Thinking about getting a tattoo?
At the end of the day guys would stick a fork in their head to impress women, and girls will sometimes date world class losers just to upset their parents. I’m not saying not to get a tattoo - I think it looks good on strippers. I guess you should really consider this it’s like getting married, both cause pain and hard to get out of Here are some things you might want to consider before paying for a tattoo…
Who Has Tattoos?
The results suggest that 24 percent of Americans between 18 and 50 are tattooed; that’s almost one in four. Two surveys from 2003 suggested just 15 percent to 16 percent of U.S. adults had a tattoo. This is a trend that is on the rise, but remember so was disco. Trends have a way of changing and what is cool one day is bell bottom pants the next day. If you want one that’s awesome, but if you are just doing one to be cool remember this is a tattoo. You can take change out of no longer trendy clothes without burning your skin with a laser.
What if You Change Your Mind?
The American Academy of Dermatology reports tattoo regret is common in the United States. Among a group of 18- to 50-year-olds surveyed in 2004 17 percent of those considered getting their tattoo removed. Dermatologists typically charge by the square inch for the laser treatment. By the time most people are done they can expects to pay more than $2,200. The treatment usually takes about 10 sessions several weeks apart, each lasting less than a minute.
The least destructive removal process uses a state-of-the-art laser that targets the pigment in the tattoo. It goes through the skin without damaging it and hits the pigment depending on which wavelength and which color you have, and it blows it into small pieces.
The tattoo ink is then reabsorbed into the body through the lymphatic system. The process must be completed over several sessions in order to protect the skin from damage.
Patients with bigger tattoos are sometimes given the option to use a topical anesthetic, but that adds to the cost.
Dr. Scott Karempelis of Atlanta Dermatology says “there’s no guarantee that you won’t have a scar. “Scarring is your major risk. Almost everyone gets a little bit of discoloration, a little lighter, a little darker for a while. But in most cases if you wait a year, you cannot see where it was done initially.”
- Laser surgery. This is the most effective way to reduce the appearance of a tattoo. Pulses of laser light pass through the top layer of skin and the energy of the light is absorbed by the pigment in the tattoo. This process creates a very low grade of inflammation and allows your body to process the small areas of altered pigment. You may require as many as 12 treatments over a year to lighten the tattoo, and the treatment might not completely erase it.
- Dermabrasion. The tattoo area is chilled until numb, and the skin that contains the tattoo is sanded down to deeper levels. This generally isn’t painful, but it may leave a scar.
- Surgical removal. A doctor can surgically cut out the tattoo and stitch the edges back together, but this can leave a scar.
What are the Risks?
There are health risks associated with both the removal and application of tattoos, they are very small and dealing with a professional licensed studio is very safe.
- Blood-borne diseases. If the equipment used to create your tattoo is contaminated with the blood of an infected person, you can contract a number of serious blood-borne diseases. These include hepatitis C, hepatitis B, tetanus, tuberculosis and HIV — the virus that causes AIDS.
- Skin disorders. Your body may form bumps called granulomas around tattoo ink, especially if your tattoo includes red ink. Tattooing can also cause areas of raised, excessive scarring (keloids), if you’re prone to them.
- Skin infections. Tattoos can lead to local bacterial infections. Typical signs and symptoms of an infection include redness, warmth, swelling and a pus-like drainage. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked clusters of potentially serious antibiotic-resistant skin infections to unlicensed tattoo artists who don’t follow proper infection-control procedures. Some antibiotic-resistant skin infections can lead to pneumonia, bloodstream infections and a painful, flesh-destroying condition called necrotizing fasciitis.
- Allergic reactions. Tattoo dyes, particularly red dye, can cause allergic skin reactions, resulting in an itchy rash at the tattoo site. This may occur even years after you get the tattoo.
- MRI complications. Rarely, tattoos or permanent makeup may cause swelling or burning in the affected areas during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams. In some cases — such as when a person with permanent eyeliner has an MRI of the eye — tattoo pigments may interfere with the quality of the image.
- Anesthetic complications. A tattoo on the lower back can make an epidural risky (the painkiller that makes child birth bearable) and if you are a woman who might have kids, you will may have to do it the old fashioned way.
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Bad Translations
If you don’t speak chinese or some other chicken scratch language, do some research first. That scribble scrabble could turn out to be something you really don’t want to have on your body.
Use a Spell Checker
If you can’t spell bring a friend who can. Like everything else you get what you pay for, ask the person doing the tattoo to spell the words you want permanently etched into your body.
Think Long Term
Remember you are likely to outgrow your tattoo at some point. Nothing screams trailer trash like a grandma with tats - think how this thing is going to look when you shrivel up.
Use Good Judgement
Alcohol and a giggling friend are not really your friends when it comes to selecting a tattoo. Sleep on it, try not to do something that seems too funny.
