The changes associated with getting older also result in people regretting their tattoos or piercings. Body art changes in appearance over the years. Tattoos can become faded after years of sun exposure. According to a 2003 Harris Poll, the third most common reason people regretted their tattoos is that their tattoos had faded. Also, if a tattoo artist injects the pigments too deeply into the ski, the pigments may migrate beyond the original tattoo sites, resulting in a blurred appearance over time.

Piercings change over time as well. Jewelry can migrate, or travel through the skin, and settle in a different position from the original piercing. As it migrates, the jewelry is not removed, it will continue to migrate until it creates a hole large enough for the jewelry to fall out. Once this happens, the possibility of getting scars from the piercing is likely.

A person’s physical changes can also affect his or her body art. Tattoos can stretch if a person gain weight. This is one reason why doctors suggest teenagers wait until their body has completely grown before getting a tattoo. Piercings are also affected by body changes. For example, pregnant women with navel piercings may find that their abdomens expand to the point that their navels protrude and the jewelry is pushed off.

Another reason people become unhappy with their body art is that their attitudes and taste often change over the years. What may have seemed “cool” at age eighteen may look silly or not reflect someone’s lifestyle years later. At age twenty one, Rachod Mildton of Lansing, Michigan, had a devil’s face tattooed beneath his left eye. “I was a different person back then…. I was with the wrong crowd, abusing alcohol and hanging out in the streets,” Mildton now twenty seven, explained “I have to be a positive role model for my daughters…. The tattoo is not a representation of the person I am now.”