Why lasers don’t remove tattoos 100%
The real answer to the question of why lasers don’t fully remove tattoos is that we simply don’t need to try to laser it 100% away. The less we can attack the skin with a laser, the better. Laser tattoo removal always has a risk of scarring or pigmentation changes, but if we can avoid that, we always will!
How a laser removes ink
Tattoo removal lasers break the ink in your tattoo down into tiny particles. This allows your body to remove and flush these particles. Over time and with repeated laser sessions, your tattoo will away”
Tattoo removal isn’t a short process, and if you want removal with no scars, blistering, or pigment loss then you have to have a bit of patience. You’re not going to hear a laser technician tell you “lasers don’t remove tattoos 100%”, ever. Why would we want to be negative to you about the process? My approach to this business is to educate as well as be honest. I do my best to educate my clients about the process as much as I can, simply because you should always know what you are getting into and exactly how it works.
Is there a faster way to get tattoo removal?
Yes – with a major catch. There are “faster” ways to make it happen out there, but I can tell you from my experience those only lead to scars. Now ask yourself this “do I want a scar of this tattoo left on my body when the process is finished?” 9 out of 10x the answer is no. So why rush things? This is definitely a time when taking the long road helps immensely.
Full tattoo removal typically takes 12/13 sessions and we strive at all times to make sure you only go home with red swollen skin that will heal up in 24/48 hours. The idea is to keep the laser breaking up the ink to the best of its ability without hurting your skin in the process. Throughout your laser process, you’ll see the tattoo breaking up slowly, typically you don’t see a huge difference right away, it’s around treatment 3 or 4 that you really start to see the results happening. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule but all of this information is simply the averages of what we see in the industry.
When will the tattoo be 100% gone?
Upon your last session, it is very common for you to be left with a light grey version of your tattoo, I like to call this a “shadow”. The remaining ink particles left over will eventually be eaten up by your body over the course of a year or so. Again patience is key. Below is a great example of what your body will do in 1 year’s time.
How the body is doing its job.
First, we have the original Tattoo, a Dark black outline with grey wash shading and a little red and yellow in the face. This type of tattoo is one you will generally deal with the line work the most, as the shading isn’t done very heavily and should give us great results quickly.
Next, we have the tattoo after 6 treatments and you can see a significant difference which is what we always strive for at the 1/2 point to full removal.
This client was going to do a coverup eventually so at this point we went as far as we needed to in order for them to be able to get a brand-new tattoo. The key to coverups is to get the old ink light enough that the tattooer won’t have to compromise the new design as well as having this tattoo show up underneath the new one after the new ink settled in their skin. You can learn more about the coverup process in my article here.
Now, this is my favorite part, this is that same tattoo 1 year later having never treated it beyond her initial 6 treatments. This shows you what the body is doing on its own and again how patience is key here.
Not only Is fading of the tattoo significantly better but their skin looks amazing as well. no scars, no loss of pigment, etc.
Since lasers don’t remove tattoos 100% we have to rely on the body and the body never really stops working until it simply has no ink left to take care of.
In Conclusion
Lasers don’t remove tattoos 100% but your body is also a factor in the removal process. The body is an amazing thing! It’s also great to know that there are options out there that leave us with beautiful skin and great results at the same time. I know searching for laser tattoo removal and looking at images on Google can be a super scary thing so I really hope this post will give people hope and more worthwhile information.
Thanks for reading.