Avoid the Creepy Factor
Unless you plan on never applying for a job for the rest of your life try to avoid the tattoo that will relegate you to circus freak. Some tattoos are going to limit your available dating pool to a very small sub section of the population. You might need to date, apply for a job, or not scare small children at some point down the road - bear this in mind.
It Will Hurt
Remember if you can’t handle pain, you might not want some anesthetic of one form or another. It does hurt, but if you’re a guy it shouldn’t be a big deal, however the size of the tattoo will play a factor.
Jackie’s First Tattoo - Funny bloopers R us
It’s really up to the person, personally I see it as littering some decent real estate. They do make a chick look like she’d be more willing to do bad things - so that part is cool.
37 Responses to “Thinking about getting a tattoo?”
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Carbon neutral pledge:
Steve Keener…
A good example of an enzyme antioxidant is super oxide dismutase (pronounced super-oxide dis-mew-tays). (In chemistry jargon, whenever you see the suffix -ase it indicates an enzyme.) Super oxide dismutase (SOD) can stop……
Lauren Hutton…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
yah thats too crazy…no tattos for me.
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And what of health? Other than the obscure incident? It is the uninformed person that selects his own decision, statistics make this argument but are absent from your article. Although, it is not my point to poke holes, I find the tone of your article counter-productive. As a tattooed individual myself, I found this article by searching for more tattoos. Clearly you could have made a more effective dialog by clarifying the risks and not rejecting the exact audience who you intend to inform. But, who am I? Just a member of the 24 percent of Americans who find that tattoos will define a generation and simply can’t be thrown out with the bell-bottoms. Perhaps, it is clothing fashion with which you have a gripe. I’d be delighted to hear what you have to say.
You know, a lot of your information is kind of hit and miss…
Granted, by the average, sure 24% of America is tattooed, but did you know that 70% of the world is tattooed… and the majority of it is religious or a test of adulthood.
Secondary, that 17% of people that want to have their tattoos removed was a mistake on their part. Either being done by an amature artist or a scratcher (someone tattooing without any kind of professional tattoo training), a name of a girlfriend or boyfriend, or not being selective enough in their artist.
I am a tattoo artist, and I agree with what you have to say, for the most part. Tattoos are not for everyone, but they are too good for some. As an artist, it is my own responsibility to make sure such mistakes are not made. I will advise against certain tattoos, and will refuse to do some. Granted, there is freedom of speech, but forcing me to do a white/brown/black pride tattoo is against my own beliefs. We also will not tattoo any minors as per state law without parents permission, and when we do, it must me coverable by a short sleeve shirt.
As for the being selective with the artist, tattooing is like any other form of art. In tattooing, you have specialists. Black and Grey, realism, traditional, neo-traditional, new skool, japanese, cubism, tribal, just to name a few. If you take a traditional tattoo to a new skool artist, and refuse to let them draw it in a way that they are familiar, then you are inviting poor quality work. Otherwise, you take a new skool artist a traditional tattoo, let them throw thier flair into it, you will have something amazing and better then you expected. Its like the question I ask customers daily, would you have Piccaso paint the Mona Lisa? No. Piccaso was a cubist, and his mind has a hard time bending around the concept of doing a realistic piece. Now, why do people do this to a tattoo artist… We are no longer the sailer and biker crowd, but the normal people that you see walking down the street… Also, if you had an oppertunity to talk with Enigma, the puzzle guy, you would find he is one of the most down to earth and polite people that you would ever meet…
Tattoos are about will power, and a colaberation between the artist and the client… keep this in mind, and you will never regret a tattoo…
Please, keep in contact me if you have any other questions, or would like a view from the other side. I am not out to recruit you to get a tattoo, but to open the eyes of someone to see it as the art that it truly is…
Actually laser tattoo removal is not $2200.. just know what you want before you get a tattoo.. more importantly do your research .. Tattoos are hot! have mine..love them and dont regret them.. only live once..
Doctors charge different rates and depending on the size of the tattoo prices can vary. I suppose talking to three different doctors and directly quoting a doctor doesn’t count as sufficient research to you. Many people do want them removed and it is providing a lot of cash to doctors as most removals are considered elective surgery and not covered by most insurances. With elective procedures doctors can charge what they want without having to accept what the insurance would allow and writing off the difference. Due to the fact that most surgery is performed on the skin medical certification for plastic surgery is less rigorous than many other specialties and there are some turkeys out there who charge less. Like with tattoos buyer beware, don’t look for the cheapest one, you get what you pay for generally speaking.
