Choosing A Tattoo Removal Treatment
When you hear how long it will take to have your tattoo removed, you may consider other treatment options such as dermabrasion or surgical excision. And depending on your tattoo, those may be a better option for you.
However, lasers, also known as laser surgery or laser rejuvenation, are the preferred option since they offer minimal side effects, according to the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery. Basically, it is considered safer than the other options because it has a reduced risk of infection, less scarring, and can be done on an outpatient basis. Let’s not forget: it isn’t surgery, so less bloodshed.
How The Laser Works
This is a process that utilizes your immune system to remove ink in a safe way, says Cooper. Your body already wants to remove the ink particles in your skin, which are deposited into small pockets in the dermis layer of skin when you get a tattoo. In fact, your immune system has been trying to do that since you first got the tattoo. When you get a tattoo, your body is actively trying to remove it. Its a foreign body in the skin that shouldnt be there, says Cooper. However, the ink particles are about 100 to 200 nanometersfar too big for your immune system to process prior to laser treatment.
The laser directs energy to those ink particles so they shatter and break apart into smaller pieces, allowing your bodys immune system to target and eliminate them. Your white blood cells are able to engulf those smaller ink particles, whereas before, the ink particles were too big for them to engulf, Cooper explains. The white blood cells then carry the ink particles into the bodys lymphatic system. Most is then expelled through the digestive system, although some can also come out in sweat or urine.
Laser Tattoo Removal Faq
Dr. Protain and his staff are always happy to answer any questions you might have about our laser tattoo removal service. Please call toll-free at 844-367-5347 to reach one of our Ohio or West Virginia offices. Find the nearest location to have your tattoo regret removed. Here are a few questions that are asked frequently about fading or removing a tattoo.
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Can I Pay In Instalments
We use two, actually! Were proud to be the only laser tattoo removal clinic in South Australia to offer both types of laser tattoo removal technology Q-Switch and Pico-second laser technology.
Our Cynosure MedLite C6 is what we use for our Q-Switch laser removal treatments. Its the machine that started it all for us and provides consistent and reliable results every time. In 2020, we welcomed the Cynosure PicoSure laser to our Port Adelaide clinic. Its the world’s first picosecond aesthetic laser, and it can remove blue and green tattoos .
Learn more about our technology here.
Can I Remove Part Of My Tattoo
Its common to want to remove certain features from a larger tattoo. For instance, you might like your tattoos overall appearance, but wish to remove a specific element from your design. Alternatively, you might want to remove the name of a person who is featured in your tattoo.
Depending on your tattoos design, we may be able to use laser energy to remove certain portions of your tattoo. During our initial meeting, we will examine your tattoo and talk about the elements that you would like to erase. We will let you know if it is possible to selectively target these features with laser treatments.
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How To Care For Your Skin After Laser Tattoo Removal
Its normal to have redness and swelling after laser tattoo removal treatments. In addition to redness and swelling, you may also notice:
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Dark or white marks
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Crusting
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Scabbing
You can use cool compresses to lessen any discomfort after treatment. To care for the area, follow your providers instructions. Most advise using a plain moisturizer like petroleum jelly for 10 to 14 days after treatment.
Blisters can also happen after tattoo removal, which you can cover and allow to heal on their own. If you get a large blister, however, you can use a sterile needle to puncture it, allow it to drain, and leave all the skin intact. Then apply petroleum jelly and cover it with a dressing. Tell your provider right away if you notice the redness spreading, pus, or yellow crusting. These could be signs of an infection.
Its also important to protect your lasered skin from sun exposure, which can affect the healing process and increase the risk of scarring. Youll also need to avoid the following activities until your skin is healed:
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Intense exercise
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Hot tubs
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Anything that causes friction on your skin
With any laser procedure, more serious complications are also possible. This can include scarring, infection, and incomplete tattoo removal after youve completed a full course of treatment.
Is Laser Tattoo Removal Painful
People who have tattoos removed have reported varying levels of discomfort. Some said that it feels the same as getting a tattoo, while others liken it to the feeling of a rubber band being snapped against your skin.
You may prefer to use some form of anesthesia, such as a topical cream or local injection, depending on the location of the tattoo and your ability to endure pain.
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What Can I Expect Immediately After Laser Tattoo Removal
Redness, swelling, slight blistering, a little itching, and raised areas are extremely common and should be expected after treatment. The skin will feel tender and sensitive at first. It should take a maximum of two weeks for all of these responses to treatment to subside.
