People urged against buying tattoo equipment online and "winging it" themselves
There is a wave of people doing DIY tats and then regretting it
Last updated 7th Nov 2024
A tattoo removal clinic says that every week people come in who have tried DIY tattoos and now wanting them removed.
They say there is big wave of 'artists' learning to tattoo from YouTube, buying the equipment and tools from online and just 'winging it' on their own without an apprenticeship or license.
Ray, clinical director at Clear Skin in Newcastle, said: "I once had a phone call from three parents within four days where the kids had bought a gun online during lockdown and tattooed obscenities on themselves. They were 13 or 14 years old. Their parents are phoning up asking if we could remove the tattoos, but we can't touch them until they're 18 years old.
"My friend's son came in, him and his mates had bought a tattoo gun online and he had his ex-girlfriend's name on his backside.
"They buy them and they just start doodling. It’s like sitting at your desk bored with a bit of paper and pen doing little doodle squiggles.
"I get people in their 20s coming in saying we did this in my friend's bedroom when we were like 14 and they’ve had these tattoos for five or six years.
"The inks could have anything in them, and then when you come into remove them, they don't respond the way you'd expect them to respond. I've seen infections, I've seen people have adverse reactions and it's coming from the inks and not the laser process.
"Tattoos are permanent. We've got one of the best lasers in the world. We can remove tattoos, but not all tattoos can be removed. It all depends on how deep you've gone. If you're not trained and you don't know what you're doing, you can put the wrong ink in. You can go too deep, or you can scar yourself. Don't do it."