Tattoo Removal Can Be Pain Free

There is so much speculation about tattoo removal procedures today. Many people who get tattoos when they are young, regret them later on, or decide that putting so-and-so's name on their body really wasn't that great an idea.

When tattoo regret strikes for these people, it often comes as a surprise that it can cost more to have a tattoo removed than it did to have it put on. Laser tattoo removal, although a bit higher cost than getting your tattoo, is still the most effective, safe, fast, and relatively pain-free method of tattoo removal.

Many people who are seeking the removal of their tattoo for the same bargain price they paid to have it put on will be disappointed to discover that tattoo removal creams don't work that well, and some of the methods suggested to save money are barbaric and violently painful, such as salabrasion, where salt is rubbed onto the tattoo and into the tattooed layer of skin leaving deep scars and causing excruciating pain.

These various underground methods of tattoo removal also invite the risk of infection to multiply substantially.

If you cannot afford to have your tattoo removed by a professional in a sterile environment, you owe it to yourself to wait until you have saved the money to have laser tattoo removal done in a safe and clean tattoo studio.
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Inflicting Ink is a Rhode Island Tattoo Studio that embodies quality, consistency and pride, and offers a sterile, safe, comfortable, artistic environment to its customers.  Nominated multiple times for the Best Tattoo Parlor in Rhode Island and Best Tattoo Artist in RI.

You may contact them for an appointment for a tattoo at (401) 683-5680 and of course walk-ins are always welcome.

For more information, please visit our home page at www.inflictinginktattoo.com.

Is Your Child Ready for Body Piercings?

While some parents consider it fashionable to have their infant daughter's ears pierced, concerns about infection should be foremost in the mind of anyone getting any part of their body pierced. In order to determine whether your child is old enough to have a piercing, consider that they need to be able to care properly for the piercing, as well as keep dirty hands and fingers away from the site.

Most physicians will pierce your child's ears in their office, as a sterile procedure, and as long as the baby is up to date with their immunizations. You will have to keep their hands away from their ears, and keep the site very clean however. Also, remember that with toddlers, they are harder to keep still during the piercing process, and might find the experience very uncomfortable, and will very likely play with the earrings during the healing process.

Teens are a bit more difficult, but if you keep an open dialogue with them about things like tattoos and piercings, you will be much less likely to be the parent who is surprised when their son or daughter comes home with a nasty infection because they got together with their friends and had a 'piercing party'.

It is generally best to wait for your child to ask you for a body piercing, and then to talk it over together, discussing the pros and the cons, before rushing out to get them pierced on your own. Infections, the possibility of chipped or broken teeth from lip piercings, and other body concerns, need to be fully explored prior to going to a body piercing studio, and if you're pre-teen hasn't opened up the topic already, sit them down and discuss it to avoid the possibility that they will get one without your knowledge anyway.
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Inflicting Ink is a Rhode Island Tattoo Studio that embodies quality, consistency and pride, and offers a sterile, safe, comfortable, artistic environment to its customers.  Nominated multiple times for the Best Tattoo Parlor in Rhode Island and Best Tattoo Artist in RI.

You may contact them for an appointment for a tattoo at (401) 683-5680 and of course walk-ins are always welcome.

For more information, please visit our home page at www.inflictinginktattoo.com.

Body Piercing is Safe in a Sterile Environment

Along with more information and control over sterile tattoo environments, comes a greater concern over sterile body piercing environments. Body piercing is not the same thing as having your ears pierced at the mall, although some practitioners would like you to believe that it's just as safe to get pierced in the same environment.

Body piercing environments must be completely sterile to avoid any and all risks of infection at the site of the piercing. Because certain areas of the body, are already prone to infection after piercing, this practice becomes extremely important for the health and well being of all tattoo and piercing clientele.

With greater regulation of tattoo shops across the globe, and in particular in the United States, where sterile practices have been the norm for some time, authorities are beginning to take notice and enforce regulations more stringently. And while there are many shops operating within and above the Department of Health's Sterile Practice Guidelines, there is still great room for improving the enforcement of the sterile practice regulations in many body piercing establishments.

Of greatest concern for those getting body piercings and the medical community at large, is infection at the piercing site. If left untreated, and depending upon where on the body the piercing is located, infections can turn into very serious medical conditions.

