tattoo removal scarring the nation as unregulated laser machines take aim

The removal of tattoos went wrong, leaving thousands of Australians scarred and infected with unregulated laser machines used by untrained beauticians.
The beauty Doctors Association said cleaning up the problem would cost medical insurance companies a lot of money and hurt customers for life.
Because beauticians do not have compensation insurance, their unhappy customers will not be compensated.
While doctors who remove tattoos need to receive training, insurance and use of machines approved by our drug safety regulator, beauticians do not need.
Association President Dr. Gabrielle Caswell said she will see at least one patient who has gone wrong with her amateur tattoo removal every month.
\"If you do something wrong, you set the ink, you turn it into an overheated liquid, and you get a terrible, infected substance,\" she said . \".
A beautician who removed a dolphin tattoo from his ankle developed an ulcer and needed antibiotics for 9 months, she said. More than 2.
2 million of Australians have tattoos, but the work of removing them is expensive and painful.
It has become a growing industry with many tattoo shops offering services and beauticians.
Dr Caswell said the operators used cheap, unapproved laser machines to do the job, and they were rarely properly trained.
If these powerful machines do not operate properly, they can severely burn patients, cause infection, and even hide the developing melanoma by removing the pigment that the doctor needs to recognize.
The tattoo on Rebecca Morman\'s foot was left after a year of failed removal treatment.
Source: if the laser is not properly placed, the light will escape to the street and damage the eyes of passers-by, she said.
The therapeutic supplies authority approves which laser machines doctors can use, but has no regulatory effect on the machines used by beauticians.
Patients generally do not know that machines are not regulated in the beauty industry.
\"If it was a dangerous device, the patient would say to me that it would certainly be regulated,\" she said . \".
But there are only two states.
Queensland and Western Australia
There are any provisions in the area.
Dr. Kaswell said the regulated machines cost more than $140,000, but unlicensed machines made in China and South Korea were purchased from $20,000 to the country.
Correct tattoo removal requires four different types of laser machines and up to ten sessions, she said, but many beauticians use only one machine and try to complete it in one session.
A working group of the federal government is currently investigating whether regulation is needed.
To ensure the safety of the area, the machine must be licensed, the room where the machine is located must be licensed, the operator must be trained and licensed, and they must have compensation insurance, Dr. Caswell said.
There is no ink Road, after more than $1000, there is only a small cross tattoo on her foot, but Rebecca Morman takes a year and she spent more than $1000 trying to get rid of the tattoo. The 25-year-
The old never hated her tattoo, but decided to remove it because it was still visible on some shoes and was not perfect for work.
Rebecca Moerman who removed er\'s tattoo
Source: News Ltd she initially visited a beautician in Canberra for treatment involving tattoo skin being opened so that it would bleed and with the help of a cream, form a scabs and slowly dry the ink.
Mrs. Morman will have to keep the pain dry for the next few weeks until the scabs fall off and take some ink away.
Monthly treatment is an unbearable pain, she says, but the results are barely obvious.
\"This place is not cunning at all,\" Mrs. Morman said . \".
\"I\'m just mad at myself because I went (
Come back for more treatment when it\'s not working).
\"I want to believe it works and I want to stick to it.
\"After 13 treatments, each with a cost of between $70 and $90, Mrs. Moerman withdrew from the treatment and started laser treatment, removing the tattoo almost immediately and completely.
Jeffrey Heyman of laser X tattoo removal company, who finally handled Mrs. Morman\'s ink, said it was important that people ask questions before signing up to finish the job. \"(Tattoo removal)
\"It\'s kind of like tattoos because not all tattoosers are artists, so you can never guarantee that you will get an artwork,\" says Mr Heimann . \".
\"Make sure you go to someone who specializes in tattoo removal and that\'s what they do.
They will. . .
You have a vested interest in a good result.