Wow, that's amazingly cheap. I guess the popularity of tattoos and the resulting popularity of tattoo removal has really brought the cost of laser skin treatments way down. And of course laser technology has come a long way in the last few decades.

When I was a kid in the early 80's I had a portwine birthmark on my face removed. It cost something like six grand (about $14,500 in today's dollars) and it was done in a hospital by a plastic surgeon. There weren't many facilities in the country that had the equipment and there were few surgeons trained in its use. I wouldn't be surprised of most well equipped tattoo parlors offer it, these days.

I dunno about finding medical grade lasers in tattoo parlors, they cost several hundred grand and that's before you factor in scheduled servicing. But the price has gone down drastically. $800 is still on the low end for getting one removed, which is why I suspect this may be sponsoring a really wild weekend.

Then again, there is the depressing possibility that the tattooee is innumerate. She seems to exhibit the smooth philtrum and thin upper lip of a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome victim.

You're right about not being in tattoo parlors. I just did some research, and they are still primarily used by certified dermatologists and surgeons. The cost has come way down, though, at $200-$500/session. This may be where she got the idea it could be done for $800. WIth such a large and prominent design, I suspect it will take several sessions to eliminate that trainwreck on her forehead.

My port wine stain only took two sessions, but it's a different kind of issue. For those, you are just cauterizing overabundant surface capillaries and you only need one type of laser, tuned to the absorption spectrum of hemoglobin. With tattoos, you may need a different laser for every color, and possibly even for every shade of a color, depending on what materials are used for the pigments. Those pigments need to be broken down enough for the body to eliminate them. With port wine stains, there's no foreign material to be eliminated, just some relatively minor burn healing.

From what I've just read, some pigments do not react well to the laser, and will actually permanently darken. In those cases, the other options are abrasion and excision. Ugh.

I had a gf that had that. She was (and still is) Asian and her stain looked more like a bruise- kind of a faint grey with just a hint of purple. She got a couple oases with a laser but it didn't do much. You know why people get those? Do they grow? I figure you might know.

Well I'm a fair skinned ginger, so it was pretty obvious on me. Yes, there is a slim chance that they can grow, but it's unlikely and it's not cancerous. Not grow in area so much as in density, which can lead to bleeding if the capillaries grow right up to the surface. Mine did that, in fact, at one point when I was eight or nine. Essentially, it was like a small pimple in the middle of the rest of the birth mark that wouldn't stop bleeding. Just one little spot, but it needed to be removed surgically. I got the laser treatment several years later. Supposedly growth/bleeding is even less likely to happen once you pass puberty and your growth hormones calm down a bit.

As I understand it, port wine stains are caused by a minor error in the chemical signal gradient in the skin that controls the growth density of capillaries. The point in fetal development when it occurs determines the size; the earlier in development, the larger the mark, as those early cells ultimately divide and cover more surface area.

Neat. I had something like that on my back that looked like a mole but was blood vessels or something. I got it taken out due to a slight history of cancer in my family. (One related to a leather tanning factory in Wolburn MA that leaked chemicals into the ground water; another due to finding out an apartment window was open during 9-11 and subsequent months). I have two symmetrical fatty lipomas on my back but otherwise seem to have a fairly clean bill of health (knock on wood) but these things always interest me. Thanks!

Perhaps there is hope for this guy too...

http://images.politico.com/global/2012/12/21/121221_romney_tat_605.jpg

I kind of feel like if someone tattoos your logo on their face you owe them something- even if it's just laser surgery; makeup; or a job as a brute. Something. Ideally mental evaluation and/or services.

"you just hating because there are people whom care about people like me..so step back please. "

Ensign, please cycle the airlock.

Do we really need to mock the disabled?

It's only because I love you, foobie ;)

What a fucking idiot. There is no fucking way I would give money to this stupid bitch. Get a fucking job(if you can pass a piss test) and pay for your fucking mistake yourself.