Ink: Medical tattoos help Edmontonians camouflage unsightly scars

KatyPetty carefully draws a buzzing needle across the woman's lips, tracing across the faded scars to paint them a subtle shade of pink.

She's camouflaging a decades-old cleft lip scar, with a tattoo.

A permanent mask for a permanent mark.

Petty is a medical tattoo artist, and owner ANew You Medical Tattoo, located in the south Edmonton neighbourhood of Ellerslie.

It's an empowering job to give someone else confidence in themselves. It's a really good feeling.- KatyPetty

She camouflages surgical scars with ornate designs, traces eyebrows on clients who have lost their hair to chemotherapy, or redraws areolas on women who have survived the ravages of breast cancer.

Acne scars can be hidden with skin-toned ink webs of stretch marks from pregnancyhidden with flowers and vines.

Petty's business is ever growing, as more and morepeople become aware of the procedures.

"Most people call me because they're self-consciousabout something. I just see it as was working with the person to make them happy. I try my hardest to give the client what they want."

'It's a really good feeling'

Petty worked as a tattoo artist for years before she began working with women recovering from breast cancer, and decided to start her own business, specializing in the medical cover-ups.

She says, giving her clients power over their own bodies, and turning imperfections into something beautiful, in just a matter of hours, makes for extremely rewarding work.

"It's almost fun to come up with ways and designs to cover it and make it look flattering," Petty said.

"And it really does a lot of for people's mental health. It makes them just feel more confident about themselves.

"It's an empowering job to give someone else confidence in themselves. It's a really good feeling."