Tattoos are forever....WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

Good morning! Happy New Year! I am working to get back into a routine, this time of the year can really get away from a person if you are not careful. I cannot believe January is almost gone.

So last year I began the process of having a tattoo removed. I wasn't really planning on ever doing something like this, however a well known local vein/spa institute purchased a high end laser for tattoo removal and they were looking for candidates to begin 'practicing' on. I know, I know, why would I want to be one of the first at this place to be 'practiced on?' Here's the deal, the place is pretty high end and the credentials of these ladies include one being a nurse practitioner and the others having quite a bit of education...well I felt [feel] safe going there not to mention all the great attention they give a person.

A little history on tattoos. Tattoos have been around way longer than once thought. According to the Smithsonian Magazine online, the first tattoos dated back almost 5,200 years ago. Recent findings show Ice men from the Italian-Austria border to have tattoo patterns. There have also been many findings on female mummies dated back to 2000 B.C. that show tattoos. Tattoos have been implemented into cultures way longer than most people believe. There are many theories on why 'mummified' women are found more with tattoos than the men.  Original thoughts were it was a way to label the female as a prostitute or a dancing girl. Now they are beginning to believe, by where the markings are located, that it could have helped during labor or dealing with other health issues so more of a therapeutic approach.

Whatever the case, every culture has reasoning for why they choose [or choose not] to tattoo. Our society has become a lot more accepting of tattoos in the last 100 years. Although a lot of our Grandparents may have thought of it as taboo, a lot of our own parents are now boasting their own ink. We tend to find reasoning in the permanent art whether it be a memorial for a lost love one, memories of our early adult hood, a momentum of our own children and then just plain ignorance. My tattoo feel into the, 'I just turned 18 and I need to get a tattoo right now' category.  It isn't a bad tattoo, I am no longer a fan of its' location. Here is what it looked like at the start of the treatment...

So I decided to be a guinea pig for the new laser this institute purchased. I really didn't know what to expect. I have heard horror stories of the pain being way bigger than the actual tattoo. This tattoo location in particular I didn't remember being too bad [although 20 years had passed since I was first inked]. My first appointment was close to a year ago. You go in, she takes pictures and then you sit with a topical numbing ointment on for about 30 minutes. The actual laser time is about 1 minute, yet it seems like eternity! Here is the first after treatment photo..it doesn't look like much happened.

So I continued going for my torture treatment every 6-8 weeks. You really can give yourself almost 12 weeks for full healing which just helps in the long run we found out. Here are a few other pictures after more pain stoking treatments...

The pictures appear in different angles depending on if I took the photo or someone else did.


I just finished up another round of my tattoo demolishing procedure on Wednesday of this week. Here is what she did to me! UGH! Seriously though, having a connective tissue disease and not too mention the greens and blues taking longer, she decided to 'hit' the area a different way and actually numbed me longer [how nice of her] so it wouldn't be as painful. This time I have bled and blistered [which has happened before] more than ever. Here is this weeks train wreck...

This is what I know, the black is gone! The greens and blues are hanging on as long as they can. We are hoping this treatment is almost the final treatment for me. I have paid quite a bit for this procedure but not as much as others since I was able to get in on the 'guinea pig' program. This is certainly a painful procedure even with the numbing concoction she places on you. Its similar to sharp constant bee stings, or maybe thick needles shoved into your skin a high rate of speed, or maybe a laser breaking up with ink! Whatever it is, the comfort level for that entire 1 minute is not friendly. The smell of burning flesh and the instant bubbling of the skin makes me question how safe this actual is.

So why am I sharing this? Obviously it is great education! But honestly if you are contemplating a tattoo or [like me] have a teenager who is planning out their 'first' tattoo. Please do research and sit on the design for awhile. Don't just show up and close your eyes and point for a design. Make it mean something. I have two other tattoos and the one is a cover up of another unfortunate 18 year old decision, while the other has meaning about my children and my family in it.

Alright, now back to your regularly scheduled program....

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Aimee