If you are contemplating a body piercing, you owe it to yourself to do a some research on the local tattoo and body piercing shops in your area and make sure that their employees use sterile practices at all times, that they are certified by the Department of Health, that all of their licenses and certifications are up to date both for the studio and the artists, that you are over 18 years of age, and that you have considered the aftercare requirements, the cost, and every other imaginable factor before getting your body pierced. And if you believe your piercing is infected, seek medical attention immediately.
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Inflicting Ink is a Rhode Island Tattoo Studio that embodies quality, consistency and pride, and offers a sterile, safe, comfortable, artistic environment to its customers.  Nominated multiple times for the Best Tattoo Parlor in Rhode Island and Best Tattoo Artist in RI.

You may contact them for an appointment for a tattoo at (401) 683-5680 and of course walk-ins are always welcome.

For more information, please visit our home page at www.inflictinginktattoo.com.

Permanent Cosmetic Tattoos Making Their Mark in the Tattoo Industry

By its technical name, 'intradermal pigmentation,' is something that can be treated by any plastic surgeon with skill. However, any competent, sterile tattoo facility can still yield similar results for a fraction of the cost.

Permanent cosmetic tattooing, at its inception, seemed primarily a means to offer a permanent cosmetically enhanced appearance for women who wished to have their eye-liner and eyebrows permanently tinted or lined.

The practice has come full circle now however, and is being applied in situations involving much more serious skin and scarring issues. Women who have been the victims of domestic violence can use permanent cosmetics to cover scars and enhance their appearance.

Of course, the practice is still viable and useful as a means to cover tattoos that are no longer wanted, although permanent tattoo removal cannot be achieved with the process, covering or lightening the appearance of a tattoo is readily achieved.

Although, tattoo removal, cover-up tattoos, and cosmetic tattoos can be obtained readily at most of the best tattoo studios, there are few professional permanent cosmetic tattoo artists in the United States at this time.

If you would like a consultation for a cover-up tattoo, or for the application of permanent cosmetics in RI, contact Inflicting Ink Tattoo Studio for an appointment, or simply walk-in at any time during normal business hours and speak to one of their licensed, qualified tattoo artists.

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Inflicting Ink is a Rhode Island Tattoo Studio that embodies quality, consistency and pride, and offers a sterile, safe, comfortable, artistic environment to its customers.  Nominated multiple times for the Best Tattoo Parlor in Rhode Island and Best Tattoo Artist in RI.

You may contact them for an appointment for a tattoo at (401) 683-5680 and of course walk-ins are always welcome.

For more information, please visit our home page at www.inflictinginktattoo.com.

Gaming Tattoos for Custom Tattoo Enthusiasts

In the realm of custom tattoos, Rich Criado stands out for his custom sleeves and leg gaming tattoos. As with most tattoo enthusiasts, Rich is profoundly attached to the stories behind the tattoos, and remembers where he was and what what going on his his life for each game represented by his extensive tattoo work.

The full story and pics, from the ars technica website, follows below.

The images and stories behind the most epic game tattoos on one man

By Ben Kuchera

How many tattoos dedicated to video games does one man need? The answer is simple: all of them. We wrote about Rich Criado when he finished a series of tattoos on his leg dedicated to gaming, and now he has finished his second sleeve filled with video game characters, iconography, logos, and vehicles.

Criado was nice enough to talk to us about his tattoos and share some great pictures of the work. I can tell you that while the tattoos look great in these images, they're even more amazing in person. Finding people with one or two gaming tattoos is getting easier, but in terms of style, amount of ink, and overall design, Rich Criado may have a claim to the best gaming tattoos on the planet.

"The primary difference between this new sleeve and the leg sleeve was how it came together. The main characters were decided early but the exact implementation was not," he told Ars."In addition, several small parts of the tattoo were added later on when we saw how much space was left and what we could fit." Some of the elements include Mario, Vault Boy, Portal, and the Normandy from the Mass Effect series. You'll also find the Assassin's Creed logo, Ms. Pac-Man, and a red mushroom... among others. It's worth checking out his gallery of images to try to catch all the games, references, and images included in the piece.

