PhD student creating pain-free way to erase tattoos

A tattooed man.
(Image credit: iStock)

If that tribal tattoo that was so edgy in 1999 isn't cutting it today, you'll be happy to know it could soon be removed by using a topical cream.

Since getting his first tattoo, scientist Alec Falkenham has been fascinated by the connection between pathology and the tattooing process, and is busy concocting a topical cream that could eventually be used to erase tattoos. The PhD student at Dalhousie University in Halifax calls his method bisphosphonate liposomal tattoo removal, and says the cream penetrates the skin to kill cells with tattoo pigment while not harming the surrounding cells. "You're destroying the skin in the process of all the other techniques I've seen so far," Falkenham told The Canadian Press. "What we're trying to do is stay away from actually destroying the skin while still removing the tattoo."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.