Getting a tattoo is a personal choice that can reflect a wide variety of things in a person’s life. And while it’s true that many are content to keep them on their skin for life, millions of people regret making the choice to get tattoos.
Nearly five million people in the United States regret the decision to have someone’s name, a tribal marking, a quote, a face, or another symbol inked into their skin, and they want to be rid of the reminder.
Laser tattoo removal is a popular choice for people that want to get rid of unwanted tattoos. If you’re living in Tempe, Tucson, or Yuma, Arizona, and you want to get rid of one or more tattoos, our experienced, caring staff at Peach Skin & Laser can help. We use the latest techniques to give you the results you want.
There are some important factors that can help optimize tattoo removal. Here’s some insight on the difficulty of removing tattoos, what laser tattoo removal is, and which things improve the success of your procedure.
How difficult is it to remove tattoos?
The art of tattooing skin has been around for thousands of years, using a number of methods that give a similar result. Ink particles are placed under the surface of the skin using a needle or similar tool to create a design. Because the ink is under the skin, removing it is complicated, regardless of the method used.
Understanding laser tattoo removal
At Peach Skin & Laser, we use the PiQo4 laser, which uses concentrated beams of light on the surface of your skin. Laser tattoo removal breaks the ink into smaller particles, causing the tattoo to appear lighter on your skin.
When undergoing treatment, the area to be treated is numbed with a local anesthetic, and the laser pulses start to do their work to break up ink particles. The treatment is often described as feeling like a rubber band being snapped on your skin.
Once the treatment is complete, you may notice swelling, blistering, or even bleeding. These can be treated with antibacterial ointments, and the area will be covered with a bandage or patch as it heals. Multiple treatments are common, but just how many will depend on several factors.
Factors that affect the procedure
Here are the primary factors that will affect the success of removing your tattoo:
Type of tattoo
The type of tattoo you have will be a major factor. If your tattoo is particularly large and has lots of colors, it’s going to be a lengthy process to remove. Certain colors take longer to respond to the laser treatment, while darker colors like blue and black respond better because they absorb light well. The depth of the ink in your skin will also play a part in the time it takes to remove.
The laser
Larger tattoos require more pulses of light than smaller ones. Multiple wavelengths may also be used to handle different colors and depths of ink in your skin. The powerful PiQo4 laser has plenty of advantages, combining nanosecond and picosecond pulses to break down large, deep particles of ink as well as smaller, shallower particles.
Your body
How your body reacts to the laser as well as your age and skin tone will all play a role in how long it will take, but your overall health is also very important. When the laser works to break up the ink, it’s only doing part of the job. Your body then needs to remove the particles through your lymphatic system, which removes wastes and abnormal cells from your body and produces immune cells.
Removing a tattoo will take time, but if you regret getting it and need to be rid of it, we can help. Make an appointment with Peach Skin & Laser today so you can see less of the eyesore you want to be rid of.