Tattoo removals, Olivia Berckley will tell you, are a pain–physically, mentally and financially.
On a recent afternoon, the 25-year-old Los Angeles woman was trying not to wince as the doctor aimed a laser at the multicolored, fire-breathing dragon covering her otherwise porcelain-skinned upper arm.
Within minutes, the skin surrounding the 4-by-4-inch tattoo glowed a deep sunburned red. With each rat-a-tat of the laser, a tiny dot of skin puffed up like a blister and wept a droplet of blood.
“Next time I want the numbing cream,” Berckley told the doctor tersely.
Like legions of Americans, Berckley is willing to endure repeated discomfort, shell out thousands of dollars and devote considerable time to having her body art relegated to memory. Across the United States, tattoo removal is skyrocketing. Almost all of the procedures now are laser removals, which increased 27 percent from 2001 to 2003, according to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.
People who regret their tattoos are highly motivated to get rid of them, doctors say. “They’ll spit blood to get them off,” said Dr. Harold Lancer, a dermatologic surgeon in Beverly Hills.
The explosion of laser technology has made it possible to do that. Almost a decade of studies on laser tattoo removal has taught doctors how to remove a variety of inks and colors from a variety of skin types while minimizing the risk of scarring.
With two treatments behind her–and six to eight more ahead–Berckley can’t wait to wear short-sleeve shirts without worrying what people will think of her tattoo.
She had chosen the dragon after spending an hour browsing among the sample artwork provided at a local tattoo parlor one week after her 18th birthday, the legal age for obtaining a tattoo without a guardian’s permission.
“At the time, I couldn’t wait to get one. … I thought I’d never get tired of it,” Berckley recalls.
By age 22, the tattoo had become “less appealing.” When she was married last year, Berckley selected the bare-shouldered wedding dress of her dreams but added shoulder-length gloves to cover the tattoo.
“I started thinking of the way people perceived me, something I didn’t think of when I got it,” she said.
Berckley paid $100 for her tattoo and will part with close to $3,000 for the removal. Each laser session is about $300. “It’s worth it to me to have it removed,” she said, while Dr. Stuart Kaplan of Beverly Hills applied gauze to her laser-burned shoulder. “A little bit of scarring isn’t going to bother me as much as the tattoo.”
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Laser Tag
Before the advent of high-tech lasers about a decade ago, removing tattoos was a nasty process. Smaller tattoos were usually cut out; larger ones were scratched off, along with layers of skin. Scarring was inevitable.
Now, skilled doctors with the most sophisticated laser equipment can typically remove 95 percent of a tattoo. (Often, barely visible bits of ink remain in the skin.) Scarring occurs in only about 5 percent of cases. Typically, 10 percent to 20 percent of the tattoo is destroyed with each treatment.
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Permanent marker
When actress Angelina Jolie married actor Billy Bob Thornton, she had his name tattooed on her left arm. When the two of them split, the tattoo went down with the marriage. She talked about her tattoos with a reporter last summer:
Since it took five laser treatments to remove Billy Bob’s name from your shoulder, are you through with tattoos?
Oh, I’ll get more tattoos, just never someone’s name. I knew that was a stupid idea–always. But it seemed sweet at the time, and I just got lost in the moment. That’s the way I am.
One of your tattoos is Latin for “What nourishes me destroys me” right? What’s up with that one?
It was something I believed when I was younger. I mean, nothing will destroy me now, but there are things that feed you and make you work as hard as you do, and those are also the things that can drive you crazy.
