The history of tattoos is as old as the history of man. Not long after they were walking upright people were decorating their skin using charcoal dust and sharpened animal bones, thorns from bushes and trees, sharpened sticks and stone tips. Not long after they began tattooing, they began thinking of tattoo removal. As humanity spread around the globe so did the practice of tattooing. Tattoos represented status, tribal affiliation, decoration and sometimes even punishment. Ancient Japan was the home of some of the greatest practitioners of that art. Many of Japans ancient heroes had their entire body covered with tattoos and some of those designs live on today although the most frequent practitioners of that ancient art today are organized crime members.
Tattooing slowly made its way to Europe, becoming popular following the exploits of Captain James Cook and his men. Intrigued, some of the crew under went tattooing after seeing the beautiful body art on the Polynesian men. It was a way for a lonely sailor to catch the eye of a Polynesian woman. When they moved on and eventually returned to Europe the sight of a tattooed sailor eventually led to the rise of tattoos in the popular culture of Europe in the 1700's. Today the popularity of tattoos has emerged as never before and over 25 million Americans have at least one tattoo.
The ancients of Japan and the South Pacific used handheld bamboo shoots and needles to puncture the skin for the pigment to be inserted under the skin. Today, modern tattoo machines offer the precision necessary for the perfect tattoo. The ink is deposited at the perfect depth creating, in most cases, a perfect example of the art as practiced today. For those experiencing tattoo regret, the difficulty of tattoo removal presents a real challenge. Combine the precision of a modern tattoo machine with modern pigments and it requires the most sophisticated techniques, such as Laser Surgery or Trichloroacetic Acid to remove a tattoo.
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