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 ...
Especially if the street is named "Martin Luther King Boulevard"...
You’re still wearing the bell bottoms?
Well that excludes every 5 star hotel in San Francisco then....
For some reason that reminds me of the old tattoo joke where the punchline is, “But for sure, that’s Willie Nelson in the middle”
I think smart has nothing to do with it. If you want one & have given it much thought I really don't see why so many people get offended. After all its none of anyone's business if you want a tat IMHO.
This is about the only sort of tattoo I could remotely consider getting... Nothing that elaborate, but the idea.
If I lost a child or my wife or someone, tattooing their name on my somewhere.. as an ever present memorial.
Other than that, I can’t ever see getting a tatoo.
Sounds like you need a big, heaping bowl of Colon Blow and a good ten minutes on the porcelain throne.
Like this guy?
Your comment about green and purple hair reminded me of the joke about the elderly man standing at the bus stop along side a young guy with his hair up in purple, yellow, red, etc. spikes. The young guy sees the old man eyeing him out of the corner of his eye and says, “What’s the matter, old man, didn’t you ever have any fun?”
The old man says, “Yes, I’ve had a lot of fun. As a matter of fact, I had sex with a parrot one time, and I was just wondering if you might be one of my children.”
Mommy, why do you have a tramp stamp?
I don’t have any tatoos nor are my ears or anything else pierced.
“If I lost a child or my wife or someone, tattooing their name on my somewhere.. as an ever present memorial.”
My brother did that, for his son, who we lost early on.
I design tattoos for people occasionally, but only if the design has some meaning to it -otherwise I refuse to be part of it. I have freinds who have full sleeves (ink from wrist to shoulder), and can tell you what each one means. Sometimes they’re part of a lifestyle, like bikers, or if you work in the hard rock music industry, they’re almost mandatory.
I’m fascinated by the tattoo, and it’s history, from the Yakuza tattoos to real tribal ink - I always laugh at suburban warriors with “tribal” ink, like it makes them tough. Humans have been driving ink under their skin for a long, long time, for many reasons - up until the last decade or so, it was the military, the bikers, the underworld that got them - for the military, it was a mark of pride, an event to signal that they are part of a fraternaty - ask a Marine to remove his Semper Fi ink, if you’re bored.
Now everyone gets them, because thug culture has become mainstream.
But, the fad of tattoos is fading, thank god. I see too many bad, horrible tattoos. A tattoo should be planned, thought out, and designed and proportioned to the part of the body it’s going on, but 90% of them are impulse decisions, generally fueled by alcohol, or ego tats, like the run of the mill tribal bicep bands you see at the gym. Like goatees, when everyone has one...it’s past time not to have one.
Tribals crack me up. C’mon, a suburban skinny white boy of Swede extraction has no business putting Mauri tribal tattoos on his flesh. If anything, research the tats your Viking forefathers had, and get that. The only design I’ve ever come close to getting is an intricate Celtic design I found in an art book, as I’m close to 100% Irish.
I hate tramp stamps. They’re cliched, ugly, break up on of the most perfect s-curves, that of a woman’s back. I hate breast tattoos, I’ve never seen one that did’nt look low rent, trailer trash, and cheap. Tattoos on women are hard to design, but I’ve seen some gorgeous ones, using light inks and good design.
I have no ink myself. I’m an artist, I can’t think of anything I can live with the rest of my life, so I have none. I’d love to see them come up with an ink system that fades after a while, like a year or two, using inks that would break down naturally and get absorbed by the body - something inert, maybe triggered by UV light or something like that, so one could change your mind.
Or, I’d love to see henna explored more, with inks that last months, and brighter colors - then one could get a great design for the summer, and by Xmas, it’s gone.
If you want to see something really unique, google UV tattoo inks - inks that only show up under UV light. (ie. in the club. I had a conversation with a female freind who wanted to put the “stocking line” on the back of her legs, for clubbing. I said, go for broke, get fishnets tattooed.)
The tattoos I do NOT get, and think are stupid, are the people who go to concerts, and have musicians sign their skin, then they go out and get it tattoed over.
I can go both ways with tats. Some I love, like Maynard from Tool, who’s tribal spine tattoo is a work of art - but then I see a lovely young woman with a tramp stamp, or an idiotic and poorly drawn ankle tattoo, and I hate them.
Thanks.
Some people don’t feel whole each day until they’ve felt offended at something. Some like to be offended at least a dozen times before breakfast. :p
Am I right?
No.
And I challenge you to tell your above statement to a sizeable portion of our armed services.
Tattoos on women are a total turn off.
All it says to the man is, “Hey, I might have hepatitis; do you want it too?”
Wow does that apply to the men too? For your info:
You can get hepatitis C if your blood comes into contact with blood from someone who already has the virus. The most common cause of transmission is the sharing of needles and other equipment used to inject illegal drugs. Less common causes of transmission include: Sharing a razor, toothbrush or nail clipper with an infected person Accidental exposure to infected blood among health care or public safety workers. Exposure to unclean tattooing or body-piercing instruments Unprotected anal sex or exposure to multiple sex partners
So don't just put hep c on women who have tats. Men can spread it too.
lmao... I am not offended by what people think about tats. I’ve heard it all. And I don’t care in the least if someone is offended by mine. Seems to me to be a very silly thing. If they don’t like them then they don’t have to look. I decide when & where I want mine to be seen. All can be covered up & are unless I am in a bathing suit or something backless.
It's permanent, more or less, so think about it first. A "USMC" tattoo represents a lifetime commitment. A "Hello Kitty" tattoo, on the other hand...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.