Tattoo remorse fuels boom for dermatologists

cnn ^ | 9-18-07

[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.

[Aquinasfan]

looking like a human pin cushion is barbaric.

Truth in advertising. It's nature's way of saying, "stay away!"

[pandoraou812]

Yes thats tatting alright. I sure wish I could do it too.

[bk1000]

You can buy a tattoo removal laser for about $15000.00. I don't think you have to be a dermatologist to remove a tattoo. You certainly don't have to be one to apply a tattoo, and that seems to be much more invasive. I figure this to be a real money maker!

Buy one here: http://outlet.med1online.com/showproduct.aspx?productid=3289 (I can post a picture, but I can't make a link!)

[Pining_4_TX]

That’s for sure! Today’s rose bouquet is going to be tomorrow’s hanging basket.

I just hate to see young girls with pretty skin that is marred by the hideously ugly artificial colors of tattoos. I really don’t understand it at all. The young men, too. It looks so low class and grotesque.

When I was a teenager, only ex-cons and sailors had tattoos.

[LouAvul]

When I was a teenager, only ex-cons and sailors had tattoos.

Back in the early 1980s I knew a WW2 navy vet with numerous tattoos. He was probably in his 60s by then and frequently expressed regret and wished he could afford to have them removed. They were pretty faded by then and looked really bad. But the only removal was surgical at $100/sq inch.

I felt bad for him.

[Hammerhead]

Its Conan O’Brian!!!!

[RushLake]

I told my daughter who is not tattooed and is about to graduate from college that she will be paying for the idiots who've blown their ear drums out when she is about 40. Guess she'll have to plan to pay for the tat removal too.

Come to think of it, with smokers diminishing, dying out, and getting taxed out of existence, tattoos and hearing may become a growth industry for the tax and spenders, hmmm. $.50 per color tax on a tattoo.

[TigersEye]

What’s your point?

[myprecious]

My point in general:

Sometimes opinions formed when one is young and stupid should not be permanently displayed for all to see. Wisdom can soften opionions but appearances may be difficult to change. Or worse, there may not be a chance to mature and the stunted growth stands on its own.

The point for the specific man of my story:

He is going to spend his final days at the complete mercy of others due to his catastrophic injury. He can no longer move or communicate with others. His tats are all that is left of his message to the world. I worry that it well affect the care he receives.

[TigersEye]

He made his choices.