Tattoo Removal
Oh, the regrets of permanent ink. Once acceptable for only sailors and prisoners, tattoos have gained wider acceptance. In fact, everyone from college students to grandparents can be found at a local tattoo parlor receiving a permanent artistic expression. So what do you do when your feelings and thoughts about a tattoo image change? Or you want to remove a tattoo from a very public place on your body?
Just as cosmetic surgery procedures have improved, tattoo removal is also better than the old methods that produced permanent scarring that often looked worse than the tattoo itself. Another reason for the improvements in tattoo removal procedures is the growing demand for permanent makeup applications. While permanent makeup is very convenient, there may come a time when a woman wants a different shade or keep up with modern fashion.
There are three main ways to remove a tattoo, laser removal, Intense Pulse Light therapy, and various topical creams to promote fading. The effectiveness and scarring of these procedures really depends on how deep the tattoo was applied. For the best results in tattoo removal, hope your tattoo artist has a light hand!
Lasers and Intense Pulse Light (IPL) use light energy to break the ink particles up for removal by your immune system. The darker colored tattoo inks are the easiest to break up, since inks of lighter colors take specialty lasers for removal. Topical creams usually use a chemical to promote the skin's natural exfoliation process to remove layers of skin and promote fading that would occur normally with aging.
All tattoo removal procedures are going to run in the thousands of dollars for complete removal. One way to defray these costs is some churches offer discounted tattoo removal services since their belief systems do not condone the permanent marking of the body. One would assume membership of the church is heavily encouraged.
Laser tattoo removal is known as a very painful process. Considering the relative pain of getting a tattoo in the first place, this may not be a real detriment to those serious about tattoo removal. The pain is described like a grease splatter, and there is nothing that prevents use of a local anesthetic other than it might cost more. IPL uses a weaker light signal than a laser, and a gel as a medium to intensify the impact on the ink molecules, without an increase in pain.
There will still be scarring associated with tattoo removal, though today's procedures are able to minimize the signs of scarring. One reason for this is there is a scar from the original tattoo, it is just masked by the ink. Once you remove the ink, that scarred skin is still there. Also, all of the tattoo removal techniques out there today typically require multiple sessions or applications, and the more sessions it takes the more likely damage will occur to the skin.
After a successful tattoo removal, clients can look to dermabrasion procedures and other cosmetic procedures specializing in scar reduction. Another solution for tattoo removal, though it doesn't technically remove it, is to buy a cover up. Some clients will use a tattoo removal technique to fade the tattoo, and then work with a tattoo artist to develop a suitable cover up. This is especially common in the case of names, or gang symbols.
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