Whilst every client and every tattoo is unique, most professional tattoos will take between 5 and 10 treatments for complete removal and most amateur tattoos will need between 1 and 3 treatments.
Generally, amateur or homemade tattoo may be removed within 3 to 7 sessions, while professional tattoos done with harder inks can require anywhere from 8 to 20 treatments. It is possible for some tattoos to require more than 20 laser treatments.
Although it is not possible to predict the number of sessions required for complete removal, most patients generally need 6 – 8 sessions. Larger tattoos may take 10 treatments or more. To make sure the skin heals properly in between each session, our administrative staff schedules appointments 6 – 8 weeks apart.
How Long Will Tattoo Removal Take? On average, it takes approximately two years between 10-12 sessions to see complete removal results. The time between treatments will vary based on skin type, ink density, location of the tattoo, and your overall health will play a factor in your removal results.
Today's treatments can completely remove a tattoo and give you back the skin that you thought you might have lost forever. Not only do they tend to be more effective, but many of them are less invasive and painful than tattoo removal treatments in the past.
Does Laser Tattoo Removal Leave Scarring? It is very uncommon for a patient to scar from laser tattoo removal treatment when the proper laser protocols and patient aftercare are followed. If the skin already has irregularities such as scarring expect that to remain after laser tattoo removal.
Does tattoo removal hurt? Laser tattoo removal typically does involve some level of pain. That said, many say that it hurts less than they expected. It's a common belief that tattoo removal is excruciating, yet most patients say that the sensation of removal is comparable to having a tattoo applied.
Older tattoos are easier to remove because they've already been exposed to the sun and absorbed by the body for some time. New tattoos can still be erased using the same laser removal techniques but they take more sessions.
Once the tattoo removal process is completed, it's best to wait at least 6 weeks before getting a new tattoo on the treated area. Many artists will suggest waiting 6 months before receiving the cover up.
Once weakened, the bonds of those particles break apart, making them harder to see until your body can get rid of them completely. One session is enough to notice a difference, but full tattoo removal is accomplished over the course of multiple appointments.
Generally speaking, it is best to start laser tattoo removal treatments sooner rather than later, and we don't necessarily recommend waiting 9 months to get started, but winter is the easiest time of year to recover.
We need to address a misconception: tattoo removal creams don't actually remove tattoos. Instead, the tattoo removal creams can fade and re-color the skin around the tattoo to make the artwork less visible. If you want genuine removal, you'll need to shell out for (and suffer through) laser or surgical tattoo removal.
Complete removal, depending upon the size and color of the tattoo, usually requires more than one treatment, Treatments are usually scheduled six weeks apart. The results from each tattoo removal session are not visible for about six weeks. Therefore, six weeks is usually the recommended time between sessions.
Black tattoos are the easiest to remove because the laser is able to target the black pigment more precisely. Other colors such as red, blues, and greens can become more difficult to remove depending whether the tattoos were amateur or professional. Green is the hardest color to remove followed by light blue.
Factor One: Tattoo Age and Location
If you have a tattoo that's several years old, your tattoo removal may be easier. Older ink tends to be somewhat faded, which makes them easier to have removed than a newer tattoo. Location also plays an important factor.
Laser Tattoo Removal Could Be the Right Choice for You
Proven to be safe and effective over years of use, laser treatments harness the power of concentrated light to shatter apart those unwanted ink particles, breaking them down into small enough sizes that the body can then flush them away naturally.
It is possible for a tattoo to appear darker after laser treatment. One reason for this is that once ink has been broken up by the laser, the immune system is free to move the smaller particles around in the skin. The immune system can flush the ink away internally or push it out externally.
Laser tattoo removal not fading can be caused by several factors. Some of which are the type of laser used, laser wavelength and ink colour, the laser technicians experience, recovery time between each session, and your immune system. Tattoo removal using laser treatment is not magic.
If proper protocols for treatments and post-care are followed, all of these side effects are temporary. Redness, tenderness and swelling typically subside within a day or two post-treatment. Blisters usually appear within 24 hours of treatment. Scabs, bruising, and blistering may take up to a week or longer to heal.
Typically, you will start to see tattoo fading around sessions 3-5 which is optimal for people who are seeking removal for a cover up, but it will likely take 10-12 sessions to see complete removal results.
“I don't want my kids getting tattoos,” Wahlberg revealed during a January 2012 interview on the Today show, explaining that he slowly removed all “six or seven” of his designs.