That decision to get a tattoo at the time seemed like a great idea. Or maybe it was done on the spur of the moment while with friends, not considering the fact that it would last “forever”. Whatever the reason, now you want it gone.
We always counsel patients who are considering inking their bodies to give serious consideration to the idea. Getting a tattoo is far easier than removing it. And the laser devices that actually work are wildly expensive, which means getting rid of that tattoo is also going to be costly.
Laser technology has changed vastly over the last decade. Now you can get some excellent ink removal, plus you can expect fewer treatments and less painful treatments (though it’s never a picnic!). Because fewer sessions are required over older tech like a q-switched laser, costs are not as much as they were in the past. So think better outcomes with better comfort levels and a lot less frustration.
Black ink tattoos are the easiest to remove and typically results leave one with only the minimum of “ghosting”, such as our patient outcome below. Because lasers target color, tattoos with mixed colors can act almost like blinders to the laser light. This is where a pico second tattoo laser excels because now we’re taking advantage of the acoustic properties that help shatter pigment particles. These results below were accomplished over a period of about 6 months and only 6 sessions with Dr. Jalian’s expertise.
Our practice has experienced excellent results with the enlighten laser. The triple wavelength options and the nano/pico second speeds reach deeper into the dermis to shatter pigment efficiently so the tattoo fades as evenly as possible.
Colored tattoos are more complicated to remove since colors are often layered or mixed, making the “target” less color-visible to the laser light. A major positive with enlighten laser is that the pigment is shattered in part by the incredible speed of the pico laser pulses. A picosecond is a unit of time – which is a trillionth of a second.
Reach out to our dermatology practice in the Larchmont Village area of Los Angeles.
