Tattoo Removal

Though not considered traditional symptoms, there are many reasons individuals seek to remove their tattoos. Often these fall under the categories of tattoos that have lost color, lost meaning or are placed in areas that could impact a career.

The most effective type of treatment is determined based on an initial consult with your skincare provider, based on your age, skin type, tattoo makeup and location.

Smaller tattoos will require fewer pulses while larger ones will need more to remove them. In either case, to completely get rid of a tattoo, it will take several treatments. After each visit, your tattoo should become progressively lighter.

Laser removal targets the ink with highly concentrated light that breaks the ink into tiny fragments that are then cleared by the patient’s immune system.

Black tattoo pigment absorbs all laser wavelengths, making it the easiest color to treat. Other colors can only be treated by selected lasers based upon the pigment color.

Yes, once the ink fragments are broken up and cleared by your immune system, the tattoo will be completely gone.

Laser treatment is often safer than other tattoo removal methods, such as excision, dermabrasion, or salabrasion. Laser is more precise and selectively treats the pigment in the tattoo, so there are fewer side effects.

However, you should consider these factors in your decision:

• Risk of an infection from post-procedure care.
• The slight chance that you will have a permanent scar.
• Not all tattoos can be completely removed, darker colors respond better to laser treatments
• You may end up with hypopigmentation, which means the skin that is treated is paler than the skin surrounding it.
• You could also have hyperpigmentation, which leaves the affected skin darker than the rest of your skin.