Laserase

what the papers say

"Spiderman' nightmare ends as Mike has laser surgery to remove web"
The Sun, October 8

These are the two faces of "Spiderman" Mike Regola - shunned by the world until laser treatment removed his nightmare tattoo.

On the left, Mike bears the massive web and spiders which made his life hell. On the right, he is pictured after revolutionary treatment erased the tattoo.

Mike, 31, got the startling design 12 yeas ago "to make the world take notice." But it turned him into an outcast snubbed by friends and family. And only now, after the tattoo was removed bit by bit, does he feel able to face the world again.

Mike, of Swansea , South Wales , said last night; "The tattoo was the biggest mistake in my life. It was like being cursed.

Mike, a cook, decided to have the tattoo after he lost a job at the posh London restaurant and began having brushes with the law. He said his life was "a mess" and vowed to take action to make sure he would not be ignored.

He added: "I went to an unlicensed tattooist in North London and told him to turn me into Spiderman.

"It cost me £9 - but within 24 hours I realised it was also going to cost me my whole life. I'd walk into a pub and the landlord would tell me I was barred before I even got to order a drink. In the street people would snigger, point at me and call me names. I felt embarrassed and lost all my confidence. I just wanted to hide away."

He was saved when a friend showed him a magazine article about a 48-year-old GP Malcolm Rigler. Dr Rigler, of Brierley Hill, West Midlands , runs a revolutionary treatment called laserase.

Mike contacted him - and was taken on as a patient. He has had ten 30-minute sessions in which the tattoo ink is broken down by "shots" from a powerful laser.

He said: "The best thing was getting back together with my mum and gran. I was welcomed back with open arms. It was great."

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News of The World, June 4th

A recent survey showed that one in eight men with a tatto would like to get rid of it, and a third of all women with them have changed their minds about theirs. Previously, the only treatment available involved skin grafting which left a scar formation and which put people off. Now, it's possible to have them removed using a highly sophisticated Q-switched laser - this breaks down th eink under the skin into small particles, whcih the body's defence system can carry away in the circulation and flush out. As the skin isn't cut or burnt, no scar is left. This isn't available on the NHS so for more info, call Laserase.

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Woman magazine

It's bad enough having a tattoo you later regret, but Irene Jackson had the name of her first husband, Terry, undeliblt inked into the skin at the top of her right arm.

"When I had it done at 16, I thought it was brilliant", says Irene, "But after a few years I hated tattoos. I hid it under longsleeved tops and plasters."

Last October, however, Irene heard about the Laserase removal centre in Newcastle near her home. She has now had nine sessions of the scar free therapy.

"My tattoo has virtually disappeared and its the first summer in 20 years I've worn T-shirts" she says.