Suffering From Tattoo Regret?
- Posted on: Apr 10 2013
I recently wrote an article for CNN.com about tattoos that has gotten a lot of views and comments (over 2000 of them!) If you haven’t read it yet, here is the first part:
A few years ago I interviewed a handyman to do some work on my house. I noticed a teardrop tattoo at the top of his left cheek. Prior to hiring him, I searched online for what this design signified. My mouth dropped when I found out.
A teardrop tattoo can mean he murdered someone.
So I hired someone else.
Plastic surgeons and dermatologists are seeing more and more people who want their tattoos removed, often because they worry that the
tattoos could cause problems with employment. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), the number of people undergoing laser tattoo removal increased 43% from 2011 to 2012. This is consistent with a recent survey from the United Kingdom which found that nearly one-third of people suffer from tattoo regret.
Several years ago elaborate designs on the lower back became all the tattoo rage, until someone began calling them “tramp stamps.” Now I suspect that thousands of women (and maybe even a few unfortunate men) regret getting them. Other tattoo fads which have come and gone
include the barbed wire around men’s arms and the Chinese letters which may, or may not, mean what you think they do.
And it’s not just the common folk who regret their tattoos. Several celebrities have taken steps to have their tattoos removed. Johnny Depp committed the most common tattoo faux paux: he inked then-girlfriend Winona Ryder’s name on his shoulder. A short time later they broke up, prompting Depp to morph “Winona Forever” into “Wino Forever.” Megan Fox recently underwent laser treatments to remove the massive Marilyn Monroe tattoo on her arm. And some celebs have even embarrassingly misspelled their tattoos. Actress Hayden Panettiere misspelled the Italian phrase “Vivere senza rimpianti,” adding an extra “i” where it didn’t belong.
To read the rest of the article, click HERE to go to CNN.com
Tagged with: tattoo, tattoo regret, tattoo removal, teardrop tattoo, tramp stamp
Posted in: Dr. Anthony Youn in the Media, Plastic Surgery News