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Tattoo remorse fuels boom for dermatologists
cnn ^ | 9-18-07

Posted on 09/17/2007 10:27:23 PM PDT by LouAvul

Laura Hathaway initially had no regrets after getting a tattoo on her lower back when she was 21. But now, 10 years later, she wants it gone.

The pharmaceutical sales representative from Atlanta, Georgia, says it doesn't fit in with her current lifestyle as the mother of a 2-year-old boy who just started to talk. "The other day I bent over and he said, 'What's that?' and it just confirms why I'm having it removed."

Dr. Scott Karempelis of Atlanta Dermatology Associates is performing a multitreatment laser procedure that will gradually erase Hathaway's tattoo with little or no scarring. The process is painful, expensive and time-consuming.

Karempelis says that in spite of the drawbacks, "business is booming." He and three other dermatologists in his office see more than 30 patients a day who want tattoos removed by laser.

The American Academy of Dermatology reports tattoo regret is common in the United States. Among a group of 18- to 50-year-olds surveyed in 2004, 24 percent reported having a tattoo and 17 percent of those considered getting their tattoo removed.

Karempelis uses a state-of-the-art laser that targets the pigment in the tattoo. "It goes through the skin without damaging it and hits the pigment depending on which wavelength and which color you have, and it blows it into small pieces."

The tattoo ink is then reabsorbed into the body through the lymphatic system. The process must be completed over several sessions in order to protect the skin from damage.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: trampstamp
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To: TigersEye
I guess you are right TE. Its a sad day that people have to be so narrow minded and asinine, at least we aren't.

~Pandy~

121 posted on 09/19/2007 6:50:06 PM PDT by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance to the will of Allah ...... dilligaf? with an efg.....)
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To: SergeiRachmaninov; TigersEye
I guess because I have tats you just can’t aspire to comment back eh? Figures.
122 posted on 09/19/2007 7:56:19 PM PDT by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance to the will of Allah ...... dilligaf? with an efg.....)
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To: weegee
I wonder whatever happened to this chick?!


123 posted on 09/19/2007 8:03:24 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (We all need someone we can bleed on...)
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To: HamiltonJay
If I lost a child or my wife or someone, tattooing their name on my somewhere.. as an ever present memorial.

My husband has a couple from his Navy days. I've never liked them. I have thought that Olympic rings with the year for Olympic athletes is pretty cool though.

124 posted on 09/19/2007 8:15:28 PM PDT by Dianna
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To: ByDesign
I share some of your feelings about tattoos. I love to look at them, but don't know what some of these folks will look like in 10 years or so, much less 25 years. Now that I'm middle aged, I'm glad that some of my youthful choices aren't staring me in the face the way a tat would.

What do you think of Kat von D? I don't watch her show, but I've seen the commercials. I think she's got a spectacular look, but I wouldn't want to be her a few years down the road.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

125 posted on 09/19/2007 8:23:03 PM PDT by radiohead
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To: Michael.SF.

I’ll see your ‘Racist White Trash Idiot’ and raise you a ‘Mr. Cool Ice’

(look him up on Google Images)


126 posted on 09/19/2007 8:33:57 PM PDT by Hammerhead
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To: Lib-Lickers 2

Excuse me - that is my company acronym! And no, it doesn’t stand for Mothers of Multiples, but that is also theirs!


127 posted on 09/19/2007 8:49:09 PM PDT by Grams A
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To: Hammerhead
‘Mr. Cool Ice’

LOL. That is a classic!

Now, let me play my ace card.

warning: not for the feint of heart.

128 posted on 09/19/2007 9:30:02 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("The military Mission has long since been accomplished" -- Harry Reid, April 23, 2007)
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To: SergeiRachmaninov
....I regard it all with spitting contempt

Don't hold back, next time tell us how you really feel! ;)

129 posted on 09/19/2007 9:32:49 PM PDT by Libertina
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To: pandoraou812

Still...these might be better than drugs....


130 posted on 09/19/2007 9:34:07 PM PDT by Libertina
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To: Libertina
Still...these might be better than drugs....

