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Think Before You Ink
How to Make Body Art Safe and Reversible
by April Thompson F WHITE
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ew things in life are more permanent than a tattoo. Yet those most likely to change their life course—in careers, relationships or fashion styles—are also most inclined to get inked. Nearly 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 have at least one tattoo, according to a Pew Research Center poll. “If you change your hairstyle or
your look often, you probably aren’t a good candidate for a tattoo, because of the limited fl exibility to change that decision,” says Dr. Gregory Hall, a primary care physician in Cleveland, Ohio. Hall created the website
ShouldITattoo.com to help inform others after seeing so many patients that regretted the tattoos of their youth. Hall has also authored Teens, Tattoos, & Piercings to try to reach school-aged kids before they even consider body art.
Career Concerns The Millennial generation, which is getting inked in record numbers, is also the leading demographic for ink removal. More than half the tattoos removed by medical professionals in 2013 were for people between 19 and 34 years old. Removal often costs many times more than being tattooed, sometimes requiring a dozen or more sessions over several months. Beyond the likelihood of changing
one’s mind about a tattoo, Hall cites employment, discrimination and health concerns in urging teens to decline
24 Central Florida natural awakenings
getting inked or pierced. Employers have the legal right to reject a job candidate because of a tattoo—a challenging fact of life for young people to reconcile when they’re still undecided on a career path. Different branches of the military have their own restrictions on body art, which can include the tattoo’s size, placement and subject, while some companies ban tattoos and piercings altogether. The commitment of a tattoo never interested Lauren Waaland-Kreutzer, 25, of Richmond, Virginia. “I don’t know how I’m going to age and who I’ll be in fi ve years,” she says. Two days after turning 18, however, she got her nose pierced, a decision she hasn’t regretted, even though it’s affected her employment. “While I was working my way through college, I gave up slightly better paying jobs in order to keep my piercing,” she says. Her current employer, a local nonprofi t in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is piercing-friendly, but she has friends that have to cover their tattoos and piercings at work; a former classmate- turned-lawyer even had to remove a small star tattoo from her wrist. While piercings are more reversible than tattoos, they are also more prone to certain health risks. Tongue and cheek piercings can accelerate tooth decay, according to Hall, and the risk of infection can be high, especially if it impacts cartilage. “Some skin rejects piercings, and you can end up with permanent scars,” he adds.
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