It is impossible to accurately predict the number of treatments necessary as it depends on the amount of ink used and how deep the ink was inserted. However as a guide most professional tattoos will require at least six to twelve treatments. Follow up treatments are conducted at no less than 4-6 week intervals. Further fading can occur for several months after each treatment.
A laser that is used for tattoo removal is a highly focused laser that rapidly delivers a beam of light to the skin for the purposes of removing unwanted tattoos. The laser is attracted by darker colours found in the ink of the tattoo in preference to the lighter colour of the skin. When the beam of the laser strikes the ink in a tattoo it shatters the ink into very fine particles. These particles are then no longer visible to the eye and become small enough to be absorbed and removed by the body’s own natural filtration (lymphatic) system.
The Q-Switched Nd YAG Laser is specially designed for the purpose of tattoo removal. This laser allows very high-powered laser light to be delivered to the skin over a fraction of a second. This minimises any damage that could be caused by overheating the surrounding skin and hence any chance of scarring is greatly reduced.
Generally, treatments are quick and clients experience only minimal discomfort. The older the tattoo, the more treatments may be necessary and different colours and more intricate designs may also require additional treatments.