True....I am sure not a fan of drugs. What I really don't get is all the bs about what other people want to do with their bodies. Whenever anyone asks me about getting a tat I give them the best advice I can. Which is DO NOT put your girlfriends/boyfriends name on your body. Think long & hard & be 100% sure you can live with what you've chosen. I then tell them to make sure the needle comes from an unopened package. If you can.. open the package yourself & look at the needle. Tats aren't cheap, you get what you pay for. So be prepared to spend quite a bit of money. Look around at a few artists work & call the board of health to see if the shop has had complaints. Use sunscreen whenever you are out in the sun. Think long & hard before you get one & don't drink when getting one or you will bleed more. A good shop won't tat you if you are high or drunk. What you may think is cool now you probably won't later on so be prepared to deal with it. Stick to a theme. If they listen thats great. If they don't ..well I tried. I won't judge someone by their looks, what they wear or if they have tats or are fat or skinny etc. I try to look inside. ~Pandora~

131 posted on 09/19/2007 10:57:07 PM PDT by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance to the will of Allah ...... dilligaf? with an efg.....)
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To: TigersEye

TE... I just noticed your new tag line... I just LOVE IT!!! ~Pandy~


132 posted on 09/19/2007 11:00:39 PM PDT by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance to the will of Allah ...... dilligaf? with an efg.....)
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To: pandoraou812

Very well said! (And any fad which now goes by the name of “tat” should be boycotted just on that fact alone! LOL)


133 posted on 09/20/2007 9:11:22 AM PDT by Libertina
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To: TigersEye
I was caring for a young man in the ICU this summer suffering from a severe brain injury. As the nurse and I were bathing him, we noticed his name tatooed across his back in large beautiful print. Down one ankle was the word "White" and the other ankle stated "Power".

Here was a young man who spent the few years of life so consumed with hate that he wanted that part of his inner life known to all. Here he was being kept alive by people of all races.

134 posted on 09/20/2007 9:45:56 AM PDT by myprecious
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To: Michael.SF.
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Marketing Manager Applicant?

135 posted on 09/20/2007 10:05:09 AM PDT by N. Theknow (Kennedys: Can't drive, can't fly, can't ski, can't skipper a boat; but they know what's best for us)
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To: Michael.SF.
Hey!

Did you hear?

Bowties are making a comeback.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Wonder if Tucker Carlson will get one of these?

136 posted on 09/20/2007 10:10:11 AM PDT by N. Theknow (Kennedys: Can't drive, can't fly, can't ski, can't skipper a boat; but they know what's best for us)
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To: Libertina

lmao... I got tired of typing the whole word out but according to my sons thats just what they say..Imma get a new tat...Shaking my head. My sons are pretty normal about them. One has 2, one has none & won’t get one, the youngest has one and plans no more. But now the oldest one..he has been a tattoo artist. Once he got married & had children he quit & became quite the daddy. I asked him what he plans to tell his children & he said he’s still thinking that one over. I wish him luck. But as I told him my children never gave mine another thought. I bet he is going to try & blame me.


137 posted on 09/20/2007 10:30:42 AM PDT by pandoraou812 ( zero tolerance to the will of Allah ...... dilligaf? with an efg.....)
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To: pandoraou812

:) Ah, how our choices catch up with us ;) But glad your oldest now has beeter things to do thatn tat...Hey, isn’t Tatting an old-fashioned elderly lady’s knot tying/crocheting of lace?


138 posted on 09/20/2007 11:39:44 AM PDT by Libertina
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To: LouAvul

Too many people have lost (never had?) the ability to think beyond about a week.


139 posted on 09/20/2007 11:41:04 AM PDT by TChris (Governments don't RAISE money; they TAKE it.)
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To: saganite
She wants her tramp stamp removed now that she has kids.

Nothing says "slut" like a tattoo on the butt!

140 posted on 09/20/2007 11:55:44 AM PDT by Ignatz (Soylent green is people, too!)
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