Our experts recommend waiting until your tattoo has completely healed which can take around six to eight weeks after having the tattoo before you start your removal sessions. This will help avoid damage to your skin. How long does it take to remove fresh tattoo ink from skin?
Tattoos can be removed at any time of the year, of course, but there are several reasons why the best time to recover from tattoo removal is during the winter months. Excessive exposure to sunlight makes the skin unusually sensitive, which can make the skin more irritated during laser treatments.
There may be many unwanted side effects when a tattoo is removed too early. One side effect that is likely to occur is blistering of the skin. This happens because if the tattoo is not fully healed, there are still ink particles sitting in the top layer of the skin, which causes blisters to form.
Many people start to see their ink fade after three appointments. Given six to eight weeks between each session, you can expect the results to start showing a few months after the process starts.
In short, yes, a tattoo can be removed completely. Each patient's tattoo removal experience is different, as many variables can come into play during this process.
About 21% said their regret had begun around the one-year mark, and 36% reported that several years had passed before they doubted their decision.
Tattoo Ink
Green is the hardest color to remove followed by light blue. Neon colors are also incredibly difficult to remove, and typically require multiple treatments with the Ruby laser. As a general rule, the greater the contrast between the color of the tattoo pigment and your skin, the better the result.
Does Skin Go Back to Normal After Laser Tattoo Removal? Yes. Your skin should go back to normal following laser tattoo removal. We can remove most tattoos completely, and following aftercare instructions will help your skin heal and return to a healthy and ink-free state.
Larger tattoos may require between eight and 10 removal sessions. Smaller tattoos may require between five and seven removal sessions. However, some tattoos can take as few as two treatments or as many as a dozen sessions.
Older tattoos generally fade more easily with laser treatments than newer ones. For instance, a black tattoo that is ten years old may take one or two treatments less than a one year old black tattoo. Why? Because the body has already absorbed some of the tattoo's pigment throughout the years, making it easier to fade.
You need about six to eight sessions of laser removal treatment, depending on the color, size, and age of your tattoo. You will have a waiting period of between six to eight weeks before another session for the best results.
About six weeks is the ideal waiting time between laser treatments because that allows the treated area to heal while the immune system gets rid of the ink. Following the treatment aftercare instructions can help increase the rate of removal and keep your skin in the best condition possible.
While it is uncommon to cause scarring from the laser tattoo removal sessions themselves, it is still possible. For example, if you use excessive fluence when treating a tattoo and cause unwanted side effects (such as immediate pinpoint bleeding), scarring may occur.
Laser tattoo removal not fading can be caused by several factors. Some of which are the type of laser used, laser wavelength and ink colour, the laser technicians experience, recovery time between each session, and your immune system. Tattoo removal using laser treatment is not magic.
Different dyes respond to different light wavelengths. Black and dark green are the easiest colors to remove; yellow, purple, turquoise and fluorescent dyes are hardest to fade.
Tattoo ink will often oxidize which is what happens to white ink when laser treated. The white pigmentation turns into a darker pigment because the laser breaks the particles apart into tiny fragments which oxidize with the light exposure and the tattoo often turns into a light brown or blue shade.
From the Second Week Onwards After Tattoo Removal
You might notice the treated skin looking darker as the pigment rises to the surface of the skin. The area around it might lighten (hypopigmentation) or darken (hyperpigmentation) too. This is completely normal and will fade with time.
Redness, tenderness and swelling typically subside within a day or two post-treatment. Blisters usually appear within 24 hours of treatment. Scabs, bruising, and blistering may take up to a week or longer to heal. You should avoid picking scabs and taking care of blisters; otherwise, scarring can happen.
If a tattoo is raised, it indicates that there is scarring present. In this instance, even if all of the ink is removed, the skin will usually remain elevated compared to the adjacent normal skin.
Different colors of ink absorb color differently. Specifically, lighter colors like white, yellow, light blue, and pink are the most difficult to remove, as are green, red, and neon colors.
Participants told us they regret getting tattoos on these spots: upper back, upper arms, hips, face and butt. Size matters. Apparently, the smaller your tattoo, the more likely you are to regret it. We found that 63 percent of people with a tattoo smaller than the palm of their hand regret it.
A tattoo above 35 square inches—about the size of a postcard—qualifies as large. Multiplying the height by the width will tell you the size of your tattoo in square inches. The cost of tattoo removal is determined by the number of sessions needed, which depends on the size.