Tattoo Removal - About the Treatment  

Most patients find laser treatment of tattoos not too uncomfortable and experience a pricking sensation in the skin. If this becomes too severe, either a local anaesthetic cream or a local anaesthetic injected into the area may be used. If a local anaesthetic cream is used, it must be applied liberally under an occlusive dressing, 1-2 hours before tattoo removal treatment to produce maximum results.

The most common complication following laser tattoo removal is a reactive increase in skin pigment. This increased pigment only lasts a relatively short time, usually 3 or 4 months, before it disappears spontaneously. This is more likely to happen in people who tan relatively easily.

Temporary or even permanent whitening of the skin has been described following laser treatment of tattoos and this is more common if a very high energy levels are used, for instance, with the Ruby laser. However, in most people, whitening of the skin is a short-lived phenomenon, which recovers spontaneously over some weeks or months.

If your tattoo pigment contains iron oxide or titanium oxide, immediate pigment darkening occurs. This is the main reason for the test patch and if present, the laser treated area goes black. It is very important therefore, that a test be always carried out first on your tattoo so that this complication to safe, effective laser treatment, which is fortunately extremely rare, can be predicted.

Tattoo removal treatment with certain lasers can produce an immediate whitening of the skin. This is due to the release of microscopic steam bubbles in your skin. This change usually lasts no more than a few minutes before it disappears, and is a sign that the tattoo removal treatment is working.

It is unusual to develop any bleeding in the treated area at the correct power levels used by me or my medical staff. However, this does sometimes happen. Occasionally and particularly when higher fluence levels are used on a tattoo, it may result in a little pinpoint bleeding. Usually all this requires is a simple dry dressing following the procedure. This bleeding does not have any other harmful consequences and does not lead to scarring.

It is very unusual to develop any scarring at all following tattoo removal treatments with any of our high technology lasers. Indeed, all the tattoo lasers operated by Med-Spa are in contact with the skin for literally billionths of a second.

Once the whitening of the treated area disappears, it is not unusual for the skin to become quite red, swollen and appear inflamed; this may last for several hours. Any discomfort is minimal, and may be controlled using standard painkillers, and the area treated with an ice pack. Aloe Vera gel is beneficial in reducing inflammation.

It is rare for the treated area to become infected because the surface of the skin is not usually broken following laser treatment of your tattoo. If this were to happen contact Med-Spa on our emergency number available 24/7. 07912 481412

It is important, however, to make sure that the areas of your tattoo that have been treated are not exposed to strong ultraviolet light or sunshine after the procedure. We recommend the use of an SPF30 sun protection cream, available at the clinic or complete masking of the tattoo while in the sun during treatment periods.