Or did you?
Tattoo removal has come a long way since the ancient Greeks removed tattoos with salt scrubs or cantharidin (a skin-irritating chemical extracted from a blister beetle). To explore the ins and outs of modern ink erasure, I spoke with dermatologist Dr. Will Kirby, DO, a leading expert in laser tattoo removal (and guest star on LA Ink, The Doctors, and featured physician on Dr. 90210).
How Does Tattoo Removal Work—and Can I Afford It?
Today’s (much less abrasive) methods involve the use of the sci-fi sounding “Q-switched laser.” The laser is directed at the unwanted ink for a fraction of a second, dissolving the pigment, which the body then absorbs.
On average, most tattoos can be totally removed in 5-15 clinic visits. When laser removal is performed correctly and aftercare instructions are followed to a T, side effects are minor and there’s almost no risk of scarring. “A little swelling and itching is common. Some minimal crusting is possible as well, and bleeding occurs very rarely,” Kirby says.
At “Dr. Tattoff” clinics, Kirby’s tattoo removal centers stationed all over California and Texas, it’s approximately $49 per square inch (about the size of a postage stamp) for a laser treatment session. The number of times you’ll have to return is dependent on patient-specific variables like skin type, ink color, and where your tattoo is placed.
Does it Work on All Tattoos?
If you’ve placed that sweet verse of Shakespearean poetry or tiny trio of butterflies on the nape of your neck (or chest) in black or red, you’re in luck. Those colors are easiest to remove, and areas close to the heart (with increased blood supply) respond more quickly to treatment.
But the itty-bitty swallow tattoo on the top of your foot (or wrist) in certain shades of green, blue, or purple? That one may prove more stubborn—tattoos that are vibrantly colored or located on the extremities may be a bit more challenging to remove.
Kirby calls brown ink a “wild card” that may or may not respond to treatment—and yellow and some shades of pink may be downright impossible to erase. “Luckily, yellows, pinks, and browns appear in tattoos relatively infrequently or compose very small portions of larger tattoos,” he says.
And if you’re on fence about saying “so long” to Hello Kitty sitting on your shoulder blade—it might behoove you to wait a little longer. Older tattoos are easier to remove than brand-new ones. “Some people get a tattoo at 10 in the morning and they want it removed by 11,” says Kirby. “But you’ve got to wait at least six weeks.”
How Common is Laser Tattoo Removal?
In a word, very. “Dr. Tattoff” clinics are responsible for over 150,000 procedures, and Kirby says, “our [core] demographic is a young woman between the ages of 25-40, who makes more than $50,000 a year.”
“Most of our patients are female and simply have had a change of lifestyle,” says Kirby. “What was considered sexy in their early 20s for them is now more of a social stigma, and they simply want to erase the physical reminders of their past life.”
A survey published in 2008 by Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center explored tattoo removal motivation—and reasons ranged from “I just grew up” to “it was embarrassing” to “I got a new job or career.”
More than 40% stated that their tattoos had “lost their luster and excitement.” And (somewhat predictably) tattooed women reported more negative commentary in public, workplace, and school settings than men.
And the Million Dollar Question: Does it Hurt?
The pain of laser removal (often compared to snapping a rubber band against the skin) “is very uncomfortable, but it is fast,” says Kirby. “A postage stamp-size tattoo or 1 square inch takes 15-20 seconds to treat.”
He also adds that pain is “personal” and that “a 15-year-old girl might not make a peep and a 50-year-old biker who is heavily tattooed might cry because he has an emotional connection to the tattoo.”
But one could successfully argue that the “pain” of sporting ink you can no longer stand is worth a 60-second tango with a Q-switched laser.
“Many younger patients made mistakes earlier in life and we now have the technology to help them escape the permanency of an unwanted tattoo,” says Kirby.
So, the next time your significant other wants to make a memory and you’re not sure you want “(insert name here) forever” tattooed on your forearm, think twice. Or, Kirby advises, opt for black, carbon-based, water soluble ink in an area with increased blood flow like the head, neck, or chest. Black is the easiest ink to erase.
You could also just come clean and tell your dearest the only thing you truly want (forever and ever) is undying devotion—and diamonds.
