Laser Tattoo Removal

It’s estimated that in the next few years 40% of 18 to 30 year-olds will have a tattoo. It’s also thought that about 50%of them will regret it at some point in their life. If they decide to remove their tattoo, one of the most effective treatments is laser.

Laser tattoo removal techniques work by heating and fragmenting the inked cells so they get harmlessly absorbed into the body. This is what would eventually happen to the tattoo anyway over time. Laser tattoo treatment accelerates the process.

There are a number of factors that influence tattoo removal. For example:

The colors and make of the ink
The types of lasers your physician uses
The age of the tattoo
The skin of the patient

While each tattoo and patient is unique, amateur tattoos are much easier to remove. Pro tattoos using multi-colors can take much longer. Red, blue and yellows may require many sessions to be erased while black inks tend to disappear easily.

The Laser Process

The process on how lasers heat up the inked cells sufficiently enough to be split into small particles that get absorbed into the body depends on four factors:
The selected light must penetrate the skin enough to reach the tattoo pigment
The tattoo pigment must absorb the laser light more fully than the surrounding skin. Different tattoo pigments need different laser colors to allow that to occur. For example, green tattoo pigments can fully absorb red light.
The duration of time for each laser energy pulse must be very short (nanoseconds). This is so that the pigment heats up to the fragmentation temperature before the heat seeps over to the surrounding skin. If it does, it may burn and subsequently scar the skin.
Enough energy has to be delivered within each laser pulse to heat the pigment. If the energy is weak, no pigment fragmentation nor removal will occur.

Q-switched lasers meet these requirements. As suggested above, the lasers use several different colors to fragment the tattoo pigment. Also, different lasers work better on different colors. So, tattoos that have more than one color, usually require the use of two of more different wavelength lasers.

Multiple Sessions

Complete tattoo removal requires multiple sessions of laser treatment. Usually the sessions are scheduled six weeks apart. Each time, some tattoo pigments get fragmented. Over the course of the treatment, the body removes the smallest fragments.

This process fades the tattoo over time. The larger particles keep getting fragmented during each treatment causing further lightening.

The success of the tattoo removal depends on the patient’s immune system, adequate hydration, good sleep habits, a healthy weight, a well balanced diet and exercise.

Pain Treatment

Laser tattoo removal can be quite painful in that localized area. That why topical anesthetic creams or injections of a local anesthetic is often used to manage and decrease pain. Pre-treatment many include the application of an anesthetic cream on the tattoo.

Side Effects and Risks

Some patients may experience passing changes in their normal skin pigmentation. These usually go away in six to twelve months. Passing textural changes are sometimes noted but they, too, resolve themselves within a few months. Scarring rarely occurs.

While widely accepted as the best treatment for tattoo removal, laser treatment can discolor the skin and result in textural changes in some cases.

Overall, side effects and risks are minimal regarding laser tattoo removal.

As with all medical procedures, consult your physician. This procedure is usually done by a cosmetic surgeon. Make sure you can see the results of his/her work on prior patients. Contact references, if possible.

Costs for laser tattoo removal range from $100 to $800 per visit depending on the complexity of the tattoo.

The Laser Process

Multiple Sessions

Pain Treatment

Side Effects and Risks

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