Laser Tattoo Removal

Tattoos are a common part of society today. These are often obtained by young people. When they enter the workforce or become parents they often experience a great deal of regret or sometimes shame. People very commonly come to me for laser tattoo removal. The advantage of laser tattoo removal is that it can fade a tattoo without scarring. There are several things that someone should know about laser tattoo removal.

1. It always  takes multiple treatments. It not uncommon to require 6-10 treatments depending on the darkness of the tattoo as well as the color. I liken it to removing paint from a wall. The limitation is that you can only scrape so many lasers of paint off at one time. To avoid scarring the laser energy has to be controlled thus the technique requires multiple treatments.
2. The treatments have to be spaced out. I usually favor 6-8 weeks between treatments. After lasering the tattoo we want to give the body time to remove the ink debris from the tattoo site so that the next laser treatment is only treating the remaining ink. Bright colors are a lot more difficult. Some of the bright and particularly florescent colors or pastels are very difficult to remove. This can either mean a great number of treatments or not being able to remove it at all. 

For more Before/After pictures click here