Tattoopoli will remove painful tattoos

In an earlier post attention has already been paid to tattoos. To my unanswered question what consequences this could have for the skin in the broadest sense of the word, I found an article in de Volkskrant, which I like to place on Thailandblog.

As of today, anyone with skin problems due to tattoos can visit the first tattoo clinic in the Netherlands, in the VUmc in Amsterdam. The hospital mainly expects patients with allergic reactions to the ink.

Allergic reactions to tattoo ink are rare, but as the number of people tattooed increases, so does the number of people with complaints. An estimated 1,5 million Dutch people walk around with at least one tattoo, according to government-funded research by Security NL.

Precise figures about allergic problems after tattoos are lacking, according to Sebastiaan van der Bent, dermatologist in training and, together with Professor of Dermatology Thomas Rustemeyer, initiator of the Tattoopoli. Little research has been done into this allergy. What is known: it occurs almost exclusively with red ink, or shades in which red has been mixed, and it can take months or even years before the symptoms appear.

A last resort is laser treatment, although the usual pigment laser technique is not suitable. Van der Bent: 'That doesn't remove all the ink from the skin. The substance that causes the reaction may remain. We use CO2 laser treatment, then the tattoo is scraped off.'

Volkskrant: Anouk Broersma 13 January 2017