Let’s say you are living in the moment, feeling giddy — a little tipsy, maybe — and you decide to go for it. You decide to get that tattoo.
Dr. Suzanne Kilmer has a warning for you: Think twice before acting. Not only do you face five times the risk of contracting hepatitis C, chances are you’ll change your mind about whether you like your tattoo before you reach middle age.
Kilmer, 55, a clinical professor at University of California, Davis, has seen tattoo-regret galore.
“Most people come in and say, ‘It was something I did while I was young, and I’ve outgrown it,’ “ Kilmer said.
The founder of the Laser & Skin Surgery Center of Northern California, she’s removed upward of 20,000 of the inky images.
That’s no small accomplishment, and Kilmer is no ordinary dermatologist. She’s a world-renowned, pre-eminent expert in the field of laser tattoo removal and laser skin care.
To this day, Harvard University mentors who first worked with Kilmer as a fellow in the 1990s describe her as a pioneer in tattoo removal — and a force who has helped chart the future of the field.
“She actually had a hand in the very early development of lasers for tattoo removal,” said Dr. R. Rox Anderson, professor of dermatology at Harvard.
Kilmer also is known for creating a world-class laser center that does groundbreaking research for U.S. Food and Drug Administration clinical trials and as the only woman to have headed the American Society for Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.
But in the realm of tattoo removal, Kilmer’s work has opened up possibilities for better and faster results — key in a nation filled with people obsessed with etching on their outermost organ.
Removal is difficult, lengthy and painful. Think hot bacon grease spattered on the skin. Think the sting of a stretched rubber band smacking you from up close. Imagine paying $150 to $1,000 for the multiple appointments to obliterate a tattoo.
People “have no idea how hard it is to get it off,” Kilmer said of tattoo dye.
