Tattoos are some of the oldest forms of art, with their significance dating back to over 10,000 years ago. Even though tattoos may serve you as an important identity or reminder for something so intimate about your life, you may want to remove them if you don’t want to be associated with some things about the tattoo anymore.
You may also want to erase your tattoo if you feel that it has lost its meaning. Laser tattoo removal is one of the most used tattoo erasing techniques.
If you’re considering laser tattoo removal in Singapore, but you are not sure whether it is worth it, then we created this article just for you. Keep reading as we explore the benefits and weaknesses of this treatment.
Will Laser Erase Tattoo Completely?
In laser tattoo removal, dermatologists or tattoo removal technicians use a high-powered medical-grade laser that penetrates through your skin to break down the ink into smaller particles. These particles are then removed from your body via the lymphatic system.
Each laser tattoo removal varies in length, usually ranging between 20 minutes and 60 minutes or more for each tattoo. The results from your laser tattoo removal will be gradual, implying that you should expect to see better improvement with each successive tattoo removal session.
Ultimately, the laser will remove your tattoo completely to leave you with flawless skin. Other than removing your tattoos completely, here are a few more benefits you may enjoy with laser tattoo removal.
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Scarless Tattoo Removal
The laser energy used here is carefully designed to target just the tattoo pigments beneath your skin. This implies that it will not injure surrounding skin tissues and cells.
Since the laser doesn’t damage the skin around the area where your tattoo was inked, scarring risks are almost non-existent. This makes it a better option than conventional tattoo removal methods like ‘sanding’ of the skin, which would damage your skin.
Do note that if you got scarring when your tattoo was healing, and it stayed there until the time of removing your tattoo, the laser tattoo removal will most likely not remove that scar. Your skin doctor will explain this during your consultation and probably, recommend separate treatments after erasing the tattoo to remove the scar.
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Minimal Recovery
Once you’ve completed your laser tattoo removal sessions, you only need to keep the treated area protected from the harsh UV rays for some days. You will also only need to keep it clean and avoid using harsh cleansers on the treatment area so your recovery isn’t interrupted.
You may get mild tenderness and redness after treatment which may persist for some days. This effect will also resolve naturally without additional treatment.
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Laser Tattoo Removal is Safe
Laser tattoo removal presents you with one of the safest options for removing your tattoos, provided that you’re the right candidate for the treatment. You have very minimal risks of getting an infection in the treated area.
Perhaps the isolated case would be the unfavorable side effects you’d get after treatment, for example, blistering and pain in the treated areas. Your dermatologist may prescribe analgesics which you will need to use as directed to manage the pain if you find them unbearable.
You will also need to avoid picking on the blisters that will most likely occur on your skin. As a general rule, you will need to leave them bandaged and covered in a salve for a few days before they start depuffing, scabbing, and peeling off your skin and regenerating.
For the aftercare, you will also need specific clothes that do not rest on or rub against your tattoo. If the clothes rub on the lasered skin area where your tattoos were originally located, your skin may itch, and that spot may also hurt. Your skin doctor will most likely recommend an antibiotic ointment or even special healing moisturizers, which you may need to apply around three times daily for the first few days as your skin is healing.
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It can help you Target Specific Tattoos to Remove
Laser therapies can help you remove almost every tattoo color. If you have different colored tattoos, your dermatologist will need to use different lasers for each color.
The laser used here can also target specific tattoos to remove. This would be ideal if you only wish to clear only a specific region of the tattoos.
Are Old Tattoos Easier to Remove?
If you have older tattoos, you may be wondering if they will be more difficult to remove than newer ones. Interestingly, the older tattoos are some of the easiest to remove.
If you have newer tattoos with a large amount of color, you may need more treatments than an older tattoo with lesser color. Besides the fact that older tattoos are easier to erase than the newer ones, you may also need to know that your tattoos’ color may also influence the ease of removing them. For instance, if you have an old black tattoo, you may need just around six laser treatment sessions to fully erase it off your skin.
Risks of Laser Tattoo Removal
There are very minimal risks of laser tattoo removal. Nonetheless, it is still worth knowing them. Here is a roundup of potential laser tattoo removal risks you may need to be aware of before the treatment.
- If you had cosmetic tattoos like eyebrows or lip liner, they might get darker after your treatment. You may need additional sessions to fade them.
- There is also a small risk of hypopigmentation. Hypopigmentation is a skin condition characterized by paler skin patches. If your skin is prone to pigmentation, you may also end up with hyperpigmentation.
- It may take a long to remove your tattoos effectively. There are stubborn colors that are more complicated to remove than others. This implies that you may need to be patient for months or even a few years to erase stubborn tattoos. Colors like black and blue are easy to remove with laser therapies, so if that’s the color of your tattoos, you should expect to have them removed faster.
Wrapping Up
Getting laser tattoo removal is worth it. It is safe, quick and very efficient in clearing tattoos. If you’re concerned that your tattoos may be difficult to erase, send us an email now to book an appointment now with a qualified dermatologist to have it assessed.
