Question:
A young man came in to our shop yesterday. He wanted to know how much
longer he would have to wait to get a removed tattoo, tattooed over. I
don't think I've ever seen a removal quite so brutal. The skin of the
former tattoo was red and you could see little veins (like spider veins)
going thru it. The skin was slightly raised and shiny like a keloid
scar.
He told us that a year ago he bought a product out of Tattoo magazine I
think it was called "Tattoo X" But he couldn't remember if that was the
name or not. He said that the product said to use at your own risk, big
risk after looking at his arm. He said that it told him to wash his
skin, then with a toothpick to apply the product to the surface of his
skin (I guess if never occured to him how caustic it would have to be to
remove a tattoo on the inside of the skin from the outside). It told him
to repeat this once a day for 5 days. He said by day 3 he had an
infection. He ended up going to a dematoligist and going on a heavy
regime of antibiotics. The dermatoligist has been treating the scar with
hydrocortizone shots to shrink it. He told us that it's looking much
better now than it has in the past year. Scary!
After talking to him I knew that I wanted to post this story as a
warning against this method of removal. One of the few methods of
removal with any success is laser removal, from a doctor. Tattooo
artists can't remove tattoos, just cover them up with new ones.
As for how long it would be before he could tatoo over it, my boss told
him to come back in a year and we would see how the skin looked then. I
don't know if that skin will ever be tattooable again.
Answer:
-People seem to have had varying results with it, but none are what I would
consider satisfactory.
There is a similar process that actually involves tattooing a caustic
chemical into the skin.
You are quite right, it is very nasty stuff. I can not imagine using it
with a big piece and surviving. With a small piece, all the medical
options are really not that expensive and definitely more satisfactory.
-Any "Caustic" is by definition very basic (pH >8); it will dissolve the
chemical bonds that keep your flesh together. When you get lye (KOH) on
your skin it feels slippery. That is because it is dissolving the skin!
It will leave a bad chemical burn if not washed of with lots of water
immediately.
Another chemical to avoid at all costs is hydrofluoric acid (HF) this is an
acid that can dissolves glass! (It has to be kept in non-reactive plastic
bottles.)
It is clear, odorless and passes right through the flesh and attacks the
calcium in the bone, dissolving it.
That flesh then dies and turns black (very painful)!
The MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) calls this "Necrosis".
