Athens Tattoo Artist Makes Scars Disappear

ATHENS, Ga. – Ron Hendon, a tattoo artist from Athens, Georgia, removed over 40,000 scars in almost 30 years using his artistic ability and decades of tattoo expertise for scar removal therapy.

Hendon’s scar removal  involves irritation of the scar tissue using tattoo needles. One of its aspects is paramedical micro-pigmentation, a method of cosmetically covering scars. Hendon developed these techniques by accident when a client came in with a large scar on her breast after a domestic dispute.

“When the same client came in for a touch up of her floral tattoo, the scar underneath the rose was beginning to disappear,” Hendon explained. “The scar had started to flatten and sort of normalize. So, we did a couple more sessions.”

Hendon, an art and musician major at the University of Georgia, sought professional advice from dermatologists and plastic surgeons in the Athens area.

“What happens when you get injured catastrophically and you damage the reticular-dermis… your body can seal up a catastrophic wound very quickly. The problem is, it doesn’t have any memory as to lay even with the normal skin cells,” Hendon explained. “When you go back in and damage that layer [with needles] over the scar, it will trigger your body to release normal skin cells like it does in a very minor injury.”

Hendon tallied the number of scars that he worked on from 1989-1996, and the total came to 8,000 scars. He has since lost count, but estimates that he has worked on over 40,000 scars since 1989.

The following audio story details Hendon’s method for removing scars:

Showing Your Skin Again

Beadles, 40, a Kindergarten teacher from Commerce, Georgia has been seeing Hendon at Midnight Iguana Tattoo in Athens, for a scar covering her entire left shoulder. She explained she got the scar from a surgery she received when she was 12. She started her first treatment with Hendon in August and is now on her fifth treatment. Beadles, who has never shown her shoulders in public, recently purchased some new sleeveless tops.

“I’ve already bought a few things, I’m super excited. I’ve bought a few tops that I’m hoping that by the summer I can wear them,” Beadles said.

Hendon is currently in the process of renovating his shop, Midnight Iguana Tattoo, to separate the tattoo shop from the Scar Correction Institute.

The following video shows Dawn’s testimony and the scar removing process itself:

The following video story covers the costs of the Hendon’s procedure:

By Caroline Elliott and Zoe Smith