I wouldn’t reccommend a tattoo in her situation. Primarily because she says in her note that she doesn’t really want one. I see no reason to do that permanent of an alteration to your body that you don’t even really want.
Well, in fairness, Unregistered Bull represents the attitudes of far too many people in terms of his attitudes toward other posters on the SDMB. Regardless how unfounded and disconnected his expressions are from the genuine attitudes of a majority of SDMB posters, there is clearly a very large minority of people (perhaps even a majority in certain regions of the U.S.) who would share them.
Crudely speaking, if she’s not well paid, she’s not really blighting her work prospects by getting a tattoo (unless she’s thinking of suddenly changing to investment banking or the like). I can’t imagine her employers would care at all, since hiring dedicated, competent people for low-paying positions can be challenging in the best of circumstances. The world of work is more open than it ever has been to alternate lifestyles (if getting a tattoo can even be said to be an alternate lifestyle; I suppose it would seem so to some).
Whether things are that much different in Atlanta than elsewhere, I can’t say. But I do know that Atlanta has seen such an influx of people in recent years that I bet it’s culturally closer to New Jersey these days than to the Old South. Maybe some Atlanta doper (Askia?) can weigh in.
Wha …? Wow. That’s the rudest, most judgemental and frankly ignorant things I’ve read outside of the pit in a long time.
I saw a gal a few years back on a TV show who got a huge piece to cover her mastectomy scars. It became a very empowering thing for her (but that was the loss of boobies, not “just” a scar).
If a very reputable tattoo artist thought it could be done successfully and well, I might consider it.
For those thinking you simply can’t tattoo a scar and have it take, here’s a link to a newspaper clipping which includes a picture of a tattoo over a mascectomy scar done 15 years ago. The woman’s other breast is bare, so I’m not making it a clickable link: http:/ /tattooflash.info/TattooQuestions/09-Tattoing-over-scars/tattooing-over-scars-complete-article.jpg
Obviously, her goal was not to obscure the scar, but to decorate it. But there’s a lot of scar tissue that took ink and shading quite well.
Some scars are very tattooable, especially nowadays with newer techniques and ink. Others are not. Only a tattoo artist looking at her particular scar can tell.
ETA: Hey, EJsGirl! Great minds, and all that. Is this the same woman you saw, do you think?
No, but it’s a similar idea- the gal had a double radical, and got an intricate butterfly design over most pf her chest, IIRC. It was stunning and beautiful.
Here is an example, although not the one I’m thinking of-
Thanks for the link! Those are beautiful, and a great example of how ideas and technology advances have made it so that a scar can often become invisible under a tattoo, if that’s what you want to do with it.
Wow, thanks for posting that! I have been considering having a tattoo placed on and around a surgical scar, and it gives me a boost just to know that it can be done.
Oh, and ** jjiim** , how sweet you are to turn to the Dope in order to help your sis. It sounds like her anguish over her scar needs addressing as much as the physicality of it does. As many others have widely suggested she really needs to consult with a qualified artist and possibly a dermatologist to see if it’s feasible. I wish her the best!
I would encourage her to speak to her surgeon first. Scar tissue is quite different than standard body tissue and even after a year, the scarring may not have completely stabilized.
The tattoo she gets today may look quite different in another year. And, I second the Dopers who ask if she’s looking to match pigments or go for a decoration. I cannot imagine pigment matching will work, and the skin stretches and ages over time. A pigment match area will not look the same in a few years. ( I suppose no tattoo looks the same after a few years. )
Cartooniverse
Scars also change over time, so her scar might eventually become less prominent. This also might change her tattoo, if she does tattoo over the scar tissue.
Here’s some info from BME about tattooing over scars.
A good rule of thumb is that whenever you hear the above phrase, replace “people” with “I”.
Ignorance usually wants company, and will create it whole cloth if need be.
Actually, despite the negativity and the vehemence of responses to them, Unregistered Bull’s comments are in fact valuable to me in my reply, and I thank him for his honesty. I welcome all shades of opinion here.
I think I’m going to get her to send me a picture of the scar, since I haven’t yet seen it.
At the foundry I used to work at, there was a black guy who’d get tattoos to cover the burns he got at work. I didn’t even realize that’s why he had them until he mentioned that they were cover up. As for your sister getting a tat, I can’t think of any reason for her to not get one if she wants it.
Not american, but has she talked with a dermatologist about whether the scar will fade? I had a largish burn scar that was around for about 10 years; I could see it all through the year but others only in the summer (I’m white, it was in the inside of the arm and when I got tanned it was lighter than the skin around it). Once it had been there a couple years, people would notice it veeeeeeery rarely even in the summer.
Now… well, if I insist I can say where it was but really, probably not even a dermatologist would be able to look at that forearm and say “oh look, a scar”.
If she is getting the tattoo because she doesn’t like the scar she needs to be prepared for the possibility that she won’t be any happier with the tattoo. The scar will still be there and she will always know that. It may hide it from the general public but she will always know and be upset about/ashamed by/embarrassed of it. I say opt for removal over tattoo. If she goes with a tattoo though she needs to have researched it and found a design she can be happy with for the rest of her life and know that it will warp and change over time. Best of luck to her with such a hard decision.