Pros and Cons of Laser Tattoo Removal
As tattoos have become increasingly popular, the requests for tattoo removal has also increased. Laser tattoo removal is the most popular method for tattoo removal.
Lasers have been used to remove tattoos since the late 1970s. In 1979 an argon laser was used for tattoo removal in 28 patients, with limited success.
In the 1980s, a new clinical study in Scotland into the effects of Q-switched ruby laser energy on blue/black tattoos. Further studies into other tattoo colors were then carried out with various degrees of success.
When ink is injected into the dermis of the skin, thousands of particles of tattoo pigment remain in the dermis. Laser therapy causes these particles to heat up and fragment into smaller pieces, known as the photomechanical effect. In most cases, macrophages carry the ink particles to the lymph nodes closest to the site of the tattoo.
Macrophages are specialized immune cells, whose job it is to surround foreign particles and clear them from the tissue. During the photomechanical effect, the energy is absorbed by the ink particles in a very short time, called nanoseconds.
For laser tattoo removal, the destruction of tattoo pigments depends on four factors:
- The colour of the light must penetrate deep into the skin to reach the tattoo pigment.
- The colour of the laser light must be more highly absorbed by the tattoo pigment than the surrounding skin. Therefore, different tattoo pigments require different laser colours. (eg. red light is absorbed by green tattoo pigments, while yellow tends not to absorb light).
- The pulse (time) duration of the laser energy must be very short.
- Enough energy must be delivered during each laser pulse to heat the pigment to fragmentation.
Different lasers remove different tattoo colours.
- Q-switched Frequency-double Nd:LYAG: 532 nm. This laser creates a green light which is absorbed by red, yellow, and orange pigment.
- Q-switched Ruby: 694 nm. This laser creates a red light which is absorbed by green and dark tattoo pigments.
- Q-switched Alexandrite: 755 nm. This laser absorbs green pigment, does not work well with red, orange, yellow, brown etc. Available in picosecond speed with claims it can remove ink faster.
- Q-switched Nd: YAG: 1064 nm. Works better on darker skin as the light isn’t absorbed by melanin like the ruby.
- Picosecond Laser: Picosecond pulses are more efficient than nanosecond pulses in clearing black tattoos. However in polychromic tattoos the difference is minimal compared to Q-swtiched.
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How Many Laser Sessions are Required to Remove a Tattoo?
The Kirby-Desai Scale for calculating number of laser tattoo removal sessions.
The Kirby-Desai scale is often used to assess the potential success and number of treatments necessary for laser tattoo removal. Patients often receive a poorly defined assessment of the number of treatments and often engage in the process without full awareness of the potential success.
In the Kirby-Desai scale, numerical values are assigned to six parameters: skin type, location, color, amount of ink, scarring or tissue change, and layering. The average number of tattoo removal treatments required using laser was 10 treatments, with a range of 3 to 20 treatments. Treatments must be spaced out 6 weeks apart.
Skin type: Patients higher on the Fitzpatrick scale, (darker skin) are not ideal for laser tattoo removal. They often require longer wait times between treatments due to using the laser on lower settings to try to avoid unwanted side effects such as hypopigmentation.
Location: Blood and lymphatic supply vary anatomic regions. After the laser treatment, the micro-particles are taken by the macrophages travelling to the lymph node, where filtering occurs. The head and neck area maintain the largest amount of regional lymph nodes and have a large vascular supply; thus, they are able to mount an increased immune response to phagocytose the ink particles.
Colour: Tattoo artists use a variety of coloured ink. Colours most often used are black, red, blue, green, yellow, and orange. Colours other than black have been noted to be up to twice the size of the black pigment. These differences in pigment size and composition lead to the difference in amount of treatments needed. Black colour is the easiest to remove with green, yellow, and orange being more difficult to remove.
The amount of ink: In the Kirby-Desai scale, amount of ink is divided into four categories: amateur (letters, words, or small symbols), minimal (one colour, simple design), moderate (one color, complex design), and significant (multicoloured, complex design). Amateur tattoos tend to respond quicker to laser treatment. Professional tattoos on the other hand tend to lie deeper in the dermis and have a greater density of pigment.
PROS OF LASER TATTOO REMOVAL
- Good success rate for most clients.
- Non-invasive. Does not require anesthesia or surgery.
- Newer technologies make it safer and more effective.
CONS OF LASER TATTOO REMOVAL
PicoSure and Q-switched lasers have now become the standard for removal of tattoos.
- Can Be Painful. Many patients believe tattoo removal is more painful than actually getting the tattoo. Besides pain, blistering, crusting, pinpoint hemorrhage, and urticarial reaction can occur. Blistering is a natural part of the healing process of laser tattoo removal.As the laser breaks up the ink in your skin, it can also break tiny blood vessels around the tattoo resulting in blisters, which usually take up to two weeks to heal.
Many of our clients are surprised that our PicoSure laser wasn’t too painful at all. In fact, most are very satisfied with the results and look forward to future treatments.
- Risk of Infection. After the procedure, the skin becomes inflamed which increases the chance of infection. Aftercare instructions should be followed post-treatment.
- Many treatments required. On average 4-8 treatments are required to remove a tattoo with a 6 week between treatments.
- Can Be Expensive. Laser tattoo removal is expensive because the machine is expensive which needs to be factored into the price per treatment. Plus, due to the number of treatments required, a complete removal can cost thousands of dollars.Fortunately at Tattoo Removal Clinic we have simplified the pricing so there is no guesswork on calculating how much your tattoo removal is. Our low FLAT RATE laser tattoo removal is only $197 for tattoos up to 6″ x 6.
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Laser tattoo removal is the most popular method of tattoo removal and the PicoSure laser is the new Gold Standard in laser tattoo removal. If you are looking for either laser tattoo removal or non laser tattoo removal why not give us a call at 647-559-3662 or fill out our ONLINE ASSESSMENT FORM. You can upload your tattoo photo as well so we can have a better assessment of your needs.
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