Skin Pocketing, Piercing and Trans Dermal Implants

Dermal implants are also known as skin pocketing or anti-piercing. It is a piercing that lies on the surface of the skin. It is a regular piercing except the piercing is held in by a pocket under the skin such as tissue. This procedure was created by Ben from The House of Colors. Dermal piercings are known as implants because they have to be surgically removed. A family doctor can removed them, it doesn't take much but it's not like a normal piercing where you take it out yourself.
Most piercings you can take out the whole piercing and change it yourself where as dermal piercings, you can only change the tops of them because the stem of the piercing is not removable.
I had a dermal stud in between my chest that was a diamond stud. I know, it sounds weird or crazy but it was actually very cute. When getting it pierced the lady massaged the tissue around the area then pierced it like a real piercing except at the bottle of this piercing there were two little hooks which I call footers. She then pushes the footers deep into the tissue so that the piercing will stay. The skin tissue heals around the piercing so that it stays in place. Due to surgery last week, the surgeon had to cut the dermal out before he could preform surgery because it would've caused me to be at high risk for infection. Now I have 5 stitches where the piercing was so I will probably have a scar there. I'm not sure if the scaring is worth it but it was cute while it lasted.

Tattoo Removal

Many people want tattoo's removed for many different reasons. Some people have tattoo's of that they regret getting, look horrible, or are associated with something they are no longer attached to such as gangs, ex's names, or a sign that means something.
There are many different ways for tattoo removal and I'm sure more are in the process of being created. First would be laser removal. Laser removal is highly concentrated light that will break the ink into tiny pieces, which  clear away by your own immune system. The laser isn't a one time treatment. The more treatment's you have, the more the tattoo will go away. By doing so many treatments it's very bad for your skin. It will cause burning, scabbing, and scaring. They say the scaring is minimal but it's a very painful treatment to go through. There is no guarantee that the tattoo will ever fully be removed. It could take 1 to 10 sessions to remove a tattoo and still after that it may not be fully gone. 1 session could cost anywhere from $250 dollars to $850 dollars a session. If you have a big bright colorful tattoo, it may take 10 sessions where as a little dull colored or black tattoo could take 2 or 3 sessions. The price also goes by how big and how colorful the tattoo is.
Another option is Intense Pulsed Light Therapy. A gel is applied to the skin and then a wand emits pulses of light to the skin. This is known to be a less painful treatment. The price of this treatment goes by how many pulses of light is used. The starting price is $ 10 dollars per pulse. So this procedure could be pretty expensive as well.
There is also do it yourself cream removal. This is obviously the most less painful option. There are many different creams that you have to keep rubbing on the tattoo. The creams are suppose to make the tattoo fade away without hurting your skin and without going through any pain. There are no proven facts that say any of the creams work yet but some say that the tattoo's have faded. The creams are much cheaper then the other options but still aren't cheap. For one bottle could cost $125 dollars but one bottle will never be enough. Some creams you will have to use for months to see a difference.
Personally, I do not think the creams will do much. It may fade your tattoo but tattoos fade in a matter of years anyways. If I had to get one removed, I would try one of the first two options. The laser would probably get the job done but then your risking scaring, hurting your skin, scabbing, and that area will probably never look normal again. The pulse therapy doesn't seem to bad but then again you have the side effects of the removal such as scaring and damaging your skin. I would just say if you think you might possibly regret a tattoo then don't get it. That's why I say you should think long and hard before getting one. Also, make sure you know your tattoo artist and have saw work done by him/her. If you get a tattoo from someone you don't know and have never saw their work, you are probably going to end up unhappy about the work they have done and either a different tattoo artist is going to have to try and fix it (which some are not able to be fixed) or your going to have to pay to try to get it removed. It's better to be safe then sorry.

http://tattoo.about.com/od/tatremoval/a/tatremoval.htm

Tattoo's vs. Gang symbols

Many years ago people only had tattoo's if it was a symbol for something. People never knew how to identify them because they didn't have the skills to do so but if you had a tattoo it meant that you had some kind of gang or criminal association. It also meant you had probably served time in prison.

Now tattoo's are very popular. There are still many people that get or have gang tattoo's. The difference is many gang related tattoo's are tribal symbols. They aren't your normal body art like flowers, butterflies, and crosses. The gang related symbol is to define a certain group they are in and to also let people know the indication of their gang or status.

It is unlikely for people to be able to identify the signs. The symbols are used for rival gangs to see and for group members to identify each other. There are still many gangs around but majority of them are in major cities or prison. A few big gangs would be Yakuza or Japanese mafia, which form little black rings around their arm and that symbolizes each crime a gang member has committed. The hispanic gang has so many different gangs that theres to many to go through but majority of them have a five pointed crown found on the upper arm or a five pointed star can be found between the finger and the thumb. Mexican gangs often go by their religious background or blood ties for their symbols. Many of them have praying hands on them which symbolizes their praying for forgiveness. Another common tattoo for the Mexican and Latin gangs is the Lady of Guadalupe. Gangster's use to have symbols to represent a gang but now so many rappers and black celebrities have gotten them tattooed on them because of where they grew up or whatever reason they had to get it so now it doesn't always identify a gang symbol.

I think that gang symbols are very over rated and not real like they use to be. I see on jail and prison shows all the time that people will get symbols tattooed on them in jail or come in with the tattoo. When someone interviews them they say they got the tattoo in prison because they had to pick a side or they come into jail with a gang symbol and it's just representing where their from but has nothing to do with actually being in a gang. Some people have no clue what gang they are truly in. People fuss abut being a blood or a crip but that hasn't been around in years except in major cities.

http://www.freetattoodesigns.org/gang-tattoos.html

Tattooing and Body Piercing: Body Art Practices Among College Students

   Tattoo's and piercings are becoming more popular in the United States as well as other Countries. A study was done with 766 tattooed or pierced college students within 18 universities around the United States and one was conducted in Australia. They wanted to know the characteristics, motivational factors, and health concerns. The traditional age of getting tattooed is during their college days; ages ranging from 18 to 22 years.
   More health problems seemed to arise from more people with piercings then tattoo's. There was three cases reported of hepatitis from either a piercing or tattoo. They say health professionals should discuss the risks of getting tattoo's and piercings with their students and help with their decision making.
    Tattoo's and Piercings use to be known as "body art" and has been around for thousands of years. It has been practiced in almost every culture through out the world. Now days both genders are almost equally representing body art. It's now common for adults and adolescents from a wide range of jobs, occupations, and groups. Between 7 million and 20 million adults are tattooed and theres an even bigger percentage of adolescents being tattooed between the ages of 15 to 25. Which raises the percent up by 25%.
    Tattoo and piercings are quite popular. It is hard to come across someone who doesn't have one or the other. What people fail to realize though especially people getting tattooed at a young age, they never go away. Therefore, everyone should always think very hard about what their going to put on their body. Piercings can be taken out but the hole may never go away.

http://community.tribalectic.com/articles/tattooing-and-body-piercing-body-art-practices-among-college-students