‘They’re not me’: Adelaide tattoo lover Lexi Dignam has change of heart about her tattoos

Lexi Dignam is having a change of heart about her tattoos – and is joining a Flinders University study to look at the safety of having her inked images removed.

The tiger tattoo that prowls along Lexi Dignam’s forearm is a permanent reminder of the snap decision she made as a 20-year-old obsessed with body art.

It sits near a tattooed homage to Ms Dignam’s favourite film – 2007’s Bee Movie, starring Jerry Seinfeld – that she chose on a whim at the age of 21.

Now the 24-year-old is rethinking both those rushed choices – and is planning to have them removed by laser.

Lexi Dignam’s tattooed tribute to the Bee Movie. Picture: Kelly Barnes

The tattoo of a tiger Lexi Dignam wants removed from her arm. Picture: Kelly Barnes

“It’s not necessarily that I don’t like them, there’s nothing wrong with them, they’re just not my personal style anymore,” says the Ascot Park cafe worker, who has collected 22 tattoos over the past six years.

“I liked them in the moment but they’re not really me. I like the bee, I just wish he was somewhere else that wasn’t so obvious. I think about when I get married or something, they’re all going to be on display.

“Most of my tattoos I really like, I feel like they are a part of my personality but these ones are just not me anymore, I’d prefer to have something else there. But I’ll wait to see if I really like the tattoo before getting it done.”

Lexi Dignam with Flinders University PhD candidate Benjamin Boyle, who is researching potential health risks of tattoo removal Picture: Kelly Barnes

Ms Dignam is taking part in a study into tattoo removal by Flinders University PhD candidate Benjamin Boyle.

His research is looking at the laser treatment’s possible health risks, including exposure to cancer-causing chemicals. It involves collecting urine samples from participants for the first three days after they have had laser treatment. They are being paid $50 for their efforts.

“When the laser heats up the ink, it breaks into small particles and that’s what could be causing a health risk,” says Mr Boyle, 25, who is looking for more people to be involved in the study.

“They can potentially be carcinogenic and can cause skin damage, damage the DNA, damage organs. If it is creating a health risk, we need to find out if we can make laser removal safer with smaller doses or increasing the time between sessions – that’s what we are looking at.”

Lexi Dignam and Benjamin Boyle. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Tattoos are now so popular that one in three South Australians have at least one – up from about one in five in 2018, according to McCrindle Research.

But with that growing obsession has come rising regrets, with a third of Australians saying they lament their tattoos and 9 per cent starting or looking into treatment to have them removed.

“Laser tattoo removal is a growing industry but is largely unregulated in South Australia,” says Mr Boyle, who does not have any tattoos but his father and two brothers are all inked.

Lexi Dignam is taking part in the Flinders University study of tattoo removal. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Ms Dignam was in a rush to get her first tatt when she turned 18.

She had the handwritten words of her great-grandmother printed on her forearm and chose a cartoon chicken to sit behind her left ear.

Today, she has 22 tattoos behind her ears, on her arms, ankles, hip, back and finger and across her ribs. She has images of her father’s and grandfather’s handwriting and has a matching wrist tattoo of her surname with her now-married sister.

“They’re all very small,” says Ms Dignam, who estimates that she’s spent about $2000 on her tattoos over the years.

“I got my first the same week I turned 18. I got my great-grandmother’s handwriting of the words ‘I love, love, love you’ that she wrote in a birthday card. She always got my grandma to write for her but in this one she had written herself for me. And I also got a chicken behind my ear that has no sentiment whatsoever, I just liked it.”