Luke Wessman's career seemed all but over during the spring of last year. He could barely tattoo for more than an hour at a time, was often walking with a cane and dropped to the ground multiple times due to his back.

The former Miami Ink and NY Ink tattooer was diagnosed with a ruptured disc likely due to the toll of hunching and twisting his body into weird positions while tattooing. If it'd been any worse, he likely would've suffered major long-term damage.

Instead, the SoCal tattooer followed in the steps of his friend Tim Hendrix and flew to Germany for a back surgery that's not allowed in America. With a new back and a new lease on life, Wessman is back to tattooing both at his secretive studio in Orange County (the Summertown Inn, named after his birthplace  in Tennessee) and at True Tattoo in Hollywood (now owned by famous tattooer and Ink Master judge, Oliver Peck).

Myspace caught up with Wessman to discuss everything from tattooing on reality TV to some of his other ongoing projects.

You just had your back surgery, but what would be your advice to a young tattooer who wants to avoid letting it get that bad?

I think it's what we all know: core strength and posture are the two major keys. A lot of time we just neglect them if we're not hurting, but paying attention to your posture in your daily life makes a difference. When you're driving or when you're walking, if you're sitting for a living, it's something you need to think about.

When you tattoo, you kind of slump over and you're not engaging your core much. I'm constantly trying to sit up straight and stand up to stretch every hour while I'm tattooing. It's just basic stuff, but it's really about catching it before it's too late. I always thought I could fix mine with yoga, but it was too far gone.

What was it like to work on the reality TV shows?

The television shows originally started in Miami, and that was really hard because I came from old school tattooing where you don't really want to put your business or work out there. It was such a protected secretive profession, but you get to the point where you could benefit from the publicity, so you have to balance that extra income with protecting the culture.

New York was a lot more comfortable because I knew what to expect. I wish the show had kept going, but it was over-produced and just kind of got grounded that way. It was a great experience though. It allowed me to live in New York City and make a living while building my personal brand and name.

I was able to have a really nice place because I was only on them a little bit. I wasn't one of the main characters, so I was in a sweet spot where I could maintain some respect and credibility from my peers more than the guys who were on the bus ads and the billboards. It was the first time after working there that I was able to make a good living as a tattooer.

Currently, you're tattooing at two different locations, taking trips all over the world and also working on everything from a book to commercials and possibly a new TV show. As one of the busiest guys in tattooing, how do you balance your schedule?

I like moving on the fly, so I don't book any appointments more than a month out. It gives me some flexibility. I just go month to month, and it's usually not too hard for me to book up one month at a time.

Also, when I'm in California, I'll usually let the clients pick whether they want to get worked on in Hollywood at True or down at the Summertown. I used to be a little more secretive about (the Summertown Inn), but I think it's a fun experience for people and if they want to get work done there, I work with them and let them in there. I usually keep the address a mystery until the day of the appointment and give them the full experience. Everybody loves it and no one's ever been bummed, but Hollywood's also really fun because it's more of a traditional shop and I love being around that.

One of your other popular projects is Lost Art of the Gentleman. What made you want to take on a whole lifestyle side even beyond tattooing?

My Lost Art of the Gentleman project is great. It started out as an Instagram page of my observations while being single in New York City. I was dating some different women and dealing with all of these different scenarios, but I always had a keen sense of romance and morality. I just kind of paid attention to it a little bit more and started creating these little memes and things based on that romance and morality.

It's really taken off, and I've gotten some good reviews in some publications and magazines. I'm just now going into a contract for my coffee table book based on it. It's with a friend who's going to shoot the photos, but these contracts are tricky. It's a serious thing, and it really costs some dough to make a book. It's a passion project, so I'm not doing it from as much of a business as I should, but I have to with the contracts. I'm hoping to have an actual book by the beginning of next year, and I think it'll be a nice foundation for whatever I want to grow that brand into.