The tattoo was completed across seven sessions, totaling 52 hours. Work began in April and was finished in November of this year. "I want to give props to my artist,... Hoffa from Ascension Custom Dermagraphics in Orlando, FL," Criado said. He researched shops and artists for a number of months, and finally chose someone based on past experience and an impressive portfolio. "My artist also added his own custom interpretations of a few of the tattoos, such as the large green planet above Vault Boy, which reflects light onto the bottom of the Normandy or the multicolored glow effect on the Assassin's Creed logo. The background colors, planets, and galaxies were all stuff my artist did to suit his artistic style."


So which one came out the best? "My favorite part of this new sleeve is the Duck Hunt dog and duck," Criado said. "My artist told me enjoyed doing it as well due to the challenging nature of the design. The line work and color just for the Duck Hunt piece took 8 hours." One humble suggestion? It would have been better if the dog had his head blown off. Stupid laughing mutt...
Why would anyone do this?


It's a good question, and I've had a number of conversations with Criado looking for some insight. He's a professional man, and when we met he was wearing standard business clothes, with no ink visible. He had to roll up his sleeve and pull up his pant leg to show my son his tattoos. The short answer is that this is a man who loves games, enjoys tattoos, and doesn't see any downside to the work being done.

It goes slightly deeper than that, though. He can explain why he picked each character, why each game was important and where and when he was when he played that particular game. He remembers the years, the context, and the people he was close to at the time. As he takes you through his sleeves and describes the art, the characters, and the stories behind them, it becomes something of an autobiography, the story of a person told through the lens of his gaming. The best tattoos are intensely personal, and Criado's are certainly that.

We tip our hats to someone with such passion and dedication to the hobby.

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Inflicting Ink is a Rhode Island Tattoo Studio that embodies quality, consistency and pride, and offers a sterile, safe, comfortable, artistic environment to its customers.  Nominated multiple times for the Best Tattoo Parlor in Rhode Island and Best Tattoo Artist in RI.

You may contact them for an appointment for a tattoo at (401) 683-5680 and of course walk-ins are always welcome.

For more information, please visit our home page at www.inflictinginktattoo.com.

Can I Get Tattooed and Pierced at the Same Time?

You can, but why would you want to? Unless you are in a particular hurry, and have the time to devote to focusing on your healing process, you may want to choose one before the other. Other than the fact that some artists will refuse to do both at the same time, here are some other reasons why getting one before the other is preferable.

Tattoos and piercings require attention to avoid infection.

Body Piercings require an extra amount of attention to heal properly, and depending upon where the piercing is, infection chances could be substantially increased. For instance, nipple piercings are more likely to become infected than piercings anywhere else on the body, including intimate piercings. The reason for this is that the piercing has a direct communication with the ducts in he breast through the nipple. This communication becomes confused, and can cause an abscess in the breast tissue that require medical attention. If you have a nipple piercing and have any signs of infection, even minor ones, make sure you seek medical attention immediately.

Tattoos and Piercings are painful to get, and can be painful to heal.

Although most tattoo enthusiasts are fairly immune to the pain of tattoos, certainly combinations of tattoos and piercings can produce more pain than just a standard tattoo alone. And if you are planning to place your tattoo in the same vicinity of your piercing, you're just inviting trouble. The extra inflammation will increase your chances of infection, and the resulting pain will mean a longer heal time overall.

Cost.

Of course you realize when getting a tattoo to begin with that it will cost a little money. If you're planning to go the bargain route at all, think again, as using a less than reputable shop, or worse a cheaper unlicensed artist, can net you some pretty serious skin diseases, and not just the kind that leave a scar, we're talking the really nasty type that can prove fatal. Spend the extra money for a reputable licensed tattoo artist in a quality sterile tattoo studio, just do one at a time to avoid breaking the bank for both the tattoo and piercing all at once.

And the one reason why getting them together seems like a better idea to most people, though really not a great reason anyway, is saving time. Realistically, since you're looking at a longer heal time for the piercing overall, you'll balance out getting your tattoo and piercing separately time-wise in the long run, and your body will thank you for treating it kindly as well.

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Inflicting Ink is a Rhode Island Tattoo Studio that embodies quality, consistency and pride, and offers a sterile, safe, comfortable, artistic environment to its customers.  Nominated multiple times for the Best Tattoo Parlor in Rhode Island and Best Tattoo Artist in RI.

You may contact them for an appointment for a tattoo at (401) 683-5680 and of course walk-ins are always welcome.

For more information, please visit our home page at www.inflictinginktattoo.com.

