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# A mulligan for the ‘sleeved’ sect With tattoos, it’s not really easy come or easy go
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/a-mulligan-for-the-sleeved-sect-with-tattoos-its-not-really-easy-come-or-easy-go-2/
- Published: 2007-09-19T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:54:22.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Health, Downtown, #archive-import

DOWNTOWN It seems the only thing more painful than getting a tattoo is getting one removed.

“It almost feels like you’re getting electrocuted,” said Abel Perez,a software architect in Marina del Rey who started receiving tattoo removal treatments last month.“It’s pretty bad.”

The demand from people looking to rid themselves of unwanted body art has increased substantially in recent years — as has the demand for people to ink them up. Thankfully, for the former, advancements have been made in tattoo removal technology, according to Scot Heckmann, the president of Laser Away, a clinic offering the procedure in Santa Monica.

The procedure — which can take years, depending on the size, region and color of the tattoo — is removed with a laser that breaks down the ink particles in the skin and actually pulls the ink to the surface. The color of the tattoo slowly begins to fade over a period of about eight weeks, at which point the client can return for another go-around.

The timetable depends most on the colors of the tattoo — black is easiest to remove, while red, blue and green take additional treatments because the colors closely resemble skin pigmentation. The lasers are “taught” to be attracted to pigment different from the skin.

Yellow has proven nearly impossible to remove. Dr. Alex Kaplan, who runs the Tattoo MD Laser Clinic in West Los Angeles, conducts a 20-second procedure using something called the “Q-Switched” laser. Rather than burning it off, the ink in the tattoo is removed by microfracturing.

It takes several rounds of treatment to fully remove the tattoo.

“It’s more of an acoustic effect,” he said. “As the ink is fractured, it’s small enough in the body and insole to carry away.”

Sometimes, it seems impossible to get rid of an unwanted tattoo.

Danielle Clark has been trying to get rid of a 12-year-old tattoo on her ankle for the past two years, visiting doctors in UCLA and New York for treatments.

Today, there are faint remnants of the flower vine tattoo, splotches of pink and green scattered on her ankle. Clark said she is planning on starting treatments at Laser Away.

Those who have undergone the process of removing tattoos attest to it being extremely painful. Lauren Alonzo, a model from Arizona who flies to Los Angeles every few months to undergo a round of treatments at Laser Away, said the procedure is 20 times more painful than actually getting the tattoo.

“It goes to such an intense level deep below your skin,” Alonzo said on Tuesday. “It’s not a surface pain like it would be for a tattoo.”

An art form known to date back at least 5,000 years, a tattoo boom began about 30 years ago when it was thought to be original and unique. The tattoos slowly started losing its originality as more and more people were seen branded with the art, Heckmann said, noting that many teenage girls once inscribed a tattoo above their rears because they felt it was cute and sexy. Today, 15 to 20 percent of women probably have a tattoo in that region of their body, he estimated.

“It kind of lost its originality,” Heckmann said. But according to Karina Mayorga, the owner of Ink Ink tattoo parlor in Venice, there has actually been more interest in tattoos, thanks to the popularity of reality shows “Miami Ink” and “LA Ink,” both of which air on TLC.

“It’s done more to promote our business than anything else,” the 16-year tattoo artist said.

Inscribing a tattoo can take from as little as three minutes to 30 hours, depending on the size, region and complexity of the art piece. Tattoos done on the lower lip, armpit and penis take the longest to complete, Mayorga said.

For those unhappy with their tattoo, Laser Away offers the removal procedure for $25 a square inch and it usually takes an average of six treatments to complete the process. The company has been around for nearly two years and has six locations in Southern California, including the Santa Monica clinic, which opened last week.

For the past two years, Alonzo has been receiving tattoo removal treatment for three tattoos — a peace sign on her lower left stomach; a Japanese symbol on her back; and a heart on her toe. Alonzo got her first tattoo when she was 14 years old, a rebellious act she shared with her then 18-year-old sister.

As an actress and model, having a tattoo can be troublesome when it comes to finding work.

“You always have to disclose to the agency what tattoos you have and where they are,” she said.“Every time I see (the tattoos), I get angry.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 19, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/091907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)