Ink rethink

HELEN HARVEY

Kiwis are the most tattooed people in the world with 36 per cent of adults younger than 30 wearing body art. But what if it goes wrong, your tastes change or you want something else in its place? Helen Harvey reports.

Tracy Amstad got her first tattoo when she was 17. Now 29, she doesn't like it and wants it gone.

The butterfly tattoo, which has koru patterns as wings, was designed by her sister-in-law, who was an art student at the time.

Miss Amstad doesn't think the tattoo was done very well and says it doesn't look nice and delicate. Rather, it just looks like a block of colour between her shoulder blades.

She is thinking about having it removed.

A 2009 UMR Research survey discovered that 15 per cent of Kiwis who have a tattoo regret having it done. And men are slightly more likely to regret the decision than women.

There are many reasons people want their tats removed. Some people change and the tattoo represents the past lifestyle, such as former gang members or tattoos done while in prison.

In America, former white supremacist Bryon Winder found it difficult to change his life with racist and hate tattoos all over his face, hands and neck. During the past couple of years he has had 26 laser sessions - so painful he had to have the treatment under general anesthetic.

For most people, the reasons for wanting to remove their tattoos are mainly aesthetic. Their reasons are varied - some had it done when they were young and their tastes have changed, for others the tattoo has faded or they want something else in its place.

Miss Amstad wants her butterfly gone because she doesn't like the way it looks.

When she had it done as a teenager there was a "bit of rebellion going on", she says. "I think that my mother was dead-set against it. I just went ahead and had it done. My mum saw it the next day and there was nothing she could do. [Her Mum likes the tattoo now.] I liked it for the first couple of years because I thought it made me look cool. At high school no-one really had tattoos and we could wear singlets back then and the teachers couldn't do anything about it."

Miss Amstad likes tattoos and had one done on her foot recently.

But today's delicate needles can do quite fine, more feminine looks, she says. And there are more colour options. So she wants the butterfly gone and replaced with something else, maybe a tree that has old branches and little pink flowers on it.

"I was thinking of going right up the spine of my back and out over my shoulder blades. I don't know how much of the old pattern will be removed with last treatment, so it's more to try and cover it."

She doesn't think the laser treatment will remove the whole thing.

"It might just fade it right down so I would have to get something to cover it, [otherwise] it would look like a funny scar."

How much of the tattoo can be removed depends on several different factors, Skin Institute Taranaki clinic manager Tania Grieve says. So the person wanting the tattoo gone needs to have realistic goals about what they want to achieve.

Some people want the tattoo to be faded, so they can change it or overlap it with a new tattoo. Others want the whole tattoo gone.

"A lot of people think they can come in and they are definitely going to get 100 per cent removal. It doesn't always happen like that. They may only ever achieve 80 per cent."

Black comes out very well, as does yellow and red. But bright green and bright blue may never come out of the skin completely, she says.

"Blue or green are not read by the laser as a true pigment."

The other thing people need to consider - if they have a black tattoo, with green, orange, red and blue - is while the darker colours may fade completely, they could be left with blotches of green and blue.

"They have to be able to accept that as well."

How long it takes to remove the tattoo depends on things such as the types of pigments, inks or chemicals used in the tattoos, how superficial or deep the tattoo is in the skin and how old it is.

"Home jobs", using Indian ink called pen ink and often done by teenagers, are usually small tattoos on knuckles or hands and can normally be removed in three treatments, Mrs Grieve says.

"But you would never find a professional tattoo coming off in less than six, minimum. People can have up to 20 treatments."

Each person is different in regards to how high they can tolerate the laser setting and how well or severely they react to the treatment.

The first step in the procedure is for the person to go in for a free consultation to set goals and discuss how the laser treatment works.

"The heat and destruction caused by the laser breaks up the pigments in the tattoo and your body absorbs so much of the toxins through the lymphatic system, like it does with other toxins in the body. It's not something you'd do, say, if you were pregnant or even breastfeeding. There's not any statistics that suggest there could be any harm, but it's just better to be safe than sorry."

Having a tattoo removed is painful, but on the upside, the pain is over quickly. For a small tattoo, say the size of an old 50c piece, one session might take 30 seconds.

The laser has two settings, black and colour. So, if it is a coloured tattoo, the laser runs over the black on one setting, then it is reset for colour.

Each setting only goes over the tattoo once at each session, with no overlapping or the skin could blister, she says.

The bigger the tattoo, the longer it takes to cover with the laser.

So, if someone has a tattoo covering their whole arm, having the laser treatment on the whole tattoo in one sitting might be too much.

"I don't know anyone who could handle a whole arm [tattoo] being removed in one session. Also, you are breaking up the pigments in a tattoo and your body can only absorb and take in so many toxins at once. If a full arm was treated in one session, it would feel heavy and you could feel quite sick and tired for the rest of the day. It has to be manageable for the client."

Mrs Grieve would explain to her client that it would be better to do a section of the tattoo at a time, she says.

"If you have to go back to work, the last thing you want to feel is lethargic and drained and sick. We might do half and see how they feel for the day. If they don't feel that great maybe we'll split it into three."

The process involves a laser light coming out of a round cylinder and slowly moving over the tattoo.

"The tattoo instantly fades, almost disappearing, then by the time you have finished the treatment the tattoo has gradually come back again. The pigment rises again. Following treatment you can get a fine scabbing or a bit of blistering. A good result is to have it mildly scabbed, but everyone responds differently. You have to take care the first few days, keep it covered and apply a recommended healing cream."

The clinic, on average, sees one client a day for laser treatment for tattoo removal.

- © Fairfax NZ News