Laser Tattoo Removal Gets Easier and Less Expensive

Tattoo removal is an area where most tattoo enthusiasts can agree, the scales are unbalanced between how long it takes to get a tattoo and how long it takes to have one removed. Combined with the cost of tattoo removal, which can often be more than 5 times the cost of the tattoo, depending upon the colors involved and the size of the tattoo, it is easy to understand why only 6 percent of the 25% of enthusiasts who would like their tattoo removed can afford to do so. Additionally, it can be extremely painful as there are treatments to first lighten the tattoo, and then treatments to actually get rid of the scar tissue resulting from the removal itself.

A new procedure however may make tattoo removal a lot faster, less painful, and much more affordable for those who have tattoo regret in the future. The company is called Quanta, and their laser tattoo removal machine removes the tattoo and covers the scar tissue at the same time, thereby cutting the number of treatments necessary for an average size tattoo by almost one-third of the time compared to the old way.

An article discussing the old way of doing things follows below. Watch for the new Quanta laser tattoo removal system soon.

Many tattoo regrets, but not much money

ONE-QUARTER OF PEOPLE WITH TATTOOS REGRET HAVING THE ART BUT MANY CAN’T AFFORD THE COST OF REMOVAL

By Cornelius Frolik
December 9, 2010

The permanent tattoo on David Hudson’s ring finger only provided him with temporary pleasure.

Last fall, about four or five years after he paid a Dayton tattoo artist $80 dollars to etch the name of his bride-to-be into the area above his knuckle, Hudson began to view the tattoo more as an unsightly ink stain than an expression of his love. His feelings about the tattoo changed after he and his wife divorced.

“I got it as kind of an engagement ring, but things didn’t work out,” said the 48-year-old Kettering resident. “But I got it for the right reasons.”

Except in rare cases, tattoos are supposed to be permanent.

Part of their appeal is their perceived irreversibility, said Dr. Gary Palmer, a dermatologist in Centerville who performs tattoo-removal surgery.

But feelings about body art often change over time. The designs and words that originally mean so much to people when they get the tattoos later on become unwanted reminders of a former partner, time in their life or state of mind they would like to forget, Palmer said.

“A lot of times, people want them off because they’ve changed,” Palmer said.

About 36 percent of Americans between ages 18 to 25, and 40 percent of people 26 to 40, have tattoos, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

It is estimated that about 45 million to 50 million people in the United States have tattoos.

Of those people, about a quarter have regrets about their tattoos, according to a 2006 Northwestern University survey published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Despite those regrets, only a small portion of people — about 6 percent — seek treatment to remove their body art.

Part of the problem is that the ink is much harder to get rid of than put on.

Hudson is paying a local dermatologist $100 per treatment to use a special laser to erase his ex-wife’s name on his finger.

Hudson has already received half a dozen treatments since January, but he will likely need another two or more.

In the end, Hudson will have spent almost eight or nine times as much removing the tattoo as it cost him to get it etched on.

The time commitment is also lopsided: It took 15 minutes to get the tat, but it is taking the better part of a year to get rid of it.

Six to eight treatments are often required to remove tattoos that contain black ink. Tattoos with multiple colors can take 10 to 15 treatments.

More than a dozen people contacted for this article said they wanted to have a tattoo removed, but they could not afford the procedure.

The majority of respondents said their unwanted tattoos are names of ex-partners or are located in visible places that embarrassed them when out in public or in the work force.

Some companies refuse to hire people with visible tattoos, and human resources consultants warn against displaying them on job interviews and in the workplace.

A Dayton man said he was worried the three tattoos on his forearms would hurt his chances of getting into a police academy. A local college instructor said the tattoos he got in the military are not “so cool” in the academic setting.

When young people grow up, they often grow out of their former enjoyments.

Dawn Verburg said the tattoos she got when she was a teenager — a butterfly beneath the belly button and sun and moon on her lower back — are sources of embarrassment, now that she is a 33-year-old mother of two young children.

“They were what was pretty to me at the time — I went through a catalog and picked them out,” Verburg said.

For a while, Verburg said the butterfly was cute and fun to display. But she was less pleased with the sun and moon design, because it was larger than she expected and painful to get.

Real regret, however, dawned soon after she became pregnant at 23.

The ink embarrassed her when visiting the doctor’s office for tests, and thinking as a mother, she did not want to set a poor example for her kids.

