DermHelpCentral

Traditional Philippine Tattoo Tradition

Buscalan, Philippines — She wakes up every morning at dawn and mixes an ink out of pine soot and water. She threads a thorn from a bitter citrus tree into a reed, crouches on a three-inch-high stool and, folded up like a cricket, hand-taps tattoos onto the backs, wrists and chests of people who come to see her from as far away as Mexico and Slovenia.

The woman, Maria Fang-od Oggay, will finish 14 tattoos before lunch — not a bad day’s work for someone said to be 100 years old. Moreover, she has single-handedly kept an ancient tradition alive, and in the process transformed this remote mountaintop village into a mecca for tourists seeking adventure and a piece of history under their skin.

See NY TImes article. May 16, 2017

Tattoo Removal Takes Tiny Steps Forward

by Courtney Rubin, NY Times Journal of Dermatology, 2.25.2016

A new laser has been widely hailed as the first major advancement in tattoo removal in 20 years. Called a picosecond laser, because it fires pulses at a trillionth of a second, it works the same way that the previous generation of lasers did, which is by breaking down the ink so that the body can absorb it.

This is a useful article if you are considering tattoo removal.

This article also includes a discussion on laser tattoo removal by non-medical technicians.

 

Covering Traumatic Scars

To help people with scars reclaim that painful space on their body, Brian Finn, a Toledo, Ohio tattoo artist,  has begun offering free tattoo coverups of scars inflicted by domestic violence, human trafficking, or self-injury (especially cutting). “It would make me feel so wonderful to be able to help anyone in a situation like this to move on to the next chapter in their lives,” said Finn. “I want to offer my time to help people feel better about themselves, and to not be ashamed.”

Brian's compassionate and generous work was featured on NPR recently.

Before and After

Permanent Cosmetics

Advanced Image Artistry, Inc.

The use of pigments for color enhancement dates back thousands of years. Unlike tattooing, Micropigmentation is the process in which pigment is implanted into the dermis with a tool that has been specifically designed for such procedures, using soft, beautiful, natural colors to enhance one’s own features. The hand tool is comprised of tiny needles situated closely together. After exact color has been selected, the tool is placed into the pigment and the procedure begins by having a series of strokes implanted into the dermis of the area that is to be enhanced or receive color restoration / repair.

A Tattoo That Completes a New Breast

"Little Vinnie’s Tattoos offers designs ranging from swordfish and skulls to intricate Japanese-style art. But women who have undergone treatment for breast cancer do not typically come for traditional ink. They flock here seeking one thing — a three-dimensional nipple tattoo by the owner, Vinnie Myers."

Important article for woman who, post-mastectomy, want to have natural-appearing areolae and nipples.

Full article. June 2, 2014

Tattoo Removal

It is estimated that "as many as 45 million Americans have tattoos. This number is based on the finding by a Harris Interactive Poll in 2003 that 16 percent of all adults and 36 percent of people 25 to 29 had at least one tattoo. The poll also found that 17 percent of tattooed Americans regretted it."

Natasha Singer's article Erasing Tattoos, Out of Regret or for a New Canvas in the June 17 New York Times
addresses the "growing industry catering to people who may not have thought about the implications [that tattoos are] “forever” the first time around.