“My attitude changed after I put on the tattoo makeup. People also avoided me.”
Actor Ko Gyu-pil, who played ‘Chorong’ in the movie ‘Criminal City 3’, which surpassed 10 million viewers, recently appeared on an entertainment program and said this. Appearing in the movie with tattoos all over his body, he also showed a way of walking with a ‘changed posture’ on the air.
More and more people are getting tattoos, which were regarded as a ‘symbol’ of gangsters. This is because the way tattoos are viewed as a means of expressing individuality or as a fashion item has changed. However, it is a tattoo that you do carelessly and leave a big regret. I was worried about the unflattering gaze, it became an obstacle to getting a job, and I didn’t like it when I saw it… . The reasons are varied. The problem is that getting a tattoo is much more difficult than getting it. Tattoo removal takes a lot of time and money. The pain is also greater than expected.
‘I’ll erase the damn tattoo’Director Park Yeong-soo, a plastic surgeon at ‘Comfort Plastic Surgery’, is a person who came out to help those who regret the choice of the moment. He supports those who want to get rid of their tattoos but are unable to do so, and provides information by uploading the process on his YouTube channel, ‘Tattoo Erase Teacher Youngsoo’. It is a so-called ‘remove the ruined tattoo’ project. There are various stories of ‘ruined tattoos’ that are passed down to him, such as the impulsive choice of a minor and the stigma stemming from a wrong relationship. I heard from him how he came to start this project and how the popularization of tattoos is seen in the medical field.
Q: Is there a trigger for starting the project ‘Erase the damn tattoo’?
A : During my treatment, I learned that there are many people who suffer from careless choices. Because tattoos are scars in themselves, it is impossible to return to the same state as before even if you undergo a removal procedure. Even so, if you have to erase it, you have to go through a very cumbersome process, but I thought that if you show the process, people who want to get a tattoo can choose carefully.
Park’s hospital specializes in tattoo removal. He was able to practice more actively thanks to the acquisition of two specialist licenses: plastic surgery and anesthesia and pain medicine.
A : Pain is the biggest reason people hesitate to get their tattoos removed. You have to undergo repeated procedures using a laser, but there is a limit to controlling the pain with anesthetic cream. So, in many cases, it is stopped after only one treatment. There are even cases in which patients cannot stand it during treatment and stop the procedure.
Director Park’s hospital, where tattoo removal is performed after nerve block and sedation anesthesia, is said to be performing an average of 1,000 to 1,500 procedures per month. In the case of body tattoos, people in their 20s and 30s come to have them removed because they are dissatisfied with their appearance, or because of employment, marriage, or childcare. People in their 30s and 40s often come to remove semi-permanent tattoos such as eyebrows and eyeliner.
Q: What is the procedure for removing tattoos?
A: Except for a very small number of tattoos that can be surgically excised, tattoos can be removed through a procedure using a pico laser. The laser breaks down the ink particles in the skin into small pieces. Normally, our bodies excrete foreign substances when they come in, but ink particles are so large that they cannot be excreted and remain for a lifetime. So, it breaks down the ink particles into small enough to be able to move. It is to be gradually absorbed and excreted by the body’s immune cells.
Elimination followed by excruciating pain… take at least 1 year
Q: It takes a lot of time and money compared to engraving.
A: Depending on the amount and depth of ink, presence or absence of color, degree of scarring, and area, most require about 10 treatments. In addition, since it takes time for the pigmentation of the treated area to improve, it may take more than one year, or several years at the longest. Colored tattoos are more difficult to remove. The cost will vary by hospital, but it costs 200,000 won for one treatment for a tattoo the size of a business card.
Q: There are various stories about ruined tattoos. Who is the most memorable person?
A : There was a woman in her 30s who said that her ex-boyfriend, who was a tattoo artist in her 20s, kept getting unwanted tattoos while dating because of gaslighting. She has a large dragon tattooed from her chest to her side, and her initials lettering on the inside of her thigh. She lost contact with the boyfriend one day, she says. Later, she married someone else and became a mother of elementary school children. It was uncomfortable for her to cover up her tattoos, and she found it difficult to explain to her children, she said.
In addition, in the video he posted on his YouTube channel, various people who came to regret tattoos appear. The stories are different, but especially the stories of teenagers who got tattoos spontaneously convey a vivid reality.
An 18-year-old high school girl who ran away from home and ended up hanging out with so-called ‘playmates’ got a tattoo ‘to look younger’. He, who visited the hospital with her mother, said, “A tattoo shop I found out through social media gave me a tattoo even though I thought I was a minor.” He confessed, “When I first got a tattoo, I liked being seen as a ‘scary kid’ in the eyes of others, but after having a dream, I thought my judgment was wrong.”
A man in his 20s who came to erase a tattoo he made after a friend in his second year of middle school also appears. He regretted that he had not been able to apply for the rank of non-commissioned officer because of the regulation that he should not have many tattoos.
A 22-year-old male office worker who received a “black cancer” (tattoo covering his arm black) from his friend’s mother when he was a freshman in high school also came to visit Director Park. He said, “I regretted the fact that I had undergone tattoo treatment for the past five years.”
Director Park, who used to remove tattoos for these people, recently visited a tattoo shop to find out how tattoos are done. He tried tattooing himself on his arm using an inkless tattoo machine. Having done both engraving and erasing, he asked him.
Q: Is it difficult to get a tattoo or to remove it?
A : Both are difficult, but there are definitely things you need to know. The fact is that elimination does not end all at once. I can’t help but talk about the pain. I think that tattooing done with a very fine needle using a machine called a tattoo machine is unbearable pain. Erasing, on the other hand, is the process of ‘breaking apart’ ink particles with a laser. Since the ink particles are broken only when the laser power is high, the pain is bound to be severe. Also, when the heat from the laser spreads to the surrounding tissue, it can feel like a burn.
“Legalizing non-medical personnel will prevent side effects”
Meanwhile, in 1992, as the Supreme Court ruled that tattooing was a ‘medical act’, tattooing by non-doctors became illegal. However, according to the 2019 report titled ‘Tattoo Treatment Investigation and Safety Management Plan’ published by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, only 1 (0.6%) out of 171 tattoo experiencers answered that they had been treated by a doctor. Most tattoo experiencers are treated by non-medical personnel. In this situation, as the demand for tattoos increased, there was an opinion that the tattoo industry should be legally nurtured through legislation. In this regard, on the 28th of last month, the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee discussed the ‘tattoo law’ for the first time to legalize tattooing for non-medical people.
Q: How do you view the discussion on the ‘tattoo business law’?스포츠토토
A : Over 10 million tattoo treatments have already been done. The desire to leave something on one’s body does not seem to be of a nature that can be bound by law. Within the confines of the law, only doctors can perform tattooing. I think you are asking for realistically impossible standards. It is clear that tattoo treatment is close to invasive medical practice, but we believe that managing and legalizing tattoo treatment in a verified institution is a way to prevent side effects. Currently, as the law is not known, even tattooing procedures that should not be done are performed. A typical case is minor tattoos. Underage people who want to get a tattoo without parental consent find a cheap, untested tattoo artist. In this case, you are more likely to experience hygiene problems or side effects. Indiscriminate treatment of minors must be prevented.