Unless you’ve experienced cancer yourself or had a close friend or family member go through treatment, you might not realise that some forms of radiotherapy involve a radiographer making permanent pinpoint tattoo marks on your skin.
Made up of one to five small dots, these marks help line up the radiotherapy machine for each treatment to ensure they treat the same area each time.
While some survivors see these as a symbol of resilience, others see it as a constant reminder of their traumatic experience.
The latter was the case for Lisa Mansfield, who was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in March 2019. After successful surgery, she went through radiation treatment and had four tattoos marked – two under one arm, another under the other arm, and a fourth in the middle of her chest.
“The tattoos are very small, but the tattoo in the middle of my chest wouldn’t take, so they had to keep marking it with more ink, making it bigger than a dot,” Lisa explains.
“Looking at the tattoo in the middle of my chest every morning was a constant reminder of having breast cancer. The first few years, I didn’t want to mention to the family about having the tattoo removed. I was just happy being a survivor, thinking I was being vain if I had it removed.”
Earlier this year, she was walking through her local shopping centre when she spotted a tattoo removal clinic, Removery, and enquired what the cost would be to have them removed.
“To my shock and surprise, they said there would be no cost, and they do radiation tattoo removal for free.”
Offering the service since 2019, they’ve provided radiation dot removal to 186 clients globally, including 26 clients locally.
“Our goal with this service is to help clients transform their external appearance to reflect their inner growth and support them in moving forward in life,” says Jason Erwin, Director of Operations in Australia.
The process is the same as having a standard tattoo removed, treating the marks with a laser over multiple sessions, provided the patient’s oncologist gives the green light.
“The number of sessions required varies per client, depending on factors such as age, general health and the location of the radiation dots. During the initial consultation, our specialists provide a tailored treatment plan and discuss the recommended frequency of sessions,” explains Jason.
Generally, radiation dots can be removed in fewer sessions than traditional tattoos, taking, on average, one to three sessions at most.
While there is some pain associated, most patients say it’s manageable. For Lisa, it was well worth it.
“Permanent tattoos were not something I was aware of for radiation treatment. Getting a tattoo was something I never wanted.”
You can learn more about the service here.
