Forum Discussion

Wildflower's avatar
10 years ago

Removing radiotherapy tattoos

I finally (thankfully!) finished all my treatment at the start of February, but the one thing that still bothered me was the radiotherapy tattoos. I felt a bit weird and vain thinking that I wanted to get rid of them but decided that I'd bite the bullet and contact a tattoo removal clinic to ask if they'd do it. 

It turns out getting them removed is very common because the laser clinic place not only happily said they do it, they also don't charge it. 

So I went along today and got my four tattoos zapped. All up it took about 10 minutes and most of that time was the explanation about how the whole thing worked! I still have to wait six weeks to see if all the ink disappears, but the lovely lady at the laser clinic said just to come back if I can still see ink after that time and they'll zap them again.

It's a small thing to do but it's given me such lift today to have gone and done that! Just one more thing to start putting the cancer behind me :)

5 Replies

  • Good for you Wildflower! That's great that there is a service that will remove them for free.

    I was lucky that they used a tattoo ink that can't be seen but glows under a UV light. My daughters were very impressed wondering if they could get it with a fancy picture so when they go to a nightclub it will glow under the strobe lights!!! 

    Best wishes with putting it behind you....it does get easier as time goes on...I am now 2 months out of radio and feel quite positive and happy xx

  • Brilliant.  I will do the same if radiotherapy is required.  Thanks for the great idea.

  • If it makes you feel better, why not have them removed. 

    I just wish that more women were told that they don't have to have them in the first place. I didn't want the little blue dots permanently on my body either and I asked whether I could not have them. It was fine.They instead used texta marks (protected with clear tape) and freckles etc on my body to guide the radiation process.

    I guess it must be a little more inconvenient for the radiation technicians but they honestly didn't seem to mind the little bit of extra time it took to do it that way. And yes, it's one less reminder of having had cancer. I'm very glad I avoided having those dots.

  • It's not vain ar all and so happy for you to be able to be rid of them.  Posting this info will help others too. 

  • Good for you Wildflower! That's one way of taking some of the control back. I hate the tattoos but never thought of doing that. Food for thought. Glad it has had such a positive effect on you. Karen xox