A few years ago, getting that tattoo was all you wanted! Now getting rid of it is all you want! According to research, at least 24% of people in the 18-50 age group have a tattoo and about 17% of them want it removed. Well, if you are among those who wish to remove tattoos, you are not alone! Tattoos are meant to be permanent. So when you try to remove them, the success rates generally depend on the size of the pigment and the color of your skin. The good news is that with today’s advanced laser tattoo removal technology, you can easily get rid of that tattoo with the least amount of pain.
Spraise and Dermabrasion
The deinking of tattoos has undergone a great transformation in recent decades. There used to be a technique called dermabrasion. This technique involves scraping or sanding the tattoo. Another technique used is salabrasion. In this technique, the salt solution is rubbed onto the skin, heated, and then scraped off. Both methods leave wounds when the tattoo is removed.
Surgery
By surgically removing the tattoo, it is more likely to leave a scar. The process involves surgically removing the skin with the tattoo and stitching the adjacent skin together. It’s good for small tattoos, and it gets tricky when it comes to removing larger tattoos. In both cases, the procedure will definitely leave scars. Cryosurgery is also used to remove tattoos. This procedure freezes: burns the tattoos with the help of liquid nitrogen and removes the tattoo.
Quality switched lasers
The best known method of removing tattoos is using switched quality lasers. This beam looks for changes in contrast in skin tones and tattoo ink and then pulses intensely on the skin and breaks down the ink into particles small enough that the body can absorb them.
The greater the contrast between the skin and the ink, the easier it will be to remove the tattoo. Black ink on fair-skinned people is the easiest to remove and white fluorescent colors are the most difficult.
However, the tattoo cannot be removed all at once. There are at least five to twelve sessions and these sessions take at least 6 months to complete.
Also after laser tattoo removal, the skin looks a bit burned and medication is applied to return it to its normal state.
Whichever treatment option you choose, make sure you are fully aware of the amount of pain and scars and your options for recovering from them. If your tattoo is small and the scars are going to go unnoticed is another story, but if you have a large tattoo to remove, make sure you select the correct method and understand all the side effects and post-operative care.