Tattoos are permanent --or are they?
It seems there is a growing trend in tattoo removal. Even thoughthe trend of getting a tattoo is still popular, it seemsincreasingly people are wishing they never made that bodilystatement in ink.
Whether the statement they were trying to make is no longerimportant to them or they can't get a job in corporate America,many people are turning to laser tattoo removal as a solution tomaking the "permanent" disappear.
Sophomore biology major Gina Miller began getting tattoos at age19 and stopped at age 22. Miller, now 24, said she wants all eightof her tattoos removed.
"Why I got them I don't know," Miller said. "I got these thingswhen I was stupid, and now I want them off."
Miller is studying to be a dentist. She said she fears dealingwith bias against tattoos once she enters her chosenprofession.
Miller said she wants to be able not to worry about coveringthem and dress well without the tattoos showing.
"I want them removed because it would help me look moreprofessional," Miller said. "They're more trouble than they areworth."
Although tattooing has been performed throughout history as areligious and tribal traditions, the modern art of tattooing hasbecome quite mainstream.
Tattoos are everywhere --on television, on athletes andmusicians.
In the music industry tattoos appear on rappers like 50 Centsand Eminem and rockers like Lenny Kravitz. It has also become veryen vogue for female celebrities to have a tattoo. Female musicianslike Pink and Eve have them. Actresses like Angelina Jolie andAlyssa Milano have made sporting a tattoo sexy. Speaking of sports,this body art can be seen running up and down basketball courts oreven on the face of professional boxer Mike Tyson.
Some people, however, regret the decision to permanently markthemselves.
Mother of three, Jacque Beeson, started getting tattoos beforethe age of 18. After getting married and starting a family, shebegan to feel that having tattoos was not a good example for herchildren.
"I was 17 when I got my first one, and I got all the ones I haveby the time I was 22," Beeson said.
Beeson said that at the time she got them she really likedtattoos and the art. She said she was a rebellious teen and hertattoos were a form of expression.
"Once you get one, it's kind of addictive," Beeson said.
Beeson said she never had a problem with her tattoos until aftershe got married and her husband began to dislike them. It was afterthey had their first child together that he changed his mind abouther tattoos.
"At first he loved them, but after we had our daughter he feltthe mother of his child shouldn't have tattoos," Beeson said.
Beeson said after listening to her husband and experiencing thenegative reactions from other mothers, she wondered why she gottattoos in the first place.
"I've changed-- I'm a different person now," Beeson said. "Nowthat I look back, I wonder why I did that to my body-- I ruinedit."
People like Beeson and Miller are now using a laser process toremove tattoos.
There are several techniques for removing tattoos, such asdermabrasion and excision, but the most common treatment is laserremoval. Lasers are most widely used because the risks and sideeffects are lower.
Lasers produce short pulses of intense light that passharmlessly through the top layers of skin and are absorbed by thetattoo pigment. The laser only targets the tattoo pigment withoutpermanently damaging the surrounding skin. The laser causes thepigment to fragment into smaller particles so it can be absorbedinto the blood stream. Side effects are supposed to be minimal witheffects such as bleeding and burning.
Beeson uses Wolf River Plastic Surgery for her laser removal.Karen Trenthem, a nurse at Wolf River for 16 years, said before thelaser technology was available there wasn't a trend with tattooremoval.
"There just wasn't a good option until the laser," Trenthemsaid. "Once it came along the trend began. We just didn't take offtattoos before because they left an ugly scar."
Trenthem said now the office keeps busy since the use of thelaser tattoo removal.
"Tattoo removal is the biggest thing we do with lasers," shesaid. "We have a steady flow of patients from Monday throughThursday with at least 10 patients a week."
As far as side effects, Trenthem said there is pain and itdepends on the tattoo's color and depth. She said it hurts becausethe laser burns the skin.
Beeson said the procedure can be painful.
"It's like 10 times worse than getting a tattoo put on," Beesonsaid. "I'd rather have 10 babies at once than deal with thispain."
"It's excruciating," Beeson said. "It's like having second orthird degree burns and anything rubbing against it or driving downthe road hitting bumps or just moving around hurts. I'm bawlingafter each treatment."
Beeson said the skin eventually falls off and the tattoo is ashade lighter. She has to continue with the ointment afterthat.
Another down side to laser tattoo removal is once the tattoo istreated, it cannot be exposed to sunlight because the skin willbecome discolored.
"I have to wear T-shirts on the beach and I have to wait one totwo years after the treatments are complete before I don't have towear a T-shirt in the sun," Beeson said.
Beeson has had three treatments and hasn't been back yet becausethe treatments are so expensive, but she said she would finish themeventually.
"It will end up costing me about $4,000 to get rid of thesethree tattoos," Beeson said. "The tattoos only cost about $300 forall three-- it's ironic."
