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Afrikaans singer Bobby van Jaarsveld had his tattoo on his arm removed. The popular singer said that he decided to have it removed because he grew bored with it, and felt that he was not setting a good example for the youth. His tattoo comprised a design using Christian symbols.
Bobby reportedly tweeted his way through the procedure, at one stage writing:
"Gaan nou my Tattoo try remove....sal nou i foto stuur...spyt kom altyd te laat...spesiaal met ink op jou lyf" (Going to try to remove my tattoo…will send a photo now…regret always comes too late…specially with ink on your body).
He also tweeted a photo of his arm (see below), saying: "Die tattoo is amper af, dis nogal seer...kyk hierna." (The tattoo is almost gone, it's kind of painful...look at this.)
He has another, much larger, tattoo on his back which will be removed at a later stage.
How tattoos are removed
According to Bobby, a substance which "absorbs the ink and hides the tattoo" was injected into the affected areas. Unwanted tattoos are usually removed in one of three ways: laser surgery, dermabrasion or surgical excision.
With laser surgery, the surgeon will zap your tattoo with a high-intensity laser beam. Lasers lighten tattoos - some more effectively than others. Depending on the tattoo's size and colour complexity, you'll probably need multiple treatments.
Dermabrasion involves "sanding" your skin to remove the tattoo's surface and middle layers. You may be left with a scar.
With the third method - surgical excision - the surgeon will use a scalpel to cut out the tattoo and then sew up the wound.
Because all three techniques entail some degree of pain, a local anaesthetic is administered for each procedure.
Read more:
The risks of getting a tattoo
Tattoo trends
Think twice about the tattoo
