


“They need a note from their radiation oncologist stating that the marks can be removed,” Bernstein said. Patients who wish to utilize the service need to get permission from the doctor who administered the radiation and accompanying mark. The website for the initiative includes a patient-facing physician locator that provides the names of the closest participating physician.
#INDIA INK TATTOO FOR RADIATION TREATMENTS FREE#
Today, the New Beginnings: Radiation Mark Removal Program utilizes the free services of more than 150 board-certified ASLMS members. “I think within a year of mentioning it to Jeff, the program was introduced.” “They got it moving very quickly,” he said. Dover, MD, and Dover and the Society wasted no time in implementing the program on a national level. “It occurred to me that a service like this should have wider reach, beyond the local area.”īernstein suggested the idea to (then-president) Jeffrey S. “I had gotten more involved in the ASLMS, and I mentioned it at one of our meetings,” he said.
#INDIA INK TATTOO FOR RADIATION TREATMENTS PRO#
In fact, it was so easy to do that Bernstein seamlessly incorporated this pro bono work into his practice with barely a second thought, until about 2 or 3 years ago. They kind of turn white when you treat them, and then they disappear over 3 or 4 weeks.” “They’re done in India ink, and it usually takes one or two treatments to take them out. “Removing these marks is really easy,” he said. So when I started my practice in the late 1990s, I started removing these marks for free.”īernstein said removing the marks is relatively straightforward and requires a Q-switch, alexandrite or Nd:YAG laser. “I noticed they had radiation marks, little tattoos to guide placement of the radiation therapy. “I worked at the National Institutes of Health in the radiation biology branch a long time ago, under two very famous radiologists named Eli Gladstein and Jim Mitchell, and I got to see a lot of patients undergoing radiation therapy,” Bernstein, a dermatologist who specializes in laser surgery, said. The nationwide initiative, which is offered through the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS), provides free removal of radiation tattoos for cancer survivors.īut years before that, Bernstein was already doing this on his own. It was with this unique patient population in mind that Bernstein helped launch the New Beginnings: Radiation Mark Removal program. “They end up having to talk about it a lot, and they don’t want to.” Bernstein, MD, director of the Main Line Center for Laser Surgery in Ardmore, Pa. “The tattoo just reminds them of their treatment, and it’s noticeable in their clothing,” Eric F. They do not need a scar to remind them that they are survivors they already know it. Sometimes, they are former cancer patients seeking to erase the last vestige of the disease they have conquered.

Sometimes, patients who seek out laser tattoo removal are trying to erase more than the name of an estranged love or the embarrassing remnant of an overly festive night on the town. If you continue to have this issue please contact to Healio