Fifteen minutes after removal, the area will be very red, swollen, and sometimes a little itchy. It will stay like that for a week or so. I always tell clients when I treat them, dont be alarmed at how red it gets thats totally normal, says Cooper. But by the day after treatment, it wont be painful. Even after the treatment, clients are usually feeling just fine. You can tell that theyve undergone laser treatment, but its not going to hinder them from going about their daily lives.
You may also notice a frosting effect immediately after laser removal, which gives the tattooed skin a chalky appearance. This completely normal effect just signifies the release of carbon dioxide from the skin. This temporary reaction usually only lasts for a few minutes to half an hour after laser removal. If it takes longer than that, contact your removal specialist, but thats very unlikely to happen.
Most Frequently Asked Questions From Laser Tattoo Removal Patients
The initial tattoo removal consultation is an important moment for every patient and every practice.
It’s an opportunity to showcase your knowledge of the procedure, establish rapport with your patient, and gain their trust so they decide to proceed with treatments.
You’ll want to answer their questions thoroughly and express your expertise in laser tattoo removal.
We’ve gathered the most common patient questions about laser tattoo removal for your reference. Anyone that interacts with a patient from the receptionist to the practitioner should feel confident discussing these topics.
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Let Us Help You Be Rid Of The Ink
Whether you want to get rid of an exs name that you regret marking permanently on your skin, or theres an old lyric or design that no longer resonates with you, you shouldnt have to live with the past written on your skin. With laser tattoo removal at Still Waters Day & Medical Spa, you can erase your unwanted tattoos and free yourself from the past.
You deserve to feel the confidence that clear skin can give you you deserve to move forward with your life without being held back by your past choices and old ink. For any questions, or to schedule a laser tattoo removal consultation, give us a call at Still Waters Day & Medical Spa, located in Pensacola, FL.
Can Anyone Get Laser Tattoo Removal
The healing process for a new tattoo takes between 8 to 16 weeks. Before treating a new and un-wanted tattoo, the skin must be allowed to fully heal, otherwise the chances of scarring are far more likely. While your skin is still healing, we like to discuss your options during a comprehensive consultation and we can book you for an appointment for when the tattoo will be healed.
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Offer Skin Numbing To Keep Patients Feeling Happy
The most popular numbing method is a Zimmer Cryo 6, which is a powerful chilling machine that blows cold air on the skin before, during, and after treatments. It’s highly effective and an asset to busy practices that need a solution that is fast and easy-to-use.
Other options for numbing include good old-fashioned ice packs, lidocaine injections, or topical numbing creams. Each numbing method has its pros and cons. We have a blog post dedicated to the topic of pain management for this procedure: Skin Numbing for Tattoo Removal Treatments
The Best Picosure Tattoo Removal In Nyc
There was a time when permanent tattoo removal was a lengthy, nearly impossible process. But with PicoSure laser technology, its never been easier to erase unwanted ink, and the procedure only takes minutes out of the day, not hours. If youre looking for the best PicoSure tattoo removal in NYC, contact the specialists at the Dermatology and Laser Group. To book an appointment, call us today at 444-8204.
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The Recovery And Results
Some tattoos are gone after only a few months, but large or elaborate designs can take as long as a year or more to fade from visibility. Because your body is doing the work of absorbing the laser-treated inks and then regenerating fresh tissue over the treated area, your immune system has a major role to play. Helping your immune system with proper diet, hydration, and vitamin intake can help speed the process.
What Are Some Side Effects Of Tattoo Removal
The three main types of adverse reactions are redness, swelling, and blisters. Lets explain what causes each of them, what it looks like, and whether there is cause for concern.
Redness
After a treatment, youll see redness, formally called purpura, in the area treated by laser removal. It lasts for a week to two weeks at most. The redness is caused by capillaries leaking into the skin, which helps with the bodys immune response triggered by the removal session. This should not cause alarm, as the increased blood flow helps to flush out the affected ink.
Swelling
Most clients experience swelling directly after the removal session and throughout part or all of the first week after treatment. This should not cause concern. However, if you have any questions about your bodys response to the treatment, you can always call your technician. In nearly all cases, the specialist simply puts the clients mind at ease, assuring them that the swelling is totally normal.
Blisters
Every so often, Removery clients experience blistering during tattoo removal healing. Removery can help them drain anything larger than the size of a dime.
Infection is rare, but you should know the signs to look for just in case. Tattoo removal infection signs include a rash, chills, and discharge from the treated area. Tell your removal technician if you experience any of these symptoms.
