By Allyson Horn
Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young has warned of serious complications from acid tattoo removal and says new laws may be needed to regulate the technique.
One of the latest removal treatments in Queensland involved using an acid-based solution, which was marketed as quicker and more effective.
However, health authorities were concerned the invasive treatment could be dangerous.
Dr Philip Bekhor, one of the country’s leading dermatologists, said the technique was called acid de-tattooing.
“It involves using a tattoo needle – instead of tattooing in pigment, they tattoo in an acid,” he said.
Tattoo removalist Natalie Hempel was the only person contacted by ABC TV’s 730 Queensland who was willing to talk about the technique on camera.
Ms Hempel is a visiting therapist registered with several councils and is licensed to penetrate the skin.
“When you’re abrading the skin and you’re going into the tattoo pigment, it flushes and helps flush that ink and brings it to the surface,” she said.
“When [the scabs] fall off, the scabs are full of the tattoo colour, and when they fall off they take all the ink with it.”
Some cases of severe burns and scarring
But this form of removal has recently come to the attention of Queensland Health.
Dr Young said she was aware there had been people who developed severe burns and scarring.
“My issue is that we have heard of some serious complications because of it,” Dr Young said.
“There have been other people who have developed infections, there’s also been risks of altering the pigmentation of the skin.
“It is concerning – I understand that the health ombudsman’s had a number of complaints.”
Lasers remain the safest option: dermatologist
Dr Bekhor used lasers for decades to de-ink people and said that remained the safest option.
“They go into a place that is promising them a rapid scar-free treatment, but it’s not,” he said.
“It leaves them with a scar outline of their tattoo, or hyper-pigmentation outline of their tattoo, and they’re allowed to get away with this misrepresentation on the internet.”
Dr Bekhor said the problem with the technique was that it damages tissue.
“[It] tends to leave some kind of scarring or marking and the potential is there for secondary infection,” he said.
“There certainly is a risk of infection and what worries me – when this happens in non-medical hands, instead of the infection being properly recognised and treated, there’s likely to be treatment delays, with risk of things like septicaemia that can happen when a skin infection isn’t managed properly.”
Unregulated industry and untrained operators
To operate a class four laser removal unit in Queensland, people needed a licence, but there was no such requirement for acid tattoo removal and there was no official level of training.
Dr Bekhor said dermatologists were warning the Queensland Government would face serious problems if rules were not put in place.
“I’m extremely concerned in the states that have no regulation and the amount of commercial interest,” he said.
“People who might have been carpenters or whatever that come into fields that are providing invasive treatments with nobody scrutinising them and more importantly, nobody recording complication rates.
“When foreign materials are being injected into the skin to create an acariasis – meaning tissue death – and then the dead skin comes off, leaving the skin unprotected against infection.
“I think it really is the time for the Government to step in.”
Laser removalist Fawne Merry said she had treated clients who had been scarred by the acid technique.
“What you generally find is the scarring is in rings, because they do this treatment in circles and they don’t treat the whole tattoo in one session so therefore you’re finding that it’s actually circles throughout the tattoo,” she said.
“It’s very hard to believe anyone could be operating this type of machine and things like that without any kind of regulatory body within Australia.
‘Making a bad name for the industry’
But Ms Hempel said bad laser could also cause scarring and it was not the technique that was the problem, but it was unlicensed and untrained operators.
Ms Hempel agreed there needed to be reform.
“They are making a bad name for the industry and if the Government doesn’t do something to start some sort of regulation, it’s probably going to get worse and there will be more scarring and more people buying these machines when they shouldn’t be,” she said.
Tattoo salon employee Celena Pelly said she was getting one of her own tattoos removed using a lactic acid-based solution because she thought it would be quicker and less painful than laser.
She has had two treatments and would need about three more.
“I just actually don’t like the colour any more, I don’t like where it is, so I’m getting it removed and I’m actually getting another one done,” she said.
“It’s not painful at all – it’s just a scratchy feeling – it’s almost relaxing.”
Dr Young said new laws might be needed, but as the industry continued to make its mark, it was hard to keep up.
“I believe it is an area that we need to look at here in Queensland and of course across the country,” she said.
“At this stage we don’t know how common it is.
“There’s no requirement for people to be licensed to perform the procedures so we’re really not sure how often it’s happening.”