I do agree with some things who have said but THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN GET ANY HEALTH PROBLEMS IS TO GO TO A TATTOO STUDIO THAT DOES NOT UNDER STAND HEALTH REGULATIONS AND STERILIZATION.Tattoos are a persons expression of them self in art form sure some a stupid and don’t make any since but its the person choice. And just like other generations this generation wilL be know by tattoos(good ones or bad).I my self have 2 half sleeves and 9 other tattoos. I will always have them and look forward to growing old with them. PEOPLE YOU SHOULD ALL CONSIDER GETTING A TATTOO, JUST DO YOUR HOME WORK ON IT FIRST AND IF YOU DON’T, QUIT COMPLAINING ABOUT THEM…
its hard to take this article seriously when the writter has put too much of their own opinion in. to whoever made this site.. this is the silliest waste of time and u need to harden up. stop whining.
I think dumb people should be allowed to get dumb tattoos, that way we know them by sight.
Whoever wrote this “article” is a biased moron. Just because a woman has tattoos doesn’t mean she is cheap or bad. There are many different reasons people get tattoo’s and there are many different kinds of tattoos. Granted, some people get stupid tattoos in stupid places, but that doesn’t mean every person that gets a tattoo is either a douchebag, or a whore. Grow up, asshole. Tattoo’s do not depict who you are. If you want to get a tattoo, the best advice is to make sure you don’t do it on impulse, and the best reason to get a tattoo is for some kind of meaning: if it holds as some kind of symbol towards something or someone that is or was important in your life; a religious belief; something you live for. For example, my sister got a horse on her back, because it’s her favorite animal, and she lives for horses. I doubt she’ll regret that tattoo, because number one, it’s in a place where neither she nor too many other people are going to see it often, and secondly it represents something important to her in her life. She had wanted to get that tattoo for years, and never changed her mind.. so that was another good reason to go for it. Anyways… some people are morons. I hope the people who stumble upon this site don’t listen to this arrogant fucker’s immature opinion.
Wow, struck a nerve?
I apologize, nothing has more class than white trash trailer park woman in her 50s with faded tramp stamp tattoos. That is of course except for her Elvis plates, plastic lawn animals and fake lawn rolled up on her homemade trailer porch.
Brittany has a point Jerome. True, going for an upstanding girl with class would be the choice for a life-long mate or a girlfriend or wife. But when you want to nail the town whore, nothing beats the mark of the tramp stamp.
Thanks for marking our targets Brittany.
Brittany your profanity laced rant reinforces Jerome’s assertion that women with tattoos don’t have much in the way of class.
Hey Brittany a chick with tramp stamps, who likes to cuss must totally put out - what’s your IM/phone/myspace?
Steve & Jeff, this is not a dating site. Though, with Brittany I’m sure that dating is only going to be a matter of hourly rates.
Brittany, sorry to hear about you losing custody of your kids, and I had no idea Jamie Lynn had a horse tattoo.
Where would the tattoo be that people could rarely see it? Is she morbidly obese and the tattoo is neatly tucked in-between a roll of fat? Or if she’s really fat maybe it is on her the top of her foot.
A course you are all being mean to Brittany. She’s just only defending her right to ink herselves, which is something that all peoples have a rights to do. Ive been getting tattoos cents I was 17 and it only helps me express my self and things like I like. If you are too narrow minded and don’t understand tattoos and why we get them, you shouldn’t be making fun of people with them.
My friends make design tattoos and wouldn’t like your talking about them because they do this for a living.
I’m with you Brittany!
Amazing, Herve this article mentioned the following subjects:
Statistics about who has tattoos, what is involved with removing them, avoid getting bad translations if you get one in a language you don’t speak, and avoiding ones that you might regret down the road. It did show pictures of stupid ones that looked bad, and I did make fun of them as all of us should.
Nothing in this article mentioned banning tattoos, or telling fat chicks they shouldn’t get tattoos.
Everything in there was common sense (or cents as you like to use the word). Mentioning these things should offend only the very, very stupid.
Well, in my opinion there are different sets of peole who get tatoos.
the lovers, the family/rememberance, the artist, the trend, the outspoken.
Many people fall between these categories it is nothing to be embarrassed about
got the image you homo, if your going to protect the main thumbnail you might wanna protect them on the other parts of your page…..dumb
Bob, you are too incredibly smart for us plebians. We would offer to hire you for you’re knowledge and talent, but it’s obvious that you are homophobic due to some parental issues that you have not yet dealt with as of this point in life. You should probably just come out of the closet like your dad did and just accept life.
And good news, you can now get legally married in California!
Listen, I didn’t get inked until I was 50 and I now have 3. I love them and they are for me. As far as being white trash trailer park, I’m not. As far as growing old with body art, .. what is your problem? .. do you think that everyone should make all of their decisions based on how you look to your peers when you are 15 - 25 yrs. old, and how you look to 15 -25 yr olds when you are not that age? Is the superficial opinions of inexperienced youth the golden rule?
