With Breast Cancer Awareness Month coming to a close, it’s important to focus not only on the disease, but those who have survived. Survival is an uphill battle that is often littered with complications, such as partial or full mastectomies. However, Michelle Balhan of Velvet Lotus Tattoo in Iowa City says with the help of tattoos, some women are able to regain confidence they may have lost. She has done a chest tattoo for a breast cancer survivor who had undergone a full mastectomy, and she could tell just how much the art meant to the client. When the woman looked in the mirror, and saw something aside from a scar, Balhan said it was clear she had a sense of growth. Balhan adds, the idea of a mastectomy tattoo is to show the beauty of survival, as opposed to the scar showing the negative side and the struggle. The tattoo Balhan did for the client included a floral design with birds, and she feels organic designs such as that can give a sense of femininity.

In addition to full tattoos, there are also artists who do cosmetic tattoos that can reconstruct certain aspects of a breast, such as an areola. Balhan recommends anyone considering getting tattoos to cover scars should talk to different artists and have consultations. She emphasizes people should feel comfortable and confident with the person they’re trusting to do the work. Balhan is a firm believer that getting a tattoo for any reason is an empowering experience. When it’s done to cover something such as mastectomy scars, she feels it’s almost doubly as effective as a method of improving self-esteem. For more information about mastectomy tattoos, listen to the In Touch with Southeast Iowa interview with Balhan at KCIIRadio.com, starting Friday.