By Felicia Fonseca
Daily Lobo
Tattoos can signify a point in one's life - a memory. But unlike a memory, tattoos can also be erased.
According to Men's Journal, one out of seven Americans has a tattoo. Most common are tribal bands, names and Chinese characters. While it is relatively expensive to get a good tattoo, the price of removing one is even steeper.
It costs around $80 to get a name tattooed, said Jody Flanigan, an employee at Sach's Body Modification. To have one covered up would cost around $120 and removal would be even higher.
Removing a tattoo depends on size, location, how the tattoo was applied and how long it has been in place. Since the late 1980s, the use of lasers for removal has become popular.
Jason Willis, tattoo artist at Tinta Cantina, had his entire face tattooed with black ink. After seeing a doctor's work on removing tattoo sleeves, he considered getting his ink removed.
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"I've seen a lot of bad jobs." Willis said. "I just wanted to be able to get through the airport without question."
To get the tattoos, Willis figured it cost $400. To get them removed, it was $3,000.
"It was the most god-awful pain. Way worse than getting tattooed." Willis said.
Laser tattoo removers work by allowing short pulses of intense light to pass through the top layer of the skin. This light explodes the tattoo's pigment and allows it to be absorbed into the body's bloodstream. However, most surgeons do not guarantee complete removal.
Treatments can require five to 10 sessions and extend anywhere from six weeks to three months. Each session only takes minutes. The hardest colors to extract are light green, purple, red and yellow, said Sandra Fuller, a nurse at Albuquerque Dermatology Associates, one of several Albuquerque clinics that offer tattoo removals. Because black and most other dark pigments are absorbed by all laser wavelengths, they are the easiest to remove.
"We tell patients to be prepared for at least 10 sessions," Fuller said.
The three most commonly used lasers for tattoo removal are: Q-stitched Ruby, Q-stitched Alexandrite and Q-stitched Nd: Yag. Although bloodless, low risk and effective, the process does not escape side effects.
Hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation occur when the treated area either lacks normal skin color or has an abundance of skin color. Other minimal effects are scarring, infection and the chance that all pigment will not be removed.
Tattoos have become a part of mainstream culture. Jessica Boboescu, a UNM senior, has one on her shoulder blade. She said she didn't really think about it being permanent until after she got it done; it was purely an act of stupidity.
"I know I am going to end up getting it removed, probably by laser." Boboescu said.
Some other removal methods include excision, where the pigment is removed by excising the skin and dermabrasion, where the skin around the tattoo is frozen and then sanded off. Salabrasion is an older method using an abrasive device that is applied after a tap water solution dipped in salt is used to sand the tattoo off.
Casey Duree, a piercer at Sach's, said as artists, they try to convince people not to get a name tattooed on them. It is the tattoo of a name that is most often requested to be covered up as well as removed.
"I've been a victim before. I've had a name covered up," Willis said.
A lot of women looking to get married just don't want that to show anymore. That or as they get older, they think they shouldn't have them because they are working with the public, Fuller said.
For those in the tattoo business, it is a growing experience.
"I don't regret them," Duree said. "If I don't have skin to do more artwork on, I'll be upset. Tattoos are about memorizing some part of your life."
