Artful regret?

COEUR d'ALENE - Time was when tattoos were the exclusive domain of homesick soldiers and sailors with an achin' in their hearts for Mom - and MaryLou and Betty and Susie.

Today, according to a 2012 Harris poll, one in five U.S. adults has at least one tattoo and 14 percent of those folks regret ever having laid eyes on a tattooist.

"I got my tattoos because I was 18 years old and thought I couldn't live without one," said Erin Jarvis, a former Coeur d'Alene resident who returns here from out of state for tattoo removal treatments. "At the time I got them, I don't believe I could think beyond the next day, but I sure learned to regret it pretty quick. It would have been better just to frame a piece of art and hang it on the wall."

If you want to vaporize your body art, the best solution these days, the experts say, is to get lasered. According to Dr. Douglas Stafford, a board-certified general surgeon at Vein Clinics NorthWest in Coeur d'Alene, "It is rare that we can't fully remove a tattoo using a laser.

"And yes, the infamous yellows and oranges don't absorb light as well as other colors, but the laser can still successfully work with them. Removal used to be a lot more difficult."

Historically, physicians have used two procedures to remove tattoos. In dermabrasion, the tattooed area is essentially "sanded" down using a high-speed rotary device. With surgery, on the other hand, the tattoo is removed with a scalpel and the edges of the affected area are sutured back together.

"Dermabrasion can be painful and surgery can result in a scar," said Stafford. "Also, surgery can only be done on small tattoos because surgically removing a large-scale tattoo would involve a skin graft."

Due in part to these side effects, dermabrasion and surgery have in recent years fallen from grace in the world of tattoo removal. This has left the field wide open for the Q-switched laser, the most commonly used machine for taking off tattoos.

The Q-switched laser delivers light in billionths of seconds and at very high, variable energy. According to Dr. Stafford, "In a tattoo, ink is trapped between layers of skin. When that area is lasered, some (of the ink) will blister on the top and some will break up underneath the skin and wash out in the lymphatic system."

How does a treatment feel?

"Truthfully, it's not the most pleasant experience," Jarvis said. "The process is a little more painful than getting a tattoo, but it's over so much quicker. And it's definitely worth it. It feels like a rubber band snapping over and over - it's a kind of stinging-burning feeling.

"You're a little blistered afterward and that takes a couple of weeks to heal, but I'd do it again no matter what, just to get the end result. I'm usually in and out of the office within 10 to 15 minutes."

Pain can also depend on the location of the tattoo. Neck, hands, feet and ankles are the most sensitive because of the lack of padding in those areas. Under certain conditions, a local anesthetic can be used.

Stafford said that between five and 10 sessions are usually necessary to fully remove a tattoo. All patients are asked to take five to six weeks off between sessions to avoid any potential scarring.

Getting a tattoo is cheaper than getting a tattoo removed. It is unlikely health insurance will pay for it since it's considered a cosmetic procedure.

The cost of the removal varies by size of tattoo, colors involved and area of the country in which you're being treated. A single tattoo treatment will average out somewhere between $100 and $350 - meaning 10 sessions could cost in the vicinity of $3,500.

There are also several over-the-counter dermabrasion products available for do-it-yourselfers, but online reviews of these creams have been far from encouraging, with many consumers accusing them of being next to useless.

"Medically the idea makes no sense whatsoever," Stafford said. "A lot of patients have come to me for laser treatments complaining the products didn't work at all."

But perhaps you're not that unhappy with the idea of being tattoed, just with the idea of your own particular tattoo. According to Pauli Wessermann, owner of Pauli's Tattoo, you shouldn't lose hope; corrections can be made.

"I can cover an old tattoo by blending inks to match skin tones," he said. "After that we can go over the old tattoo (with the new ink) so that it lightens up enough to be covered with whatever new art a person wants.

"We do have limitations, though. It's pretty hard to cover up a big black blob with a butterfly."

Wessermann said he's often refused to work on someone who seemed to want a tattoo on nothing more than a spur of the moment impulse.

"First-timers come in here for many reasons," he said. "The ones I won't do are the ones who don't know why they're here - some people are just not happy with who they are and think a tattoo can somehow change that.

"I wish people would sit on the idea and think about it a long time before actually coming in for a tattoo. When the time is right, they'll know it."

The Mayo Clinic cautions that you should not consider laser tattoo removal if you have certain autoimmune disorders, pigmentation problems, active acne at the tattoo site, unstable diabetes or undiagnosed lesions.

Also, if you decide to have the procedure, be sure to choose someone specifically qualified to perform it. Stafford said Idaho law requires a physician to operate the laser and develop the patient treatment plan. A specially trained registered nurse under the direction of a physician may, however, also administer the treatment.

To get a tattoo? To remove a tattoo?

When it comes to body art, in the end we're left with the immortal words of Jimmy Buffett: "It's a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling."