Cosmetic Surgery Blog

I am not sure if any of you know this, but I have a couple of tattoos. The left shoulder has a Sak Yant for protection and good luck which was tattooed in the traditional method in by Arjan Noo Kanphai at his temple in Thailand. The one next to it was tattooed in a basement in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and means a wild horse which can never be tamed. The kanji you see down my spine runs from my scalp to my lower back and is not a collective phrase, but rather a timeline of enlightenment. In other words, I get a symbol or two with each life lesson or significant event. Plus, I have a large ascending three-toed dragon on my lower back and the eye of Ra (which looks like a peregrine falcon’s eye) on my bikini area. I also have two others which are in the process of getting removed. Hence this article…

Body art is a form of self expression that one does not have to explain or justify to anyone. Our reasons are our own, and our regrets are ours to bear as well. So here is the obligatory think-hard-and-long-before-you-get-ink advice. While I only regret two, which is not bad for the amount I have, getting a tattoo removed takes 10 times as long and 20 times the money to get one. Although there are newer and better lasers, removal is not instantaneous and not without its risks and side effects. It most certainly is not without pain, either.

Types of Tattoos

For simplicity’s sake, I am going to talk mostly about traditional tattoos implanted with ink. But I will also touch on subjects that include manual scarification, Braille tattoos (implants), branding, and acid etching. If these are unknown to you, or you want to know more, going to the BMeZine website, or a quick Google search will bring up enough content to keep you busy for hours. I only have traditional tattoos, including one down to the literal meaning of the word. As you can see in the photo.

Ink Tattoos: These tattoos are created using various tools, either by a hand method with steel, stainless steel, or bamboo (which I want to do when I go back to Japan), and tattoo guns which you are most commonly familiar with. There is also Ink Rubbing which is when the skin is cut like in a scarification procedure and then ink is rubbed into the cut.

Implants: These are not really tattoos, but it is method of body modification that’s easiest to remove. The implants are often made from stainless steel, titanium, or medical grade plastic/silicone beads or rods and inserted directly under the skin. The Braille tattoos you might have heard about are an implant method. The removal process involves small incisions, and the implants are removed. Sometimes sutures are needed to close the wound when the implant is large.

Scarification: Scarification actually covers branding, but I will keep them separate because branding has a whole subclass by itself (different methods). Scarification is a method of body modification using cutting, or puncture techniques with various tools/materials, or modification using manual abrasives or electric etching tools, or acids to create designs in the skin. Extensive detail is often difficult to achieve when using chemical scarification techniques. Injection methods, cutting and packing methods, and general topical applications of acids are the usual methods utilized these days with chemical scarification. Depending upon the patient’s reaction to the procedure (keloids, hypertropthy, etc.) the reversal methods of scarification are normally surgical removal, dermabrasion, combined with corticosteroid injections when keloids are present.

Branding: Branding became very popular about 10-15 years ago. This method is often performed using very hot pieces of metal, or ceramic, and sometimes electro-cautery and mini-arc welding devices to brand designs into the skin. There is also a method called Cold Branding which uses the same tools, but super cooled using liquid nitrogen. Each application of the brand is called a “strike” and can number anywhere from a single strike to hundreds depending upon the size and detail of the piece and materials used. The result is a raised scar, or indentation depending upon your own body’s reaction. The removal techniques are often the same as the aforementioned treatments used for scarification.

Ink Tattoo Removal Methods

Although there are several tattoo removal methods available to us to help us lessen our tattoo remorse, not all of us are ideal candidate for each one. There are chemical peel options, lasers, light therapy, manual dermabrasion, lotions, potions, and lots of hope. But, the best way to remove a tattoo is to never get one you will regret in the first place (i.e. no boyfriend’s /girlfriend’s/husband’s/wife’s names, nothing trendy, nothing offensive no matter how strongly you feel about it right then and there (you may change your mind). Just use your head—will this tattoo fit into your lifestyle in 10 years? Placement is another issue. That barbed wire a la Pamela around your arm isn’t so hot anymore, is it? That Yosemite Sam on your arm you got when you were 21 and now your 38? Not so much. Is your tattoo keeping you from advancing, or entering, the corporate world? Think long and hard before you sit down in that chair.

• Chemical Peels: Although a chemical peel has to be pretty strong to penetrate deeply enough to break down ink, it also has to leave the rest of your skin’s components alone. For instance, you don’t want it to remove freckles, melanin in general and leave white marks in the shape of your tattoo. What’s the point in that? In this category, I’d also like to bring up products such as TatBGone. I do not know if this product works, but I am interested in finding out. If anyone has any input on this, please let me know. TatBGone is about $300 for a 6 month supply. It promises at the very least to fade your tattoo within 6 months. Dollar for dollar, the product sounds cheaper than a single laser session, but who knows if it really works. If it does, I will be sure to buy it and try it.
• Laser: Laser treatments are probably the most common for tattoo removal. I have had Alexandrite Laser treatments. It was not the best method for my case, but you live you learn. Lasers hurt without a topical anesthetic, I kid you not. Every pulse feels like a cigarette burning your skin. The laser pulse breaks up the ink and your body must then go to work by ridding it after each treatment. Some doctors have you wait 3 months in between each procedure; others have you wait 2 weeks. It takes a while, and there are tons of lasers out there, but your best bet is to start consulting with different doctors and viewing their before and after albums. Just be sure to ask if the photos are of their own patients, and not stock photos used by the laser company which are then sold with the machine. The cost is normally about $200-$400+ per treatment for a small tattoo—the price is dependent upon the amount of laser pulses needed. The amount of treatments usually needed is about 7-10 and up for complete removal. I suggest purchasing your own topical anesthetic online instead of depending on your doc because it saves time and it saves tons of money to apply your own before you get there.
• Intense Pulsed Light (IPL): IPL works with the same concept in mind. The IPL breaks down the tattoo ink and your body rids the fragmented ink from your body. Just like a laser, this can hurt as well, even with cryo-spray before each pulse. However, this method can be pretty expensive compared to lasers.
• Dermabrasion: This method uses manual abrasion of the skin to the depth of the implanted ink. It normally leaves a visible scar the size of the tattoo, but is a very quick way of getting rid of a tattoo. If you don’t mind the scar, this is a less expensive method.
• Surgical Tattoo Removal (Excision): This method involves actually cutting the tattoo from your body. The downside of this method is dependent upon the tattoo. A large tattoo can usually not be removed in one session. Even with several sessions, there will be scars left over.

I would like to add that more often than not, your tattoo will not be removed all the way, or you ay see its effects in other forms (hypopigmentation, hyperpigmentation, incomplete removal, texture differences, etc.) Although you may see many great results on doctors’ websites, they may be the best of the best, or they may be digitally enhanced. This is why I do not want you to be led astray by the quasi safety net of a tattoo removal procedure when choosing to get a tattoo. Just because people can get them removed [somewhat] doesn’t mean it is quick, easy, cheap and painless. Not all procedures are going to work for every person, and as they will tell you, “Results May Vary”.