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What Should You Do To Avoid Adverse Reactions
To avoid any extreme reactions like longer-term discoloration patches or scarring during tattoo removal healing, first choose a reputable facility. Make sure they specialize in laser removal and use top-of-the-line equipment.
Then follow your specialists simple tattoo removal aftercare instructions exactly. The most important thing is to leave the treated area alone so you dont cause unnecessary irritation, and dont expose it to the sun. All were asking is, basically dont touch it, Cooper emphasizes. Dont do anything to it. Let your body remove the tattoo. That will ensure you avoid any permanent damage and speed up your recovery time.
Avoiding the sun will help ensure your skin doesnt experience any pigmentation changes. You can tan the rest of your body just cover that area, he says. Use a good sunscreen or completely shield that area.
Keep the area clean and dry for the first day. Dont cover or wrap it, and apply a thin layer of hydrocortisone cream once a day for the first five days. You may be able to shower as normal just check with your technician first. Dont submerge the area in water, though.
Follow their aftercare guidelines fully, just as you would follow a doctors instructions after a medical procedure, and youll achieve the best outcome possible.
Introduce The Discussion Of This Topic Even If The Patient Doesn’t
Many patients have the misconception that the laser “burns” the tattoo ink out of the skin. By discussing how tattoo removal works, you can help patients appreciate the role that the laser has in eliminating their unwanted tattoo.
We suggest having a simplified answer such as this:
“Each pulse of the laser sends light energy into your skin. We use different wavelengths of laser light to treat different colors of ink in your tattoo. As the light energy is directed into your skin, it is selectively absorbed by the tattoo ink particles trapped in the dermis of your skin. When the ink particles absorb this energy, they instantly shatter into tiny fragments. Once the laser has broken the ink into smaller pieces, your body’s immune system works to remove the ink over the following weeks, flushing it away from the tattooed area. We see the result of this as the tattoo lightening in appearance. Each additional laser treatment breaks down more and more ink until the tattoo can no longer be seen.”
This description achieves a few things:
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What Can I Expect After Laser Tattoo Removal
After a session of laser tattoo removal, healing is the next step. Your skin has to go through several stages of recovery before it can handle another treatment. Once the treatments are all complete, the skin will need a rest for a while. For those seeking to place a new tattoo in the removal area, thats important to keep in mind.
The first stage of healing following a laser treatment is called frosting because it turns the treated area white. It lasts only a few minutes and is nothing to worry about unless it does not subside.
The next thing you can expect is some discomfort, pain, and possible blistering around the treated area. All of this is pretty common, but if its causing you a lot of trouble, you can apply a cold compress to the area to help soothe the pain. It will feel a bit like a sunburn, so anti-cortisol ointments may also help ease the discomfort.
Blistering is common after the removal process. If your skin starts to blister, dont worry. Its just your body trying to heal itself, and the blisters will go away on their own in time.
Its important not to pick at the treated area, though, as it could result in scarring or possible infections. If you see discharge coming from the spot after two weeks, or the typical symptoms arent subsiding, call a doctor. These are signs of a possible infection, which requires immediate attention.
Your Choice Of Clinic:
The second but most important variable in the tattoo removal process that you can control is your choice of clinic. As you have seen in this article, there are many variables that impact on the number of treatments that your tattoo is likely to need. Every client and every tattoo is unique and there is no one size fits all approach to tattoo removal.
When you partner with Vanishing Ink for your tattoo removal journey, we will provide you with a realistic and honest calculation of the number of treatments that you will need for your removal goals, at your very first free visit. If you then complete that maximum number of treatments and your tattoo ink is still visible, we will provide free additional laser tattoo removal treatments for a period of up to one year following your last paid treatment.
You need to choose a clinic that has great quality technology and lots of experience, with a long track record of results and happy customers. At Vanishing Ink, you can rest assured that you are getting such a clinic. Weve specialised in removing tattoos since 2011 and are Sydneys most experienced laser tattoo removal experts. We encourage you to take a look at our gallery of completed before and after photos and to read our reviews on or .
Would you like more information?
Please feel free to contact us:
1300 166 465
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What Results Will I Get
It is important to know what kinds of results you are likely to get from this treatment. The type of tattoo you are removing, and how detailed it was, will determine how quickly you will see results. After each session, you will see a noticeable difference in the tattoo and you should see the fading happen before your eyes. This is true even with detailed and colored tattoos.
The professionalism of the original artist who completed the tattoo and the variety of inks that were used in this process will determine how quickly you will see the results.