Tattooing is an ancient form of permanent body art that has been practiced for thousands of years for religious, political or aesthetic purposes. While the popularity of tattoos is rising in recent times, so is the number of people seeking to remove them. The reasons range from change in job or lifestyle or simply because they don’t like the tattoo anymore.
While tattoos are generally considered permanent as the ink granules are deposited below the skin’s surface, it is now possible to remove them with laser. The standard treatment to remove tattoos fully or partially involves the use of Q-switched ND:Yag and other lasers. It usually takes a few laser treatment sessions to get the desired results.
How Laser Tattoo Removal Works?
The healthcare provider focuses laser beams that use concentrated bursts of energy to heat up the large ink particles beneath the skin. This breaks it into smaller particles. Those smaller ink particles can then be then eliminated naturally by the body’s immune system. Tattoos with different colors may require use of multiple lasers operating at different frequencies.
Can Tattoo Removal be Painful?
For some people it feels the same as getting the tattoo, while for others it is like feeling a rubber band being snapped against your skin. Your dermatologist may suggest the use of a topical cream to reduce the pain depending on the location of the tattoo and your pain tolerance.
Smaller tattoos require fewer laser pulses and larger ones require more. In either case you may require multiple visits. The color of your skin as well as the depth of the tattoo pigment in the body also affects the removal technique.
Generally the tattoo may be removed in 3-8 visits or sometimes more.
Benefits of Laser tattoo removal
- The procedure is effective and permanent and is safer than other options.
- It can be done on an outpatient basis.