Holly Bennett, a registered nurse, begins treatment to remove a star tattoo on Tricia Corley's shoulder at Mill Avenue's Dr. TATTOFF on Thursday. (Photo by Jessie Wardarski)Tattoo artists near ASU are seeking to develop a working partnership with a new tattoo removal center that opened Tuesday on Mill Avenue.
Dr. TATTOFF is the country’s first branded laser tattoo removal chain and has performed more than 170,000 procedures at its clinics in southern California, Dallas and Houston, according to the company’s website. The Mill Avenue clinic is the company’s first Arizona location and the seventh office to open since 2004.
Wes Hartman, who is training to be a physical therapist, came in to get the black ink of the Bible verse Psalms 3:7 removed from his inner right forearm because of his future career.
“It has nothing to do with my faith or disliking the tattoo,” Hartman said. “I don’t regret getting it, but I am excited about my new career, and the location on my arm looks bad for professional reasons.”
Dr. TATTOFF recommended 11 sessions at a cost of $370 per visit to fully remove Hartman’s tattoo.
The clinic gives a 10 percent discount to college students with a valid student identification card. It offers in-house payment plans, pay-as-you-go plans and a medical credit card a patient may use for payment toward treatment costs.
Most insurance companies classify tattoo removal as a cosmetic procedure and do not cover it.
A framed sign on the wall of Tattooed Planet on University Drive displays the words of Seattle tattooer E.D. Horton: “A tattoo is a lifetime mark, so have an expert do your work.”
With that statement in mind, Tattooed Planet parlor manager Joe Luck welcomes the new tattoo removal center to downtown Tempe.
Luck said it would likely help their business and customer base because many people have poor-quality tattoos.
“Nine out of 10 people coming into our shop want their old tattoos erased just so they can get another tattoo to replace it,” Luck said.
Fellow tattooer Daniel Stella said he would personally have a few of his prior “regrets” removed one day in the future, but he realizes that they are something with which he must live.
“Sure, I am full of regret for some of my earlier ink,” Stella said. “I’d rather have better tattoos than what I got when I was younger.”
Although much of their business comes from ASU students, Luck and Stella don’t hear about many students regretting their tattoos.
“Most students are rather level-headed when getting artwork done,” Stella said.
Dr. TATTOFF lead clinical nurse Emily Holmes said the dermatological clinic opened its latest location on Mill Avenue because of the heavy foot traffic and proximity to ASU. There was also a demand for the service in the Phoenix area, she said.
“We kept having people from Phoenix visiting our L.A. offices telling us how far they had come for the treatments,” Holmes said. “Phoenix is a pretty young and hip place and the type of city that would use this type of cutting-edge technology.
Holmes said she sees many “sub-par” tattoo removal jobs by other clinics.
The clinic’s staff consists of registered nurses or nurse practitioners with extensive tattoo removal training at the clinic’s Los Angeles headquarters.
Depending on the size of the tattoo and the density of the colors being removed, it may take five to 15 treatments with a mandatory seven-week recovery period between each session, Holmes said.
“Straight black inks are the easiest to remove,” she said. “Some greens, blues, yellows and reds have heavier metals in the ink, making them harder to remove.”
The new clinic hopes to reach out to surrounding tattoo parlors and students seeking to erase old ink.
Correction: An earlier version of the caption for this story misspelled Holly Bennett's last name. It has been updated to reflect that correct spelling.
Reach the reporter at rvalcho@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter at @rvalcho
