Every one of us has done something in our lives we wish we hadn’t have done – its human nature. What seemed like a good idea at the time may not be anymore.
In the case of a tattoo, perhaps you’re not as into the tattoo like you were when you first got it. Life circumstances change, or perhaps the ink shifted and caused your tattoo to blur.
Fortunately, laser treatments have made removing unwanted tattoos relatively easy and painless. In years past, tattoo removal could be considered a very complicated process. Today’s laser treatments, often times used for removing unwanted hair, are also capable of removing multi-color tattoos in just a few short sessions.
Best of all, laser treatments remove your unwanted tattoo with minimal scarring. Once treatments are complete, you hardly notice you had anything in the tattoo spot.
Laser treatments consist of highly accurate pulses of light that target and breakdown pigments deep in the skin. These pigments are then absorbed through your body’s lymphatic system.
How quickly these treatments can fully remove your tattoo depend on a variety of factors, including the color and location of your tattoo. Black is the easiest color for lasers to remove, but red and dark blue pigments break down pretty easily as well. Although it takes a little more time, today’s laser treatments can more easily remove green, orange, light blue and white pigments than in years past.
And while it may seem counterintuitive, removing tattoos where the skin is thicker (…think your abdomen) requires fewer treatments compared to an area where the skin is thinner, like your ankle.
For tattoo removal using laser treatment, the number of individual treatments can range anywhere between 6 and 15 sessions.
To minimize discomfort, your laser treatment specialist may apply a local anesthesia. Literally thousands of patients have had unwanted hair removed using laser treatment and describe it feeling like a rubber band snapping against the skin. While somewhat annoying, most consider the procedure to be relatively painless.
Sessions for laser removal are typically pretty short and generally only take a few minutes. Specialists also recommend patients take a 6 to 12 week break between treatments to allow the area to heal sufficiently.
After treatments, patients may see minimal swelling and redness in the treatment area but each will subside pretty quickly.