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 ...
If someone could convince some venture capitalists to invest in franchising this concept, you could make a killing.
When I see someone with a tattoo I assume they could be a murderer, or a porn star. They’re definitely stupid people, with no sense of right and wrong, no common sense, no capacity for independent thought. Really, not much value as humans. I mean c’mon, if anything tells you everything there is to know about a person it’s whether or not they have a tattoo.
Am I right?
But, hey...I'll bite...I am right there with you. A tat pretty much tells your all you need to know....low-life trash.
(I had second thoughts about including green and purple hair -- which I despise -- in my screed. Sure, they are obnoxious. But a little obnoxiousness and youthfulness kinda go together, in many cases. However out-there the punks pretend to be, we all know, and ~they~ know, that they can wash that crap out of their hair when they grow up.)
I understand and respect people that do not share my view but I like tattoo’s.
I do not think nor would I ever say that people without tattoos are uncool.
When traveling, never register in a hotel that is on the same street that has these three ‘businesses’:
1. Strip joint
2. Tattoos
3. Adult book store
I don't think most people use their brains when they get them. I've seen many that just look terrible & people are going to regret them later in life for sure.
When I got mine I was way younger. I don't try to judge people by the fact they have tattoos. If I were to do it over again I really doubt I would get any. But I sure wouldn't bother to get scarred taking them off.
I know many Freepers are against them but many people have them that you would never believe would have them. I don't like to see girls loaded with them and have always told anyone who was planning to get one to think long & hard before they do it. ~Pandora~
Curious - How many do you have?
It is a damn shame, but I -- at a physically very youthful 60 years old -- and seriously "cocooning" in my life.
I've lived my entire life plugged into media, reading several newspapers, staying close to radio and tv, etc.
Now, I am deliberately avoiding public places and events. I got rid of cable. I am trying to tune it out. I am moving toward a creepy reality like some old moviestar recluse -- I embrace the music of Tin Pan Alley but only a very, very few musicians post-1980. I am emphasizing my interests in food, cycling, gardening and history. I am trying to turn away from everything that is part of the present-day culture, including the Internet.
The last "public person" who really inspired me was John Rocker!
They’re definitely stupid people, with no sense of right and wrong, no common sense, no capacity for independent thought. Really, not much value as humans.
If so I think you have made a big mistake...You must be quite a wonderful person. IMHO you sound very silly. But to each his own.
Wow. The idiots posting on this thread remind me of why I left this forum. Thanks.
Four. I will be getting another one on Oct. 9.
My husband is 72 and has a tattoo on each forearm that he got in his early 20’s. You can no longer even tell what they are and haven’t been able to for years. They are just nasty blue blobs on his skin. Just wait, your’s will get there.
“Tattoos are going to make them much richer.”
Right you are, LouAvul. I can only imagine what is involved, and the cost of, removing “tramp Stamps” and “ass antlers”...LOL! As well, at one time I worked in a job that had me working closely with audiologists. Put your investment money in hearing aid companies. They are going to really be booming thanks to “boom cars” and headphones.
I can see them on men. They just don't belong on a lady though.
In fact I've always seen tattoos as a sexual metaphor - a girl submitting to that is scarred like a 'ho, as much as any consenting encounter would do. (Heck at least she could lie about sex, while the tattoo just advertises poor judgment.)
Even that aside, I'm still judgmental about them. What tremendous lack of foresight! I can't have that raising my kids.
Like I said, on males it seems different. For one thing- tattoos were cool 40 years ago when only sailors and criminal convicts had them. Now every damn yuppie has to get one, in a pathetic attempt to prove that they aren't really yuppies...
When everyone does something "cool", it's not cool anymore. Really the best thing is to stay home and do nothing.
I think they are so ugly.
I will be 50 next year and mine look fine. Since the sun rarely is on them & if it is I use sunscreen I really doubt it. Ink has changed since your husband got his too. My dad was in WW2 and his tat isn’t even a blob and he is 86 years old. I’ve seen the type you are talking about and most do look bad. It depends on skin type too. If you exposed them to sun for many years they will fade. I am careful so I am not at all worried in the least thank you. And I got mine where I can cover my blobs if they ever doubtfully get that way. At 72 years old I will have worse things to worry about then being body beautiful or haveing tats I bet.
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