Inked and Unhappy: Tattoo Buyer’s Remorse on the Rise

The tattoo craze isn’t slowing down. According to a new Pew survey published last month, nearly one-third of Americans have tats, and 22% have more than one. Women are more likely than men to have a tattoo and the group most likely to be inked are the Millennials, aged 30–49. The global tattoo market was valued at $1.89 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow from $2 billion this year to $3.92 billion by 2030, <a href="https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/tattoo-market-104434" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">according to</a> Fortune Business Insights. The rise is due in part to the fact that people are more accepting of tattoos. Members of the army and military are inked, as are leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. And larger areas of the body are being covered, like sleeve tattoos — in which an entire arm is patterned with a unifying theme. But with increasing numbers of tattoos comes escalating side effects. There was a lot of buyer’s remorse in my dermatology clinic, as well as complications like unsightly scarring, red, unbearably itchy allergic rashes, and bacterial infections that sometimes spread throughout the body. In fact, 25% of people who get tattoos regret getting them, the Pew survey found. Ultimately, 10% of all tattoo owners end up at the other end of a laser, wanting it zapped off. Laser removal has an effectiveness rate of about 71% and often requires multiple visits. Plus it’s costly, and presents its own complications, like a 5% scar rate. <a href="https://medium.com/wise-well/inked-and-unhappy-tattoo-buyers-remorse-on-the-rise-7848dfe0b195">Click Here</a>