Where to get tattoos removed

While McKinnon hopes to set up Fresh Start as a not-for-profit to make treatment more financially accessible, others are exploring novel ways to help clients push past the pain barrier. Like Davidson, Hayden says many of her clients are aspiring actors or Nida students wary of putting themselves at a disadvantage in the casting process.

Grasby talks to their clients about their work, and what might be acceptable, before any ink meets skin. Between those extremes lies a vast spectrum of industries where tattoos are more readily accepted. During surgical removal, the skin is numbed with an injection of a local anesthetic. The tattoo is removed with a scalpel, and the edges of skin are stitched back together. After the procedure, antibacterial ointment helps promote healing. Surgical tattoo removal is effective — but it leaves a scar and might be practical only for small tattoos.

During dermabrasion, the tattooed area is typically chilled until numb. Then the tattooed skin is sanded down to deeper levels with a high-speed rotary device that has an abrasive wheel or brush.

This allows the tattoo ink to leach out of the skin. The affected area feels sore and raw for several days after the procedure. Recovery can take up to two to three weeks. Due to unpredictable results and less effective outcomes than laser or a combination of laser and excision, dermabrasion isn't a common choice. Tattoos are meant to be permanent, and complete tattoo removal is difficult. Some degree of scarring or skin color variation is likely to remain, regardless of the specific method of tattoo removal.

Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Tattoo removal is a procedure done to try to remove an unwanted tattoo. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Saedi N, et al.

Tattoo removal. During the initial consultation while you are assessing the tattoo, touch it and see if pre-existing scarring is present. If so, mark it as such in the patient's records and inform the patient that the laser will not eliminate scar tissue, just their ink.

A Q-switched laser is not the best device to use for scar revision and will not provide significant improvement to remaining scarring. Some skin specialists use fractional lasers such as fractional CO2 or an Erbium:Yag laser like the Astanza DermaBlate to resurface scarred skin after the tattoo removal process. While it is uncommon to cause scarring from the laser tattoo removal sessions themselves, it is still possible.

For example, if you use excessive fluence when treating a tattoo and cause unwanted side effects such as immediate pinpoint bleeding , scarring may occur. Another risk for scarring, even if the treatment is performed properly, happens when patients fail to follow aftercare instructions.

Blisters and scabs are common side effects that are important in the tattoo removal healing process. However, picking scabs or not caring properly for blisters can allow scarring to happen. When discussing aftercare with your patients, make sure to emphasize their role in the outcome of their tattoo removal.

There are also some patients that may have a history of keloids and may be predisposed to scarring, which is why it's important to take a detailed medical history of each patient.

Reassure your patients that you use proper protocols and a professional-grade system that is safe for their skin. Ultimately, as a practitioner, you'll still want the patient to sign a consent form addressing the risks of the procedure and promote a strong emphasis on personal aftercare outside your practice.

Every tattoo removal practitioner will encounter patients that don't want their tattoos removed completely, but rather revised. Yes, you can provide support to patients looking for tattoo revision. Anyone that is a candidate for tattoo removal liked tattoos enough to get inked at one point in their lives. As a practitioner, you'll want to be sensitive to this and not assume which tattoo a patient wants removed or whether they want complete removal at all.

We always suggest starting out the patient consultation with the question, "Which tattoo are you looking to treat today? Selective removal patients are looking to erase a part out of a larger tattoo piece. This is a common request for patients with name tattoos. For example, they like the overall design of their tattoo but dislike that it features an ex-boyfriend's name.

Patients also request selective removal if their tattoo artist botched the artwork in an area or the tattoo extended further than they wished — they just want certain parts of the tattoo "cleaned up.

Generally, selective removal patients want complete removal of the specific areas they want erased, but sometimes they want it faded in preparation for a cover-up tattoo. Cover-up patients only want their tattoo faded down to make it easier for their tattoo artist to design a tattoo to be drawn in its place. Tattoo fading needs fewer sessions than complete removal. Often 2 to 3 laser sessions are adequate to fade the tattoo significantly and allow the tattoo artist to have a better canvas to work on.

Having established relationships with local tattoo shops will be a great asset to your practice. Not only will you likely get patients referred to you by the tattoo shops, you'll also feel confident referring patients to artists that provide quality work for cover-ups, touch-ups, and revisions.

Side effects are to be an expected part of the tattoo removal process for most patients. In fact, some side effects are an important part of the immune response that helps eliminate ink from the skin.

We encourage practitioners to not gloss over side effects during the initial consultation — explain the various side effects in full detail. This way, when your patients commit to the tattoo removal process, they're informed and aren't shocked the next day when their skin is sensitive and they are potentially limited from their normal activities or clothing.

The most common side effects are:. If all of the proper protocols are used based on the tattoo and the patient's skin tone, all of these side effects are temporary. Redness, tenderness, and swelling typically subside within a day or two following treatment. Blisters usually appear within 24 hours of treatment; sometimes the blisters are very large and may look alarming — this is completely normal.

Scabs, bruising, and blistering may take up to a week or longer to heal. Hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation occur when the body's production of melanin is skewed after a laser treatment. With hyperpigmentation, the body overproduces melanin in reaction to the laser treatment, so skin in the treated area is darker than the natural skin tone.

With hypopigmentation, the melanin is depleted by the laser treatment and the skin appears bleached. Both hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation are typically temporary and resolve naturally with time. Patients with middle to darker skin tones are at the greatest risk for pigmentation changes and should avoid sun exposure the weeks following each treatment.

For patients with pigmentation issues, do not treat at the regular treatment intervals — wait until the area has returned to its normal skin tone before treating again.

The main risk for permanent pigmentation changes is if the practitioner continues to treat an affected area too aggressively. Even from the start, it is important to treat darker skin tones conservatively — using wavelengths that have less absorption by melanin and reduced fluence levels. Patients are generally more concerned of permanent side effects than temporary ones; the side effects that could be permanent are scarring or pigmentation changes. All permanent side effects are completely avoidable if the proper protocols and aftercare are used.

We encourage practices to discuss aftercare during the consultation, have aftercare posted clearly on the website, and give patients a take-home sheet of aftercare instructions. Much of the aftercare for a tattoo removal treatment are similar to that of aftercare after having a tattoo applied, so patients should be familiar with it. How does laser tattoo removal work? Honestly, this is one of the least common asked questions on this list. Most patients are concerned about the results — not how the laser achieves them.

That said, discussing the science behind laser tattoo removal should still be an important part of the patient consultation.