44 Year Old with MASSIVE Regret on my Arm. - San Antonio, TX

I'm so sorry that you're going through this but know that you are not alone with us here.

I was thinking about the heat in Texas and I know some others here have used bandage wrap on healed ink when they go out and about so that their ink is hidden and people will assume maybe you had an injury or something. Thay way you could still wear short sleeves and be semi comfortable. :-) Just a suggestion.

Again I'm sorry you're feeling so bad but it sounds like you're on the right path to being happy again. Can't wait to follow your journey.

Why is the price so high for you? Others around the same size/color I've seen for 1,200-1,500. You should shop around before you commit if it could save you a thousand dollars.

I had a very similiar situation. especially about design and color and it left me feeling mortified st times . Mine was on my forearm and ive worn long sleeve shirts since. I've gone through 4 years of treatments, about 2 or 3 x per year. The blue has stuck around the longest. My yellow never faded at all. After the color leaves or fades, your skin will loose all natural pigmentation which will be left drastically white. I'm going to a spray tab place to see how that might make the color look normal. Give about 4 to 6 months in between for the most amount of the color to breakdown.

I hope it works out well for you

I know what you're going through, I trully regret my tattoo, it makes me so depressed just looking at it, I'm not longer wearing sleevesless blouses or tank tops because I don't even want anybody else to see my mistake. So I moved forward to my decision to have it remove. As you said what is done is done, the high pitch is that we are doing something about it

The tattoo is large, but please don't let it get you down. It is much better looking than a lot of tattoos I have seen and I am sure that the dermatologist will take care of you. Best of luck.

You made a mistake. We're only human. Some people accidentally crash their nice car, some people accidentally forget to pay a bill, this is just an accident and there's no need to beat yourself up. We all learned a hard lesson but we deserve to be happy too and if that means having to pay for laser removal then so be it.

You're tougher than you know and recovery from a session is pretty quick. You'll be great.

Can't wait for your first session. :-)

I have an unfinished Japanese half sleeve with colour, it's a total mess. It was supposed to be a cover up of an old tattoo but I've ended up really hating the whole thing. I'm going to us picosure and see how I go.

Hi there, everyone here really understands what you are going through and you'll get nothing but support. I myself had a large black/grey floral back piece that I actually can't bear to look at . I haven't looked at it since the day I got it, it's the only way I can get through. Like you it had given me nothing but anxiety and I'm incredibly angry with myself for the whole thing. As time passes it gets easier though , though I appreciate as mine is on my back u don't have to look at it unless I choose to. I really wish you the best of luck x

I know it is your body and your feelings, and that said, I wanted to tell you I think it is beautiful. I know it's your choice and your opinion and I totally respect that! I just wanted to assure you that to me it looks beautiful and if I saw you out walking with it I would admire it. I know though that I have a few of my own I hate so it's your body, your decision!

It's ok, it really is ok just breathe and breathe some more. For now why not just tell yourself that you are having some time to heal and investigate all your options and that you will act when you feel clearer. There is no rush and you don't have to beat yourself up about it, do nothing - have a break from the worry and trust that in your own time you will feel better . I know exactly where you are and this will pass I promise . You may always hate the tattoo and you may always want to remove it but the anxiety will lessen. If you want to rant or talk please feel free to pm me , take care x

Hi! You didnt mentioned what laser you are using but from what I saw on this forum, 1-2 sessions of picosure on the blue should easily remove maybe even up to 40-50% of ink. Really I have seen this sort of stories, and I am reading this forum since 1y. Maybe it is good to invest in pico just for the blue?

I don't know if my comment will be allowed, but you can PM and I will give you further contact info if it helps you! I take anxiety medicine and I know once you get fixated on a thought it is hard to stop obsessing about it! I have two bows, one on each wrist. They were supposed to be dainty pink and black lace. The artist added the blue all around so what would have been two inches wide on each wrist is now four inches wide. I hated them. I used apps to remove the blue on the picture and obsessed about them. Now it's been two years and I understand why he used the blue. It really does make the rest of the tattoo "pop" out. I wouldn't ever get laser removal because I have a friend who did and ended up with such scarring that when I first met her I assumed she had had heart surgery before she shared it was laser removal. She then had a tattoo placed over that to help hide the scarring.
I am honestly looking at your arm and I think the tattoo is beautiful, but I know it's your arm and your life! You can contact me and see my wrists if you want. I know this is a board to encourage laser removal, but read the stories and look at results. So many stories have worse results, but that is just my opinion!

Hey there, I just wanted to say hello and tell you that I'm so glad that you've found us -- as you can see the community is so supportive and can relate to how you're feeling right now. I know that tattoo regret is a really hard pill to swallow but eventually it does go down. 

I personally like your tattoo, I don't see it as a disaster at all -- but I get it, you must be happy with it. You mention that you don't like the placement, what else really bothers you about your tattoo, and if you could change something, other than it being completely gone, what would it be? 

When I was where you are now, the first stage of regret, anger, remorse — I completely obsessed over my tattoo, and I also photoshopped it in all kinds of ways to see how it could have or would look if I changed it, it can drive you nuts! Don't do that to yourself, I know it's incredibly difficult, almost impossible not to think about it but if you could just try to shift your perspective and see your tattoo and the situation through a different frame of mind without self-judgment. What would you tell somebody else in your shoes? Would you want your loved one to feel as awful as you do right now? I often look back, even to this day, and I recall how hard my emotional breakdown was to my family, it lasted for months and I would give anything, even keep my original tattoo, if I could go back in time and not put them through that. Especially because now I'm fine with everything, and I think, gosh, why couldn't I have just dealt with it differently? Now, please don't get me wrong — I am not insinuating that you're handling this wrong, not at all, in fact, you are reacting very normal to a difficult event in your life, I'm just trying to give you a little push in a different direction so that you can start to move forward, because it's really easy to get stuck in the negative -- as humans we are built that way. It's awesome when things are going incredibly well in our lives, and how easily we move on with our day and even forget the good things, but when something goes bad...oh boy! Those perpetual negative thoughts cycle through our mind but with  some hard work and discipline you can get them to stop — you can do this, I know that you can. You must have some good things happen in your day, you saw an old friend, something good happened at work -- just try to focus on the good things in your life, the more that you do that, the less you will think of your tattoo. You know what, this might sound tacky but it worked for me when I was going through this....I carried, I think a small stone, in my pocket and everytime I got stuck in my negative mindset I reached for it as a cue to shift my thoughts to a more positive way of thinking. Another thing that really helped me was getting out in nature, just go for a walk, even take your shoes off and just allow nature to heal you from the ground up. 

Chin up, this is going to get better...you'll see.