“I do not want my kids growing up thinking that since I have them, it’s OK they have them too,” Verburg said.

Verburg plans on having them removed, but she said it would have been far easier if she never got them to begin with. She said if she acted less impulsively, she would have no butterfly, planet or star to worry about her children or others seeing.

Palmer said only a tiny fraction of his dermatologist practice is devoted to tattoo removal. He only treats a few patients each day.

He said tattoo removal procedures would be more popular if the cost was not prohibitive.

“I think a lot of people would have it off if it was inexpensive,” Palmer said. “We charge $75 an inch, so a small tattoo may cost $75 per treatment, but a large tattoo could cost $500 per treatment.”

There are inks that are easier to remove with lasers, but they cost more to get. Most people do not want to spend more on their tattoos and assume they will love their body art forever.

In his job, Palmer encounters tons of people whose love of their tattoos have faded, like many of the tattoos themselves.

He urges people to really do some soul searching before getting a tattoo.

“You get a tattoo because you are trying to tell (others) something — you get a tattoo on your arm because you were in the service, or you get a tattoo in honor of somebody or you did it on a fluke,” Palmer said. “It ends up causing you to talk about it. ... Some people do not want to talk about it anymore. They just want it gone.”
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Inflicting Ink is a Rhode Island Tattoo Studio that embodies quality, consistency and pride, and offers a sterile, safe, comfortable, artistic environment to its customers.  Nominated multiple times for the Best Tattoo Parlor in Rhode Island and Best Tattoo Artist in RI.

You may contact them for an appointment for a tattoo at (401) 683-5680 and of course walk-ins are always welcome.

For more information, please visit our home page at www.inflictinginktattoo.com.

Tribal Tattoos Have a History of Their Own

Tattoos were initially a form of decoration for enhancement or ritual, or to convey a story or history; quite similar to their current form and use of today.

However, tribal tattoos in particular have a unique cultural history, and span the globe in terms of variations on design and tribal symbolism.

The oldest of these ancient forms of art were discovered on a Bronze Age man who had been frozen solid and perfectly preserved in a block of ice. His body was adorned with nearly 60 highly detailed and formed tattoos of creatures from myth and legend.

Tribal tattoos have been used in the past as a way to identify tribal communities, land usage, religious beliefs, decoration, and as a tool for the conveyance of tribe history through generations.

Unlike the technology enjoyed by today's tattoo artists, ancient tattooing was done using little more than a needle, a stick, and something for ink. The process was slow, and the artist needed to be skilled in the play of the muscles and contours of the body to give the proper effect to the black and skin contrasting tattoo design.

Some of the most common and widely known tribal designs come from the ancient Celtic tribes, Haida Indian tribes, Maori tribes, Marquesan tribes, and the Tribes of Borneo. Celtic inspired tribal tattoos portray stylized birds, spirals, dogs, humans and knotwork connecting designs. Among the Indian tribes, the tattoos are representative of the animals they often hunt, such as beavers, fish, bears and others.

Both the Maori and Borneo tribal tattoos cover various parts of the body almost entirely, including the face, arms and legs. The Maori use their tattoo designs to convey their strength, as well as providing a way to identify family members and loved ones even in death. The tattoos were deeply personal to the wearer, and no tattoo was ever duplicated. Similarly, the tribes of Borneo use their tattoos to convey stories of their tribes, as well as their beliefs, values and morals to future generations. Each member's tattoo is unique to their own life story and is portrayed through an animal that is special for them alone.

Finally the Polynesian Island Tribal tattoos were created as a form of communication among tribe members. The tattoos would depict an individuals place within the tribe, as well as their personality. This would enable tribe members to recognize and identify a person's tribal place and characteristics simply by the observation of their tattoos.

Tribal tattoos come in all shapes and sizes, and are still one of the most unique ways to obtain a custom tattoo experience.

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Inflicting Ink is a Rhode Island Tattoo Studio that embodies quality, consistency and pride, and offers a sterile, safe, comfortable, artistic environment to its customers.  Nominated multiple times for the Best Tattoo Parlor in Rhode Island and Best Tattoo Artist in RI.

You may contact them for an appointment for a tattoo at (401) 683-5680 and of course walk-ins are always welcome.

For more information, please visit our home page at www.inflictinginktattoo.com.