Your parents probably scared you in your teen years that tattoos are forever, you’ll regret them and they will only look worse as you get older. It’s not quite true though is it? Tattoos won’t make you look worse with age, that’s just the process of aging innit? And in our humble opinion being a tattooed grandma or grandpa is infinitely cooler. Tattoos can be forever if you like them, but if you stop liking a tattoo you can now remove it with a laser.
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about laser tattoo removal.
What is the best way to remove tattoos?
Laser tattoo removal is the gold standard for tattoo removal. It’s the best way to get rid of a tattoo that you no longer want on your skin. There are other ways that include injections, creams and skin abrasions but they don’t work well and they leave you with scars. Laser tattoo removal is the safest, most effective and least invasive way to remove a tattoo.
How does laser tattoo removal work?
The pigment of the tattoo absorbs the light from the laser, which shatters the ink into tiny particles and then your immune system just cleans it up by flushing those particles away.
Does it hurt or is the procedure completely pain free?
That depends on your pain threshold and the placement of the tattoo you’d like to remove. The sensation is slightly uncomfortable, but laser tattoo removal clinics usually offer numbing creams that will minimize the pain during the procedure. And they usually blow cold air on the area throughout the whole procedure . If the tattoo is on a flashier part of your body the pain will be minimal, if it’s in a bony place, you’ll feel it a bit more. But either way, if you were able to sit through a tattoo appointment in the first place, then you’ll definitely be able to tolerate laser tattoo removal.
How many sessions are needed to remove the tattoo?
How many sessions you’ll need to remove a tattoo depends on many factors like how old is your tattoo, how big it is, what colors are present in the tattoo, is it the original tattoo or a coverup, is there scarring or not. You can generally expect that the smaller and simpler the tattoo is the fewer sessions you’ll need and the larger and more complex it is – the more sessions you’ll need. Usually you can expect somewhere between 5 and 12 sessions to get rid of a tattoo.
How long will it take to remove a tattoo?
The actual laser removal sessions are pretty short and usually take only a few minutes, but you have to wait for about 8 to 12 weeks in between each session for your body to be able to flush out the ink. So it’s quite a lengthy process.
Does laser work for all skin types?
That depends on what kind of laser the clinic has, but if we’re talking simply about technology then yes – there are lasers that work for all skin types.
Does laser tattoo removal work on colored tattoos?
Laser tattoo removal works best on black in, that is the easiest tattoo color to remove and the one you’ll see most success with. When it comes to other colors, they’re harder to remove, but you can definitely fade them quite a lot so that they won’t be as noticeable, or perhaps enough so that you can cover it up with a different tattoo.
How much does laser tattoo removal cost?
The price really varies depending on where you are in the world, which clinic you will go to, the size and specifications of your tattoo, how many sessions you will need, etc. It can really vary between a couple hundred dollars to over a thousand. But luckily for you most clinics offer free (or in some cases, very reasonably priced) consultations which will give you a realistic plan of how many sessions you tattoo removal would take and how much it would cost you.
