Fading love

Tattoo removal can be a real pain

by David Terrenoire

 

We often do things we regret when we’re young, in love or intoxicated, and a tattoo often is the result. To be clear, most people who have tattoos are happy and have no regrets. And most people who get one tattoo will get another. But then there are people like Ellen of Raleigh.

 

“I was 21 or 22, and we went to dinner and had a few too many glasses of red wine,” she says.

 

In the heat of the moment, Ellen got a tattoo of an Indian tribal symbol on her lower back.

 

“I don’t know what it means,” she admits. “It could be a bad word, for all I know. I’m a mom now, and I don’t want to set that example.”

 

Rebecca of Cary, another tattooed mom, has one in what her children call her “bathing suit area.” It’s her husband’s name. Her ex-husband’s.

 

Chris Milliron of Raleigh has nine tattoos, and she’s having seven removed. She admits to being older and wiser, and she’s keeping two because they have sentimental value. She’s having the rest removed one by one, as she can afford them, with laser treatments at a local plastic surgeon’s office.

 

Walk toward the light

There are several methods available to remove tattoos. If it’s small, a surgeon literally can cut it away. Others abrade the skin, sanding away the dermal layers that contain the pigment. But while the Internet is filled with ads for tattoo fade creams, there’s not much confidence in their effectiveness.

 

“For the patient who wishes the most ‘elegant’ and least-scarring tattoo removal, laser is the way to go,” noted Dr. Robert Tomsick of the University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine in a recent Science Daily.

 

Lasers emit a pulse of light that breaks up the pigment to less than 10 microns; the body’s immune system then carries the pigment away.

 

Steve Huntsberry, owner of Immortal Images in Charlotte, has been applying and removing tattoos for the past 12 years. He says today’s full-spectrum lasers can remove most pigments completely, or can fade them enough that the tattoos can be covered with makeup or another tattoo.

 

“The hardest to remove are the dark blues, greens and yellows,” he notes.

 

It’s not only the large tattoos that some regret. Sigrid Yorke, an aesthetician and cosmetic tattoo artist with Skintopia Inc. in Durham, rescues women who have had eyeliner or eyebrows tattooed by someone with a less-than-artistic hand.

 

“I’ve had luck with glycolic acid in a very low concentration,” she says. “We’re talking millimeters of adjustment.”

 

The pain of regret

Unfortunately for those seeking to erase permanent ink from their skin, removing a tattoo typically costs more than getting one. Huntsberry charges $150 per session. Depending on the size and colors of a tattoo, it can take anywhere from three to eight sessions.

 

Aside from the financial pain, Huntsberry says tattoo removal also hurts more than having one applied. Byron Wallace, owner of Warlock’s Tattoos in Raleigh, notes that it can be a very painful process. Milliron agrees.

 

“The pain is 10 times worse than getting a tattoo,” she says.

 

Before having your loved one’s name emblazoned across your back, make sure you’re ready to commit. The pain and cost of a breakup might be only the beginning. 

 

David Terrenoire is a freelance writer based in Durham.