The time required for a tattoo to fade depends on many factors such as the depth of penetration of the ink, the color or the ink, the density of the ink, the type of ink used, whether the tattoo was done by an amateur or professional, the patient’s immune system and skin type, and location of the tattoo. It is not unusual to require more than 12 treatments, done over several years, to achieve maximum resolution. In some cases it may require more treatments depending on the factors listed above. Treatments are scheduled 6-8 weeks apart.
In some cases, we will rotate between laser treatment and acid treatment. The acid is composed of hops, water lily extract, planeain extract, tea and distilled water. The acid is applied into the tattoo through a rotary needle machine, and interacts with the pigment. Your practitioner will decide which treatment would best suit you.
It is not uncommon for it to take a year or more before there is significant fading. Most people that commit to this treatment need to be patient, persistent and committed to the long haul. Tattoos fade reliably but slowly.
Black and blue work best. Red also responds okay. Yellow is very difficult and green tattoos may end up yellow because only the blue component of the green color may respond.
A non-professional tattoo may not respond to treatment. This is because it was probably placed at the wrong level in the skin where it may not be responsive to the laser light.
A local anesthetic is injected into the skin with tiny needles and will make the procedure completely painless.
As the tattoo is treated with the laser, small white marks will appear all along the tattoo. These will go away within hours. Over the next few days some crusting of the skin may occur. The acid treatment takes longer to recover, and will be oozy for a day or two. Healing time usually takes 7-10 days for the acid treatment.
A tattoo that occupies approximately 2 inches by 2 inches will take 10 to 15 minutes to treat with the laser, and about 15-30 minutes with the acid.
A physician or a nurse practitioner administers tattoo treatments. |
