With A Tattoo Engagement Ring, There’s a 50 Percent Chance You Will Have To Remove It
According to recently published data by social media giant Facebook, Valentine’s Day is one of the top days for couples to get engaged— and with the median age of engagement resting at a youthful 24, it’s no surprise that many couples are looking for an affordable and off-the-beaten path to engagement rings. Even gilded celebs like Kristen Bell and Beyonce have latched on to the tattooed ring finger trend. All may seem well and good at the outset of a relationship, but obviously not all marriages are bound for eternal success — what happens then?
“Despite how certain people are that their marriage will last, divorce happens,” explains Randy Kessler, Atlanta family lawyer at KS Family Law. “Generally the divorce rate has hovered around fifty percent for the last 20 years.” Those are pretty scary odds when it comes to getting your lover’s name, insignia, or something else tattooed in plain sight on your finger. It may seem like the most romantic gesture in the world to get a forever tatto, but if and when that love goes south, there are two big issues. For starters, unlike a ring that you can cash in to help pad your legal costs, you will you won’t be left with something that has monetary value. Instead, you’ll be left with a major bill to get rid of the tattoo.
Tattoos are notoriously tricky to remove completely, even with all the modern laser technology available to dermatologists. According to Jeremy A Brauer, MD, Director of Clinical Research at Laser & Skin Surgery Center of New York, about 60 percent of all American women over the age of 18 have a tattoo. “Research has shown that 20 percent of individuals with tattoos regret at least some of that body ink. The closer the skin is to the heart, the easier it is to treat for tattoo removal because the circulation is so good, but if you go to your extremities, your toes, your feet, your fingers, they take longer to treat.” Those harder to treat patients, until recently, required several expensive laser treatments drawn out over a long period of time to rid themselves of unwanted ink. A new patch called DeScribe is letting doctors give the same tattooed area several passes with a laser in one shot rather than over the course of several visits. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, the patch is said to enhance the safety of laser tattoo removal by creating a physical barrier that prevents the backsplatter of blood and tattoo ink, a pretty gross reality for the tattoo removals of yesteryear. There are also toxic chemicals found in the smoke that rises from the treated area, and the patch helps keep both the patient and doctor from inhaling that. It also works with both new and older generation lasers.
“The patch is a one time use product and should be discarded upon completion of the tattoo treatment session,” explains Brauer. “I apply the patch and then treat, and in between passes with the laser this is repeated up to three times. While on occasion I have seen near complete removal of a tattoo after one treatment session, I would not suggest that to be a realistic expectation.” He stresses that patients will still require a few treatments, but the difference between 10 treatments and 3 or 4 can add up to the cost of a real, tangible ring for many. The patch itself costs doctors about $36, and is often padded into the $200-500 treatment cost. With big city treatments averaging around $450 each, cutting down on even just a few of can save something with a no-longer-necessary tattoo ring thousands of dollars. The patch is only available to physicians right now, so don’t expect to find it at your local lasers-and-manicures storefront.
Divorce attorney Randy Kessler still thinks the tattoo ring trend is a one-way trip to the land of disappointment and regret, no matter how removable they end up becoming. “Tattoo rings are a recipe for disaster. Inevitably they will cause problems and heartache. They will also prolong the time needed for ‘closure’ since there will be a daily reminder of the failure unless and until the tattoo is removed.”
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