Laser tattoo removal typically does involve some level of pain. That said, many say that it hurts less than they expected. It's a common belief that tattoo removal is excruciating, yet most patients say that the sensation of removal is comparable to having a tattoo applied.
Tattoo removal pain also depends on which body part is being treated. Some areas, such as hands and feet, have more touch receptors and nerve endings. The more receptors in the area, the more sensitive that part of the skin will be to the laser. The armpits, for example, are among the most sensitive parts of your body.
But tattoo removal technology has come a long way in recent years, it no longer needs to be a painful process. Older tattoo removal technologies are more painful as they deliver higher volumes of energy to the skin to break down the ink pigment. This is what causes discomfort and pain upon application.
Today's treatments can completely remove a tattoo and give you back the skin that you thought you might have lost forever. Not only do they tend to be more effective, but many of them are less invasive and painful than tattoo removal treatments in the past.
Does Laser Tattoo Removal Leave Scarring? It is very uncommon for a patient to scar from laser tattoo removal treatment when the proper laser protocols and patient aftercare are followed. If the skin already has irregularities such as scarring expect that to remain after laser tattoo removal.
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.
1. Getting the Tattoo. Most people consider the pain of getting a tattoo to be far worse than anything they've experienced during their laser tattoo removal treatments. The outline of a tattoo is especially painful, and can be hard to endure for most of those who've gotten ink.
On average, it takes approximately two years between 10-12 sessions to see complete removal results. The time between treatments will vary based on skin type, ink density, location of the tattoo, and your overall health will play a factor in your removal results.
Every individual is different, and therefore every tattoo is different. Understanding how laser tattoo removal works will help to understand why it's not as easy to predict. On average a person will need between 6-12 treatments laser tattoo removal treatments. However, some people need less, some may need more.
Laser removal is a highly effective and safe way to remove a tattoo. For most people, it can completely eliminate an old tattoo, although in some cases, the client and specialist may determine that substantial fading will meet the client's goals best.
Redness, swelling, slight blistering, a little itching, and raised areas are extremely common and should be expected after treatment. The skin will feel tender and sensitive at first. It should take a maximum of two weeks for all of these responses to treatment to subside.
Laser Tattoo Removal Could Be the Right Choice for You
Proven to be safe and effective over years of use, laser treatments harness the power of concentrated light to shatter apart those unwanted ink particles, breaking them down into small enough sizes that the body can then flush them away naturally.
Black and Grey tattoo inks are the easiest to remove.
Most clinics will have a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with a1064 nm wavelength. This is especially effective on black and grey ink colors.
Specifically, lighter colors like white, yellow, light blue, and pink are the most difficult to remove, as are green, red, and neon colors. White ink (and light colors that were made by combining darker ink with white ink) sometimes turns darker before it begins to fade.
While laser tattoo removal may sound intimidating, the only other options are dermabrasion, which involves slowly scraping off layers of your skin one at a time, or surgery to remove the inked section of skin. Compared to these options, laser tattoo removal is actually the easiest, least painful way to go.
If you have a history of skin hyper-sensitivity, scarring (keloids), skin infections such as impetigo or are prone to cold sores (herpes) then laser treatment may not be advisable. People with darker skins are at more risk than those with lighter skins.
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.
Laser tattoo removal has an average success rate of 71%, with 95% of patients saying the process was worth it.
For most individuals, tattoos take anywhere from 6 to 10 sessions to fully remove, and these sessions are scheduled 6 to 8 weeks apart. Let's review some of the individual factors that can affect how long removing your tattoo will take.
Typically, you will start to see tattoo fading around sessions 3-5 which is optimal for people who are seeking removal for a cover up, but it will likely take 10-12 sessions to see complete removal results.
We need to address a misconception: tattoo removal creams don't actually remove tattoos. Instead, the tattoo removal creams can fade and re-color the skin around the tattoo to make the artwork less visible. If you want genuine removal, you'll need to shell out for (and suffer through) laser or surgical tattoo removal.