When Darla Coffin of Mims was in her 20’s, she went to a tattoo shop and had a small image inked just above her left breast bone.

Over the years, the color saturated and the tattoo changed form, becoming less and less recognizable.

So, she decided to ask another tattoo artist to cover it with a small, discreet flower garden, believing the move would allow her to keep the small size of the original tattoo and incorporate some new color into the existing “blob” as she called it.

“Because I couldn’t see what was happening, the situation kind of got away from me,” she said, noting the cover-up tattoo dwarfed the original size “and was as big as a baseball.”

Coffin lived with the larger tattoo for more than a few years. And then one day, she decided enough was enough.

“I couldn’t wear low-cut blouses or the dress I wanted to my daughter’s wedding. I was so frustrated and I was always covering it,” she said.

She sought the help of Peter Balsam, M.D., who owns and operates Laser Dermal Clinic in Titusville, Brevard’s only laser tattoo removal service.

He explained the tattoo aging process this way: “Tattoo pigments are deposited in the deeper layers of skin where they remain almost permanently.
“The body’s immune system…gradually ‘eats’ away at the pigment particles, which is why the older a tattoo becomes, the more frayed around the edges it becomes.”

Which is exactly what Coffin was experiencing when she first visited Balsam.

After completing research into the laser removal process, she said she knew it would be costly. What she says she didn’t expect was the discomfort or time commitment.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely thrilled at the service and the results and I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s been a long road,” she said.

For Coffin, the removal process has taken about 11 months, so far, with more to come.

The work is exacting. “Laser light fragments the colored particles [of the tattoo] into the equivalent of fine dust and because of the heat it also exposes those fine particles to the immune system which can now ‘eat’ the particles and remove them,” said Balsam.

Further, a single color (black, dark blue or other dark color) will take at least six treatments to fade. Since treatments must be spaced apart every six weeks, it could take a year before results begin to be realized.

Coffin said the single black color used to outline her tattoo is gone – that the lighter colors, which now resemble a large bruise, are all that’s left to remove.

She hopes others will learn from her travails.

“I can say this after my experience: ‘Make sure if you’re going to get a tattoo, that you’re selective about where and how big you make it. The removal process is not an easy one so people should think carefully about what they’re doing to their bodies.’”

Information compiled with assistance from Peter Balsam, M.D., who owns and operates Laser Dermal Clinic in Titusville. For more information visit online at www.laserdermalclinic.net or call (321) 264-2998.