Significant Development? Game Changer?

[Mark Bee]

A PhD student at Dalhousie is developing an interesting method of removing tattoos. if it holds up to scrutiny, this could be a significant change.

Alec Falkenham, Dalhousie student, develops tattoo removal cream - Nova Scotia - CBC News

[bongsau]

Tattoos are permanent. That's the whole point. If you can't handle the commitment, the no-turning-back, maybe you should reassess why the hell you are getting tattoos. They aren't for everybody.

While I applaud the scientific development of no-laser-pain-free removal, I worry about how a low cost easy-removal-remedy will trivialize and water down the tattoo culture and make tattoo even more accessible than I believe it should be. Kitchen tattoo party mistake? Sexy 90s lower back tattoo got you down? Tribal armband not so cool anymore? No worries! Rub the snake oil on and goodbye bad decision!

Maybe this product will be a good thing though. Allow serious tattoo folks to delete some of those not-so-awesome tattoos and upgrade with nicer work. And then we can all have the perfect "collection" :/

I say learn from your mistakes, blast over and get more.

I don't think I will be re-writing pages in my colouring book anytime soon. Even my scrappiest of tattoos I still love and actually love them more for the imperfections as they/I age.

On the other hand, this PhDude is about to patent a goldmine.

So go and get your tattooed lumberjack look and tea-cup tattoos, the future is now!

[Mark Bee]

@bongsau You've managed to capture just about everything I was thinking about it too - right down to the goldmine this guy has (potentially) found. @eldolmago and I were driving around today talking about the implications of this "advance." We thought about whether or not we'd remove old tattoos, and decided we probably wouldn't. The whole prospect of what this treatment represents raises as many problems for me as solutions that it offers.

[bongsau]

Yeah man

It is worrisome what these advances will do...so if tattoos aren't permanent anymore and the tattooer/client has a magic (and cost-effective) "undo" button I wonder how the trendline for workmanship and quality will be affected? Getting a dumb-dumb stick n poke or joke tattoo really isn't that big a deal anymore, in fact it's pretty common at the moment. I guess that's my issue - tattoos, to me, have always been permanent. That is the best part. They are forever.

and if we keep making things easier and painless to undo it will really trivialize the whole experience. Kinda like marriage I guess. Just too easy these days to get married and divorce when you find something better or have a change of heart. I dunno.

That being said, my tattooer was telling me about one of his pals. Had a bunch of coverage and so-so early work, lasered it off, got a new suit, lasered it off and is getting a new world-class suit from a master. Three bodysuits, insane!

I would be interested to see what some of the tattooers around LST think about the development of these products. Maybe it's a good thing and has it's place. Everyone (well almost everyone) deserves an awesome tattoo and something like this may make that more of a reality for people who truly want some real-deal tattooing.

[Mark Bee]

Agreed. One of the things I've always loved about tattoos is that they require commitment. Its not something one can just walk away from. Even with lasers being an option, they are still expensive and painful. I respect folks who've gone the laser and replace route. Its still a hard process that also demands commitment. If all it takes is a bit of creme and a few weeks, then it really opens the field up to anyone. Is that all bad? Probably not. It might mean a lot more work for tattooers, which would be good. That said, I can't help but think something is (potentially) being lost.

From another angle - how does it affect me? I'm still thinking this through. I'll still be getting tattooed. I love the art, and I love the process. I enjoy the shops, the conversation, and the people Ive met along the way. So, I'll keep on doing what I do. Of course, maybe this is all bunk and it will never arrive on the shelves of Wallgreens (or Shoppers for my Canadian colleagues here).

[bongsau]

Yeah I agree with your comments about laser. Laser demands client commitment to follow through with many sessions, the pain, the healing.

Tattooing isn't for everyone, as much as Instagram and internet want you to believe.

There are no friggin short cuts in tattooing!

- - - Updated - - -

ok time to stop my ranting, i'm sounding like a snob ;)

i am content with the best and worst of my works so really snake-oil cream doesn't really affect me either.

although it will be sweet to be able to rock a mike tyson tattoo at the bar-crawl on the weekend, like pick up all the chicks bro, then cream that shit off on sunday afternoon so I can keep my office job :p

[Mark Bee]

V

although it will be sweet to be able to rock a mike tyson tattoo at the bar-crawl on the weekend, like pick up all the chicks bro, then cream that shit off on sunday afternoon so I can keep my office job :p

Hahaha awesome!

[bongsau]

I still believe the most effective method of tattoo removal is the belt sander...

[Fala]

Maybe it'll be a blessing in disguise and all the people who got crappy tattoos will use this cream to erase them, thus leaving the world filled with more good tattoos. Yeah, probably not...

[polliwog]

Falkenham's topical cream works by targeting the macrophages that have remained at the site of the tattoo. New macrophages move in to consume the previously pigment-filled macrophages and then migrate to the lymph nodes, eventually taking all the dye with them.

Okay...and once these dye-filled macrophages are in your lymph nodes, then what? What are the health implications of this? I think laser removal and ink migrating to lymph nodes has already been touched on here, but - please correct me if I'm wrong - this sounds like it puts even more of a burden on the lymph system. This skeeves me out way more than getting tattooed ever would.

[SeeSea]

Here s a thread with a medical case reference. The ink can mimic calcification during mammography. I'll have to remember to tell them this next time I head in for a mammogram.

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/crazy-tattoo-stories/2945-blue-lymph-nodes-traced-tattoos.html#post45226

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/3953-swollen-lymph-node.html#post63355

[Fala]

I've been experiencing lymph issues on the side of my body that has a machine-only tattoo on it (a teeny tiny tattoo compared to other's tattoos here on the forum), yet on the side which has the tebori tattoo I have had no lymph issues. It's been an interesting experience. Obviously I need to get tattooed more (who doesn't who loves tattoos?!), in order to determine if it is coincidental vs a clear correlation.

[RoryQ]

To be honest, I'm not sure that an effective, low-cost means of removing tattoos will necessarily devalue or undermine the whole process of getting them. At the end of the day, even if you can slather on a cream that will safely and quickly remove a tattoo (..and I still think we'll be waiting a while for that) then, even so, the process of getting the tattoo is still going to remain expensive, time-consuming and painful, right?

I can't see anyone having a whim and spending $2000+ dollars on large tattoos on their backs, fronts etc. just because there now exists a means of removing them easier than laser.

There are still a lot of bad tattoos out there that people might get rid of if they had the means. On balance, I'm in favour of giving it to them if possible.

What really freaks me out is the totally unrelated technology that someone is developing around robotic / automated tattooing....

[bongsau]

Thanks @RoryQ, good perspective

[iowagirl]

I guess I figure sometimes no matter how much research you do, how much time you spend working on a design, how much you trust the artist, it doesn't turn out the way you thought it would. I don't see the big deal in a situation like that "erasing" the outcome and going in a different direction. Sometimes your stupidity as a newly able to be tattooed 18 year old isn't what you're feeling as a grown 40 year old. I'd rather use a cream like that than sit thru laser b/c I made a mistake or it didn't turn out right, or a cover up wouldn't be possible. My feet aren't completely covered and I can't tell you how irritated that makes me. So, now rather than be proud of my tattoos there, I'd rather wear socks and shoes. I don't see it as an "easy" way out, and I don't see a lot of people running out to spend a lot of money to get a tattoo only to turn around and take it off after two days. And I guess if they do, well, they can just be dumb and waste their money.