Tattoo Removal

 

Early methods carried a high risk of scarring, were painful and not very effective. The introduction of Q-Switched lasers greatly improved the process, allowing physicians to eliminate most tattoos with a high degree of success and very low risk of scarring. Our Q-Switched Nd:YAG lasers that uses PhotoAcoustic energy is the gold standard lasers for tattoo removal.

Lasers target tattoos with a very specific wavelength of light energy – in fact, a separate wavelength is needed for each ink color. Our Laser gently penetrates through the skin so it can target the tattoo pigment. The light energy gently vibrates and shatters the tattoo ink into micro-particles that are eventually eliminated through the body’s natural processes. Because the laser delivers the energy in a very precise ‘beam,’ physicians can trace the design without damaging the surrounding skin.

Our advanced lasers, which has four wavelengths, can target most multi-colored tattoos, including dark colors, red, orange, green, sky blue and yellow.

You may just wish to replace a tattoo with another one. With the Q-switched laser this would be quite safe.

Old black tattooes generally do well, and need fewer treatments. However, many new cheaper inks are now imported from Asia, and have a variety of unknown pigments, which may not respond to the usual wavelengths. Because of this, the number of treatments is unpredictable. Red is unpredictable, and green, sky blue, and yellow are difficult to remove. Black generally responds well, as do oranges and purple. Therefore we cannot guarantee a result, and sometimes we may not know how a particular colour will respond until after a few treatments. We will tell you if we feel it is not worth pursuing any further.

It is important to realise that the laser is not removing the pigment – the laser shatters the pigment into smaller particles, so the blood cells are able to swallow them and remove them from the site. If there is a dense load of pigment, you may not see any fading for the first few visits.

Some say that the treatment feels like a rubber band snapping on the skin. This may be so in the last treatments, but we advise that everyone takes a Neurofen or Voltaren tablet an hour before, (as long as your stomach tolerated anti-inflammatories) before the treatment. At the time of treatment we cool the skin down to a very low temperature. You will still feel some pain, but we adjust the amount of energy in the laser so that is well tolerated. Fortunately most treatments are very fast.

Please feel free to phone us with questions, or email a photo for a price estimate per treatment. The number of treatments required is unpredictable, and may vary from 4 to 20 (uncommon).