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Think before you ink: Tattoo removal on the rise
By Holly Burns
Staff Writer
If you’re ruing the day you got the name of your first (and second and third) girlfriend tattooed inside a heart on your bicep, chances are you’re not alone. Though no hard numbers exist for tattoo removals, medical professionals are reporting an increase in patients seeking to get rid of them, according to a recent CNN report.
The American Academy of Dermatology says the number of tattoo studios in the United States increased from 300 to more than 4,000 in the past 20 years and that an estimated 10 million Americans now sport tattoos.
Dr. Joel Cook, a dermatological surgeon at the Medical University of South Carolina, estimates that he sees between 20 and 30 patients a month for tattoo removal, a number that has risen over the last few years.
“I’ve seen three this morning, and it’s not even 11 a.m.,” he says. “Tattooing has been around since antiquity and it’s not going away anytime soon, which means that removal of tattoos isn’t going away either. In fact, studies show that a significant amount of people don’t like their tattoo five years after they get one.”
Although dermabrasion—where skin is “sanded” to remove the surface and middle layers—and excision were once used to get rid of tattoos, almost all of the procedures now involve laser removals, which increased 27% from 2001 to 2003, according to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.
“A tattoo is permanent because you’re putting ink globules into your skin that are too big for your body’s cells to digest,” says Cook. “The laser treatment takes the ink globule and busts it up into lots of pieces that are small enough for your body’s cells to absorb.”
But the process of having your tattoo taken off is by no means as simple as having it put on. Depending on the size of the tattoo, the amount of ink that went into it, and the colors that were used—blues and blacks are the easiest to get rid of, yellow, green and white are the hardest, says Cook—most patients need to have between three and 10 treatments, which last between 10 and 20 minutes each.
“People can’t understand why it takes 10 minutes and $50 to get a tattoo, and two years and $2,000 to get rid of it,” says Cook.
Melissa Emmett knows firsthand the complexities of getting rid of an unwanted piece of body art. Shortly before she was to be married, the Charleston resident got a tattoo of her fiancé’s family crest on her hip.
“My cousin had just been killed, and didn’t have any identifying marks on his body,” she says. “I didn’t have any either, so I thought I should get something that would make me distinguishable should anything ever happen to me. I chose the crest because I was so overwhelmed in the tattoo parlor—there were so many different choices—and I didn’t know what to get. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
After her divorce, however, Emmett decided to get rid of the tattoo. Having had four laser treatments so far, she is now on her fifth, and plans to continue receiving them until all traces of the tattoo are removed.
“You don’t think when you’re young that getting this tattoo will play into your life when you’re older,” she says. “I’m remarried now and I’m looking forward to having kids. The thought of having the tattoo while I’m pregnant and distending the skin seems so distasteful now.”
Though Cook has noticed a recent trend of women in their 50s and 60s deciding to get flowers or butterflies tattooed on their lower backs, a large majority of his patients are, like Emmett, people who succumbed to the lure of the tattoo needle during the folly of youth.
“Getting a tattoo when you’re 17 sounds cool, but when you’re 27 and you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, it’s not so cool anymore,” he says. “Unless you’re a rock star, a musician, or a professional soldier—occupations where tattoos are largely viewed as being acceptable—your tattoo probably isn’t going to gel so well with your job.”
Charleston Place asks its inked employees to cover their body art with long sleeves or bandages and advises potential job candidates of this policy during their first interview, says Jennifer Casselli, assistant director of human resources. Santee Cooper spokesperson Willard Strong says he is not aware of any policy regarding tattoos, but imagines it would be prudent to cover body art while on the job.
Though legislation is pending to legalize the practice in South Carolina—currently the only state where tattooing is illegal—underground tattooing has become a kind of cottage industry in the state, says Cook.
“It’s very, very dangerous,” he says. “If you absolutely have to get a tattoo, I’d advise going to a regulated tattoo parlor in a state where it’s legal. Ask yourself how you might feel about your tattoo in a few years, and try to choose one that’s small, one-color, and done in blue or black ink.”
And one final piece of advice from the man who may well be taking off your tattoo in four or five years?
“Never, ever get someone’s name tattooed on your body,” laughs Cook. “That’s just asking for it.”
Holly Burns covers human resources for the Business Journal. E-mail her at hburns@crbj.com.
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