A Bristol tattoo removal specialist has revealed a man was left badly scarred after attempting to remove his tattoo with an iron.
Wayne Joyce, who runs Reset Room in St Paul’s, has shared the horrific story and those of people who use ‘cheap and unsafe’ equipment to get rid of unwanted ink themselves in a bid to raise the awareness of the dangers involved in not seeking professional help.
He has reported seeing a rise in the number of people getting deinked with cheap options and says that some are left suffering from body dysmorphia.
Wayne, who has spent more than 16 years removing tattoos, told how some people are now buying dangerous cheap lasers that “don’t work properly”. Some of these lasers include hair removal lasers which are meant to reduce future hair growth.
The 45-year-old said people are looking for cheaper alternatives due to ‘financial struggles’.
He said: “People don’t want to pay to get them professionally removed because it can cost anything up to 10 times as much as a tattoo. A guy didn’t believe that it cost this much and he literally went home put his iron on and put the iron on his arm; he tried to remove his tattoo at home with an iron.
“The tattoo was gone – half of it was gone because he missed half of it too – but he had scars and he literally took off an entire chunk of his skin.
“There are also these acid creams that are on the market. They tell you that it is a natural non-laser way to remove your tattoo but it is an acid that eats everything. The laser only targets the pigment of the tattoo but the acid eats skin, muscle – everything.”
While tattoos can take a few hours to complete, their removal is a long process going from ‘a few months to a few years’.
Wayne said: “People do get very upset about the fact that it takes them time to get removed because it only takes one day to put it in. Most people think that tattoo removal is more painful than getting a tattoo, but they have done studies to prove it is the same pain threshold.
“I have had people passing out – mostly guys. Girls are usually tougher. But most people just sit through.”
He explained local authorities had their own rules and regulations on tattoo removal and established clinics had to get a special licence from them to carry out the procedure.
“The problem is not just that there people are using these machines, it is the fact that these machines are for sale in this country,” he said.
“The best way to counter act this is if they regulated the sale of these machines because when you buy a big machine it is a serious piece of kit and there is a whole team behind you that is backing you up. The problem has come from the fact that they have allowed the industry to be swamped with these cheap piece of machines from China.”
He added they seem to cause ‘unnecessarily change’ to the skin.
Wayne explained: “It tends to be more with pigmentation issues and scar and textural differences on the skin. Whereas better lasers avoid those textural differences, but better lasers can still damage people.
“Not everyone who uses the top grade machines are good in what they do.”
Wayne’s business has been flourishing with many people turning to him for removals.
Among those is Ellie Hellings who got her tattoo shortly after turning 18 because her friend was getting one. Now 28, Ellie decided to get rid of the tattoo as it makes her ‘self-conscious’ of what she is wearing.
After she got engaged, she decided it was a good point to have the sessions to get it removed.
She said: “It is only in the past few years where I have decided that I don’t really want it anymore. Getting married has been quite a pivotal point in thinking that I actually want to get rid of it.
“It is not part of my identity anymore and because it is on my back I don’t see it but then I don’t want to have to worry about other people seeing it depending on what I am wearing.
“It definitely makes me feel more self-conscious about what I am wearing in the summer depending in who I am going to be around. If I am around my partner’s family I just want to hide it.”
Ellie said she researched the pros and cons on the removal and she was mainly worried about the pain.
She said: “There is always the potential risk of scarring and I think I was worried about the pain as well. You have got to be quite careful with the skin; you can’t get it sun damaged while you are having the treatment.”
Despite the procedure being more pricey than doing a tattoo, Ellie said it is important to find somewhere with good reviews and what type of machine is being used.
She added: “It is better to probably invest and maybe spend a bit more in sessions to make sure a good machine is being used because it is your skin and you can’t replace it.”
Before the wedding takes place in July, Ellie has two more sessions with Wayne and she hopes the tattoo will become even more faded than it is now.