Please help me find an awful tattoo

[BrainScience]

A few months ago I had an iron infusion, my vein blew that it was being pumped into and my arm got stained from the iron. Hopefully pic will attach. No one I’ve spoken to has ever heard of this happening and Google suggests the only way to get rid of it is through tattoo removal. The only problem with that being that none of the clinics near me will test it out on my arm to see if it works as I don’t have a tattoo. So I’m going to get a tattoo to get removed.

Ideally I’d like something not too ridiculously awful (although I am considering getting a dodgy portrait of my dm just to wind her up) as it will have to be on for a couple of months to heal before it can be lasers. Also nothing too obscene as I have young kids and don’t think they’d approve of me getting a spunking cock and balls or similar. It looks like black is the easiest colour to remove by lasering.

You are going to get a tattoo so you can have it removed because your arm is discoloured? A bit extreme and no guarantee to work?

Surely the only way this plan will remove the whole discoloured area is by having a big black square tattooed over the whole lot. Otherwise you'll have a kind of reverse tattoo in the middle of the discoloured area.

I think it will work. There’s lots of places in America that do it. I’ve had a tattoo removed before and there is absolutely no trace of the tattoo.

I’m just really self conscious as it looks like a nasty bruise. I have another one round my wrist and it looks like dh has been beating me up.

soup the laser place I spoke to agreed to try the whole area if I had a tattoo within the area for them to remove. They just wouldn’t do it if there was no tattoo there at all as they’re not licensed to do it in that way.

Have you been to se the GP? and got a referral to a consultant?

Just get a small star then.

Or wait to see if it fades, which some do.

Are you sure skin pigmentation laser treatments wouldn't work though?

I think it’s a very cool scar and would wear it with pride!

(But yes, what does your GP say?)

I’ve seen the GP who couldn’t make a referral as it’s cosmetic. GP had never heard of it, did a bit of a google and suggested arnica and massage. Which I’ve been trying but it’s not fading at all. It was 4 months ago now and no change. I was hoping it would be less obvious when I got a tan but it doesn’t seem to, and gets really itchy in sunlight.

Oh my god, is that what that is??!!! Sorry to hijack your thread, but I have that! I thought I was the only person in the world. Mine appeared in pregnancy and never went, it does look like a bruise. I cover mine with make up but it gets on my clothes so I tend to just leave it. How did you realise that's what it was?

Ooh, I haven’t heard of skin pigmentation lasers. Are they don’t in spas/ botox type places? That could work if it’s the same sort of laser.

thenew when I had my iron infusion the vein blew so the iron was just being pumped under the skin for a few minutes. I had a big lump of liquid in there, some came out when the needle was removed, some stayed. After it went down I had a bruise there for a couple of weeks then it faded to this. Glad to hear I’m not the only one!

What about plain black block? Nothing too dark, and ask the tattooist to have a light touch when they do it. Just get it covered to the size and lines of the staining.

Don't bother getting a design. It's a big stain by the looks of it, so it will be rather sore....

Brain I've never had an iron infusion though, but I wonder if mine is caused by the same thing (ie vein damage). Mine is all on the forearm of my left side, and in my armpit and a bit in my back. Honestly, I wouldn't get a tattoo to cover it. Would fake tan or similar help disguise it enough? I know what you mean about the bruised look though, when I had Ds I had various midwives asking me about my homelife and one outright asked me if I was safe at home because it really looked like I'd been grabbed hard on my arm.

Why not get a nice tattoo it's only one lot of pain.

My laser tattoo removal lady said that pink is a really easy colour to remove and comes out really quickly - and judging from my latest session, she's right. Maybe try something pink?

If it's only going to be there a short time, go wild! Get something that makes you laugh every time you look at it :)

getoff that’s a good plan, hopefully shouldn’t be too expensive either as not artistically challenging. I think I’ll take soup’s advice and just get a little bit done first, to make sure it actually works before I go for the whole thing.

thenew that’s really odd, it’s definitely the iron itself that caused the colour as it’s the same colour as the stuff that was in the bag. Have you spoken to your GP about it? You never get warned that it’s not just your shape that change after having a baby. My hairline, skin colour, guts, taste in food, everything changed!

GP told me it was a birthmark, which is actually what I tell people who ask, even though it isn't. I'm not entirely sure when mine arrived, it gradually built up over time, but it's been there years now without getting worse so whatever it is seems to have stopped. I did have a lot of jabs and drips while pregnant so it could be that I suppose.

It seems quite extreme. Maybe give it a year or two and see if it fades.

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A tattoo might just cause further damage to the area. I have a friend who has a tattoo in the same place and she got bruising similar to yours although smaller area. It’s been a couple of years and the bruising hasn’t faded from around her tattoo.

Why not just get a very small tasteful tattoo to test the removal technique - at least you will know if it works or not? Seems a waste and a lot to go through (and expense) if the technique removes the tattoo but not the scarring?

Oh my god same thing happened to me, I was 6months pregnant and getting iron infusion, the doctor didn’t put iv line into my vein properly so it tissued... I’m actually on my way up to meet plastic surgeons and laser team to see what can be done... mine happened 8 months ago and has not faded... I will let you know how I get on..