Often people do not perceive themselves as they are and try to stand out from the gray mass through all kinds of “tuning” of their appearance, which is expressed in tattoos, piercing, unconventional hairstyles, etc.
However, as time passes, the teenager’s passion fades, tastes can change, or the result is far from desired. Then the question appears: how to return everything to normal?
Hair can be re-colored, and the piercing will heal if you remove the earring, but with tattoos is much more difficult. Or rather, it used to be like that a couple of years ago. Now there are ways to get rid of unwanted or annoying tattoos, leaving no trace on your body. There is a reasonable question: “Does it hurt to remove a tattoo with the laser?”
Ways to get rid of a tattoo
To date, there are several methods to eliminate tattoos, which differ in both technique and performance. However, it is worth noting that almost all of them have one huge disadvantage: after the procedure, there are traces of scarring on the skin.
So, the ways to remove tattoos:
- Disguise involves the injection of a pigment under the skin, which is similar to the color of the skin, that is, disguise is a kind of tattoo on the tattoo, meaning the pigment is applied to an old tattoo.
- The treatment can be called ancient torture because the method involves removing a piece of skin on which the tattoo is placed. That is, the doctor cuts out a part of the skin by surgery (necessarily with the use of anesthetics).
- Cryosurgery involves freezing the part of the skin on which the tattoo is inked. The procedure is carried out using liquid nitrogen, which destroys the upper layer of the skin.
- Electrocoagulation is characterized by exposure to high-frequency current, that is, cauterization.
- Dermabrasion involves grinding the area on which the tattoo is inked, that is, the tattoo is scraped together with the skin.
- Laser tattoo removal is the most progressive as it leaves no trace, and steady progress in laser technology only contributes to this. The laser destroys the pigment using high-intensity light radiation, i.e. the pigment absorbs the laser beam and gets discolored. The procedure easily removes black tattoos, however, with colored tattoos the situation is much more complicated.
Removing a tattoo with a laser does not hurt at all.
The tattoo can be removed in a few sessions, or for more procedures. The fact that it depends on several factors: skin color, ink penetration depth, as well as the age of the tattoo.
Also, you should consider the size of the tattoo, its type, and its color. The combination of all these factors, taking into account the individual characteristics of the client, makes it possible to determine the number of necessary procedures for the complete removal of tattoos.
The sequence of the procedure
Does it hurt to remove the tattoo with a laser? Just before the session, the patient puts on glasses to protect the eyes from laser radiation.
Next, it is necessary to conduct a test for the reaction of the laser. That is, a small area of skin is exposed and thus determines the optimal power for exposure.
Post-procedure treatment includes treatment of the affected area with an ice pack to soothe the skin. The doctor also prescribes a cream or ointment for rapid regeneration. It is also necessary to protect the treated area with a bandage or patch so that the epithelium does not succumb to physical or chemical effects.
The procedure, in general, is easy to tolerate, but if the tattoo is placed on an area with delicate skin, or the patient’s pain threshold is low, then this practice, in terms of pain relief, is quite possible to be and the treatment area is amenable to anesthesia or injected subcutaneous anesthetic.
Lasers for tattoo removal: which one to choose
At the moment, there are several types of lasers, the main purpose of which is to remove tattoos, which have significant differences between them, which we will try to understand.
- The alexandrite laser is effective even in the case of color tattoos, that is, its field of application is quite wide and diverse. However, alexandrite laser is applicable only in the case of tattoos that were not filled deep, i.e. it is not effective for deep tattoos.
- The neodymium laser can eliminate both deep and multicolored tattoos due to the emission of light waves of different lengths, which makes it universal in use.
- The Erbium laser is excellent for shallow, surface tattoos of different colors. This is possible because the laser principle of operation is based on vaporization, that is, evaporation of the skin, which removes the tattoo itself.
As for the question “does it hurt to remove the tattoo with the laser?”, the feelings that may accompany the procedure, are commensurate with those that were at the time of tattooing.
It should be noted that the laser is less painful than the chemical or mechanical action, which is carried out for the same purpose, so do not pay attention to minor physical inconveniences.
Also, it is not right to talk about laser removal as a painful procedure based on only one procedure because each person has a different pain threshold and individual sensitivity.
Negative effects
Even the fact that laser treatment is the safest and most effective does not mean that the procedure is absolute without consequences. The fact is that individual features in combination with non-compliance with doctor’s instructions can cause certain consequences in the form of infectious diseases, burns, swelling, redness, alopecia in the area of exposure, partially left tattoo, and pigmentation in the treatment area.
Note that the laser can not always be used, as there are many contraindications, expressed as inflammation of the skin, wounds, allergies, and oncology. Moreover, the reason for refusing the laser is pregnancy and blood diseases.
As for the duration of tattoo discoloration, the interval between sessions should be 28 days. It is during this time that the skin is completely renewed, respectively, the effectiveness of the previous procedure is visible to the maximum. The number of sessions can vary from 2 to 15. It all depends on the depth of ink penetration, as well as the color scheme.
Positive aspects of laser tattoo removal
The laser units are improving day by day, which makes it possible to say that the quality side of tattoo removal becomes better.
Also do not forget that the laser minimizes the possibility of scarring, which almost always appear as a result of other procedures for tattooing removal.
The laser is safer than other methods because the integrity of the skin is not violated, as well as it is possible to derive different tattoo shades by using beams of different lengths and power.
Conclusions
This article tried not only to answer the popular question “Does it hurt to remove a tattoo with a laser”, but also to show other equally important points that are worth paying attention to. We have compared the types of lasers to choose the most appropriate one and hope to dispel fears about the removal procedure. We all make mistakes and sometimes these mistakes need to be corrected. So it’s a good thing that if you regret a tattoo, you can easily get rid of it with laser removal.
