It costs very little to be tattooed. It is much more difficult to remove it. Decorative tattoos are an ancient form of body adornment and are more popular than ever. Your spouse, however, may not appreciate a beautiful multi-colored butterfly on your shoulder as much as you do.

Whatever the reason, removing tattoos has become easier with the Q-switched Ruby or Nd:YAG laser. The laser is "magnetized" to the color put into your skin. Using a special light, it passes right through the skin without damage, and delivers its energy directly to the color-packets deep beneath the surface. These packets are shattered into many smaller pieces and are removed by the body's collection system.

Things like the age of the tattoo, whether it was done by an amateur or professional artist, its location on the body, its size, and the number and colors used all affect how successfully it can be removed. Professionally placed black or dark-blue tattoos are most responsive to laser treatment. The number of treatments required to treat a tattoo varies from person to person, and it is difficult to determine how much of the tattoo will disappear. Multi-colored tattoos usually respond less quickly and require more treatments. On average, a small blue-black single tattoo (about the size of a silver dollar) requires 3-5 treatments.

The sensation of the laser has been compared to that of the sting of a rubber band on the skin. We recommend that you use EMLA cream to numb the area before the procedure. There may be some pin-point bleeding after the procedure, but this will resolve by the time your next treatment is scheduled. The treatments themselves are usually scheduled at four week intervals so that we can see how well you are doing.

If you interested in this treatment, or have questions, please call the office to schedule a consultation, or speak to your nurse. There is, as always, no charge for the initial consultation visit.