BY Dr. Sean Lanigan and Gill A Grozier
Tattoos are more popular now than ever. Worldwide, the growth in the tattoo industry has continued despite economic downturns and financial belts tightening. Those with disposable income are getting inked in their droves. And the demographic with the most disposal income to spend on tattoos are teenagers.
Tattoos amongst the young can be an acknowledgment of their passions, their musical tastes, their first love or a 'tribal' mark indicating their membership of a certain social group. The extraordinary skill of tattoo artists has pushed the boundaries of what can be translated from design book into body art to new levels. It is now genuinely an 'art form'. But as any experienced and responsible tattoo artist will warn you, it's also permanent. So that band that you adore right now is probably not going to be around in 20 years time - but the tattoo you rashly decided to have done celebrating your devotion to them will be.
Personal tastes change, and amongst teenagers they can change just days later. This is why nearly everyone who has tattoos, even those who are seriously into their body art, have at least one or two tattoos that they regret. These are tattoos that were done in haste and are now an embarrassing reminder of a teenage crush or obsession. When asked, more than 40% of teenagers with tattoos did not realise how difficult and expensive it is to get a tattoo removed. Laser tattoo removal is currently one of the only truly effective methods of getting rid of unwanted body art. But it's expensive, time consuming and can still lead to permanent scarring, particularly if the tattoo being removed is a big one or has large areas of black in the design such as 'tribal' tattoos.
A report published in the scientific Journal of Adolescent Health found that less than half of teenagers who want to get a tattoo knew about the difficulties and potential risks involved in tattoo removal. The investigation asked more than 4,200 students aged 14 to 22 years of age what they knew about tattoo removal. The results, with 40% of those asked having no idea what it involved, proved that young people are still quite unaware of what the consequences of body modification were.
Tell teenagers not to do something and that rebellious streak that we all have at that age will immediately kick in. Of those questioned in the poll, 6% already had tattoos and many more indicated that they were thinking of getting 'inked'. During your teenage years, you are unlikely to think of the consequences of decisions later on in life. But tattoos are not something that should be decided upon on a whim. Any self respecting tattoo artist will not only help you select an appropriate design, but also ask you more than once if you are sure that the tattoo you have chosen is the one you want to live with for the rest of your life before they fire up the tattoo machine. Many tattoo artists are now refusing to do boyfriends or girlfriends names, as these are without doubt the most common 'tattoo regret' later on in life. So while you may think that you are utterly in love right now with 'Dwayne', that relationship may end next week and you are left with an unwanted reminder of a failed relationship and a tattoo that could be very embarrassing later on. Unless, of course, you only go out with boys called Dwayne...
A good tattoo, expertly rendered and well designed, can look incredible. A bad tattoo or one that at the time seemed 'awesome' but is now pretty high up on the cringe meter can be expensive and painful to have removed. The advice to anyone thinking of having a tattoo is take your time to think long and hard before you decide on any body art. You're the one who is going to have to live with the results.
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