My experience with restorative tattooing to cover my EB symptoms

A year and a half ago, while scrolling through social media, I encountered a wonderful form of tattooing that I hadn’t seen or heard before. This delicate art form is known in the industry as restorative tattooing. Its mission is to restore a physical attribute to a person who’s lost it. For example, the artist might tattoo nipples back onto people who lost theirs through a mastectomy.

I was fascinated that such a skill even existed. An artist’s ability and desire to create and place tattoos of belly buttons, nipples, and toenails, all indiscernible from the real thing, are wildly impressive to me.

After scrolling through an Instagram page in awe, I decided to reach out to Shaughnessy Otsuji, the owner of Studio Sashiko, to see if she would take me on as a client.

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The consultation process was awkward for me. I definitely did not enjoy sending in pictures of my little toes, made ugly, in my view, by my generalized epidermolysis bullosa (EB). But I pushed forward with the process because the fantasy of a permanent solution to one of my major insecurities was just too tempting.

To my surprise, Shaughnessy was familiar with toenail tattoos. She pointed out the obvious by explaining that a lot of people suffer toenail loss for a wide variety of reasons.

Her staff handled the consultation with great care and friendliness. After a few emails, I was able to book an appointment.

The results

My close friends and family who knew about my appointment found the idea of a needle stabbing into a fleshy nail bed to be quite appalling. But interestingly, my experience wasn’t at all painful. The whole procedure took less than two hours, and I walked out with the cutest, most realistic-looking toenails you can picture. I was so pleased with the results!

The excitement of being able to wear sandals comfortably and confidently quickly faded, however. I’m sad to report that my toenail tattoos lasted for only nine days total. I believe hands and feet are known to be difficult places to achieve long-lasting tattoo results due to the constant friction and regeneration of skin. I would encourage anyone with a missing toenail, belly button, or nipple to research restorative tattoos and talk to your doctor about giving it a try if it seems like a good fit.

I want to be clear that I don’t blame the artist or her skill level one single bit. She’s truly amazing, and her work is beautiful. But the truth is that the skin on my hands and feet is not conducive to lasting results. My EB also directly affects the composition and predictability of my skin.

I have great appreciation for all of the people who have committed their artistic abilities to helping and healing others. I highly encourage anyone who finds this topic interesting to explore it further. I think you’ll be impressed by what you see!

Note: Epidermolysis Bullosa News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Epidermolysis Bullosa News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to epidermolysis bullosa.