Laser Tattoo Removal

The recovery time per treatment is usually several days. It depends on the type of laser system that is used to remove the tattoo. There are three main types of lasers that are used to remove tattoos. They are all called Q-switched lasers. That basically is a fancy way of saying 'very high energy.' There is the Alexandrite, Ruby, and NdYAG.

There tends to be a little bit more blistering and scabbing with NdYAG than the other two lasers. What the patient will notice is that the skin turns white immediately which is just some superficial heating of the upper surface of the skin. That lasts less than a day. They may have a little bit of flaking of the skin that lasts for a couple of days. There usually is not a lot of bleeding. There may be pinpoint bleeding.

Laser tattoo removal isn't a one-time treatment no matter which of the three systems is used. Let me explain why that is because everyone ought to know. The lasers do not remove the pigment from that tattoo, what they do is break up the ink into smaller pigment particles which the body digests from the inside out. You wait a couple of months between each treatment to give the body a chance to heal, then the patient has another treatment. It is not a one-time treatment, it is a two-to-three-day recovery after each treatment.

Depending on whether the tattoo was amateur or professional as to how many treatments it takes to fade the tattoo. If it is amateur, it takes four to six and if it is professional, it is eight to ten on average. With any of those three procedures, the risk of scarring is very low, between one to two percent.

Size is not much of an issue although color is to some extent. The Ruby and Alexandrite lasers treat most colors very well except for red. The NdYAG does red very well but doesn't do blue and black as well as the other two lasers. The size of the tattoo is not a problem, except it is a longer procedure, and the cost is more for the procedure, but the size is not a factor.

Risks depend on the type of laser that is being used. For the nondestructive lasers, the risk of scarring is generally low, a few percent or less. For the destructive lasers, meaning carbon dioxide or erbium or blends of those two, the risk of scarring is higher.

The main risks of the other lasers are the pigmentary changes, either slightly lighter or darker skin that is usually temporary, swelling for a few days or superficial flaking of the skin or sometimes blistering. For some of the lasers, you will get temporary bruising of the skin and occasionally superficial scabbing.

It is unusual for 'bumps' to occur. Bumps depend on the type of laser that was used and how many treatments used. For example, it is not unusual after one or two treatments to notice that there is still pigment because multiple treatments are required.

Some people who go between treatments, longer than a couple of months, will notice continued improvement in color even though they don't get additional treatment because the body continues to digest what the laser has broken into smaller pieces.

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