Tramp Stamps A Bad Idea?

Removal Remorse: Ridding tattoos comes at a high price
By Hallie Davis/Daily Toreador

Left without nerve cells in her back, Bailey Nolte wants to warn people possibly getting tattoos of the dangers of eventually having them removed.

Nolte, a sophomore advertising major from McKinney, said her parents asked her to get her first tattoo removed. What followed was the worst-case scenario.

Rather than using a tattoo removal laser, the first place she went to have her tattoo removed used a hair removal laser turned up too high, leaving her back scarred. When she went somewhere else for scar removal, the laser killed all of the nerve cells in her back, Nolte said.

“If you do decide to get it removed, check out the place and ask questions about the laser,” she said.

Dr. Kelly Bennett, the medical director for Student Health Services, said Nolte’s story is unusual because most nerve injuries heal within a year.

“It’s not medically any more dangerous (than getting a tattoo),” Bennett said, “but there are complications. It’s definitely more costly and more time consuming.”

Nolte said cost isn’t the only downside to tattoo removal.

“Getting tattoos hurt a little,” Nolte said, “but honestly, getting them lasered off hurts 10,000 times worse.”

This is exactly what I've been trying to point out since girls starting getting these things about 10 years ago. One day all these girls are going to be middle aged women who start to sag everywhere and theyre just going to be embarrassed about their tattos, especially their tramp stamps. So they have to face the prospect of a lengthy removal process or explaining to their granchildren why there's a butterfly right above their ass.