Do we buy into photo shopped advertising? Do you think that by being insulting, that it means that you are right? There are millions of people all over the world who are alive right now - over 50 - with tattoos who feel just fine about them and there choice in getting them. There are cultures filled with tattooed people. (they do not all live in one big trailer park) People have been getting tattoos for a myriad of reasons for thousands of years, (do you think they should have consulted you and everyone under 25 and advertising and only people in white collar America before they got their body art?)
Everyone is different, don’t lump people into categories and be judgmental. Don’t presume that you know about me and how my tattoos will appear to my friends and family on my death bed.
Well, it’s save to say you’re probably not to crazy about tattoos, and good for you, you don’t have to be. I think you make some valid points in your article. But judging people by them and attaching a social class too people who have them… not too smart. Or royal family and a couple of the other old European royals are know for being tattooed, of course nobody ever saw them, but we do know they had them done (in indonesia the old fashioned way even!!). So unless you feel save telling or queen she is a slut and trash (wow even feel odd just typing that) you’d have to confess that not ALL woman are easy and not all men of lower social status (can’t get much higher then royalty
) just couse they have a tattoo.
Other then that, if you hate them great, if you love them great too
but being judgmental…… never a good thing (but that’s just my opinion)
I completely agree with Sandra and Brittany. I couldn’t even believe the commentary that some people wrote on Brittany– that is all irrelevant, immature and if anyone of you had tattoos I would definitely judge what you wrote on here before I judged the tattoos. What I found amusing was that she had something more intelligent to say than anyone who replied to her in a vulgar manner– who looked worse? Is everyone preoccupied with what a person looks like rather than what comes out of thier mouths? Do you know any of these people in the pictures? To each his or her own. If you like tattoos, y’know, whatever makes you happy as an individual. If you don’t– its as simple as not getting one and not condeming those who do. People get them for thier own reasons and if you don’t like what they put on thier bodies– then in the end its a pretty simple matter realizing that it doesn’t pertain to you because it’s not on YOUR body.
Sorry Dorothy, but you’re an idiot. The article was focused on avoiding bad tattoos not tattoos in general. Avoiding misspellings, bad translations, and just plain horrible tattoos is a grown up thing to do. Mistakes are fine with temporary tattoos but you should think things out and get a professional tattoo if you want one. Mentioning facts about tattoo removal and illustrating some horrendous mistake tattoos is apparently too offensive for some tattoo zealots.
I found this post while looking for images of white tattoos. Personally, I think it is never a bad idea to be intimately knowledgeable with all the side effects of something that will be with you forever. I pondered the idea of a tattoo for years before I got one, did loads of research, met a lot of artists, and when I finally settled on all the details, I was completely comfortable with the process and its outcome. But that’s just me. I like to be sure of things to a degree not shared by most of my peers and know that it’s a foible of mine, not a commentary on how it should be done. Your post is perfectly placed and serves a purpose, promoting discussion and provoking thought. While I do not agree with some of the non-factual comments, (and the ongoing debate about tattoos and trashy women) I think it is important that people be aware of the mainstream attitudes about tattoos. It is easy to get caught up in the artistic swoon and let concerns of safety and permanence be swept aside. I love my tattoo, and am thinking about getting another. Isn’t that really the point of this post? Encouraging thinking?
Elizabeth, I like your well structured and intelligent comment and appreciate your opinion on this subject. So… where’s the pic of your stamp?
Michael,
My loathing to admit the extent of my internet illiteracy is superseded by my interest in your comments about my “stamp”. How do I post an image, and to where do I post it?
Elizabeth
Elizabeth, simply put the link without the http:// in front of it and I will take care of it for you.
The comments strip out html code to prevent ppl doing bad things - img tags and what not. The more you pick on Michael the better - make pictures charts or whatever you want - heck you can even make your own post if you want.
Thanks for your help Jerome. While I probably won’t start my own post, I am up for picking on a perfect stranger online. Don’t worry Michael, I’ll keep it within reason…
Actually, save the saggy Jimi Hendrix signature tattoo, I think the grandmas with tattoos are really awesome.
Although I googled “horse tattoos” I must admit I really enjoyed finding and reading this thread thoroughly. Had a good chuckle at the “ugly boy” and as for the rest: each to their own; I had my first tattoo at the age of 37, which has the advantage of it still looking crisp and bright once I’m 40 - in the meantime I’ve had 2 more done and the end is not yet in sight. And yes, I can wear shorts and a t-shirt without anything showing, should I choose to do so. There are pros and cons to everything, and I reckon with enough common sense it’s easy enough judging what is going to give yourself unnecessary uphill in life and what is simply going to enrich it.
Glad you enjoyed Barbara - seems like you thought out things ahead of time, and got something you were happy with and that’s cool.