Tattoo removal is frequently part of greater personal development; physical changes often accompany internal personal growth. We have seen clients take ownership of their personal developmental goals, and we’re excited to showcase a few personal stories, starting with Farrah Flawless.
From struggling with gender dysphoria in her childhood, to transitioning into the woman she wants to be, we have had the privilege of helping Farrah Flawless reflect on how she feels and what part tattoo removal is playing in her self actualization.
Gender identity is someone’s internal sense of self. Male, female, or another gender, the «transgender umbrella» spans all gender-nonconforming individuals, from binary, non-binary, genderqueer, or agender. Those who do not identify as the sex they were assigned to at birth, fall within the scope of transgender individuals.
Farrah Flawless has many body modifications; her eyes are injected with ink, her face is heavily tattooed, her nose pierced and gauged. Farrah is an all-around body mod badass. As she likes to put it, «If you can think of a body modification, I’ve probably had it done, honestly.» Farrah found a home in the tattoo and body mod community; as a piercer and body mod artist, she explored many different forms of expression and helped others to do so as well. She added to her tattoo collection and continued to modify over the years, and she eventually tattooed the entire middle portion of her face solid black.
«When I first was getting the heavier black in the middle of my face, that was definitely when I was headed down a darker path. I have a lot of gender dysphoria and facial dysmorphia. It was sort of my way of wearing a mask.»
Contextually, wearing a mask during Covid can create a similar feeling. By covering one’s face the ambiguity allows for an alternative outlook or a feeling of freedom. According to freelance journalist Asmae Fahmy, in an article with Very Well Health, people with body dysmorphia may be feeling similarly, not just folks with gender dysphoria. «Patients with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) related to their faces are finding that face masks ease their symptoms. By neutralizing their environments, face masks allow BDD patients to abandon compulsive coping habits»
Body dysmorphia is a mental health condition in which those affected focus significant time and attention towards perceived flaws in their physical appearance. This condition can cause those affected to avoid social situations, have perfectionist tendencies, and have a heightened sense that others are taking notice in a negative way. The most common features people focus on are face, hair, skin, breast size, muscle tone, and genitalia. According to mayo clinic research, body dysmorphic disorder typically starts in the early teenage years in both young women and men.
According to the Mayo Clinic, gender dysphoria is where someone feels as if they were meant to be a different gender than the one they were born with. This is what led Farrah to transition to a woman.
Facial dysmorphia is a condition where the sufferer often feels negatively about how their face looks. This comes from a warped perception of what they look like and frequently causes anxiety, fear, and frustration, often leading to cosmetic surgery or alterations to how the person might look.
It is thought that Michael Jackson suffered from facial dysmorphia, which led to his cosmetic surgeries.
As she likes to put it, “I almost always knew I was Farrah. It was the 80’s and 90’s in Indiana, and there weren’t a lot of resources to help me at the time.”
Transitioning helped Farrah bring to life what she struggled with for so long: becoming who she truly sees herself as. Removing her face tattoo is just another step Farrah is taking to alter her appearance.
“It’s definitely made me start falling back in love with my face again. No I’m not done yet, and there is a lot more for me to do. But the fact that it’s fading before my eyes gives me more and more confidence about that face every day. One life to live, with different faces along the way.”
Farrah is keeping the rest of her tattoos and only removing the one that covers the middle portion of her face. She started getting tattoos on her 18th birthday and thought it was exhilarating. While she has tattoos all over, she says her favorite tattoos are the tattoos on her eyes (yes, her eyes!), forehead, chest, and top of her head.
Our team is trained in removing tattoos from most parts of the body. However, with Farrah’s face tattoo removal, they opted to take a slightly different strategy. Due to some swelling on her face, our team and Farrah decided to break her treatments up into different sections. Our laser techs treat half of her face in one session, and a few weeks later, treat the other side. This helps with the healing process and comfortability.
Kendra, one of our laser techs who is treating Farrah, comments on working with Farrah:
“I absolutely love working with Farrah. She is fun to talk with, and I’ve learned so much about her tattoos and the surgeries she has gone through. I am so excited and honored to be a part of her recovery process from all of the shame she experienced growing up. I love that I can help make anyone feel better and more confident about who they are!”
Similar to transitioning, laser tattoo removal takes time, and is ultimately about showing the world who you are and becoming who you want to be. For our clients, it’s about moving on from the past, starting over, and sometimes just removing something unwanted. Our team is here to provide support, guidance, and the most effective treatment possible during your tattoo removal journey.
De Farrah «Realmente imploro a la gente que necesita ayuda que busque grupos de apoyo y médicos trans. Estar rodeado de compañeros que están pasando por lo mismo te hace saber que no estás solo y te ayuda a sentirte más a gusto en una comunidad.» Hemos recopilado una lista de recursos para ayudar a quienes estén interesados en saber más o en obtener algún tipo de apoyo.
Trans Lifeline proporciona apoyo trans entre iguales en inglés y español. Trans support proporciona microbecas, una línea directa entre iguales, apoyo a familiares y recursos para el cambio de identidad, por nombrar sólo algunos. Su misión es construir una comunidad trans próspera proporcionando apoyo y recursos.
El Proyecto Trevor es la principal organización nacional que presta servicios de intervención en crisis y prevención del suicidio a jóvenes lesbianas, gays, bisexuales, transexuales, queer y cuestionadores (LGBTQ) menores de 25 años. El Proyecto Trevor también cuenta con el Taller Life Guard de apoyo educativo para orientadores, trabajadores sociales y administradores escolares centrado en la prevención del suicidio LGBTQ.
Transbucket.com provides surgical support for the entire trans community.
Gender Spectrum offers support for teens and their parent. Their approach is to help families and institutions to provide gender-sensitive and inclusive spaces from birth to young adulthood.
Forge proporciona apoyo e información de contacto a los ancianos transexuales y a sus seres queridos, que se enfrentan a una serie de retos diferentes a los de las generaciones más jóvenes.
La Tribu es una comunidad de bienestar que ofrece terapia y grupos de apoyo entre iguales para las comunidades de adicciones, ansiedad, depresión, VIH/sida, LGBTQ, Matrimonio y Familia, TOC y Adolescentes.
El proyecto Transformaciones muestra las transformaciones más inspiradoras de Recuperación. El aspecto físico suele acompañar al crecimiento personal interno y al empoderamiento. A lo largo de 2020/2021, hemos visto cómo los clientes se hacían cargo de sus objetivos.
Si quieres mostrar tu historia de empoderamiento o conoces a alguien que lo haga, escríbenos.
Tenemos la misión de brindarle la experiencia de eliminación de tatuajes con láser más sencilla, sencilla y eficiente. Su presupuesto será totalmente personalizado para su tatuaje; el tamaño, elcolours, la tinta. No pasará mucho tiempo y después tendrás un plan para deshacerte finalmente de tu tatuaje no deseado y volver a ser tú mismo.
