Thousands of people have travelled to Bali this year to receive full-body tattoos under general anaesthesia, a procedure that can involve up to nine tattoo artists working on a person at a time. According to 9News Perth, a full-body tattoo done this way costs around $16,000, compared with tens of thousands of dollars at Australian studios.
The trend is popular on Kuta, where tattoo artist Madhe Ink said Australians make up the majority of his clientele. "From last year, talking about percentage, maybe 70 per cent is [from] Australia, and the rest is America, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, like all over the world," he said. He says clients must pass two checkups, including a medical examination, before being allowed to go under anaesthesia. "We need to do that in the proper hospital that has an operation room, doctor and everything there," he added.
Australian Medical Association WA president Kyle Hoath, however, said he has concerns about whether the procedures are done in a safe environment with a trained anaesthetist. "A general anesthetic is a serious procedure. We're talking about being unconscious for multiple hours while somebody has to keep you breathing, keep you alive," he told 9News Perth. "This is quite a complicated part of the overall procedure and carries with it pretty extreme risks."
The procedure is not available in Australia. "This is not done in Australia for a reason. It's a completely unnecessary risk to add into having a tattoo," Hoath said. "Anesthetic, just for convenience, is a dangerous proposition, and not one I think you should entertain."
One American man at Madhe Ink last week was turned away from getting both legs tattooed under anaesthesia because of an irregular heartbeat. He said he wanted the procedure "because I don't want to feel pain". Madhe Ink acknowledged the appeal but still advocated for sitting in the chair. "If you really don't have time, but have money, go do it," he said. "No pain, no gain."