How To Get A Stick And Poke Off – Specialist Guide In 2023

Since the time of ancient Egypt and Greece, tattoos have been a thing. It might be hard to believe that tattooing was possible back then but it was done with a needle and ink. The method that is used for tattoos done like this is called the stick-and-poke method. As the name suggests, the needle is poked into the skin, and ink is transferred into the dermis layer. While the technique might be ancient, it is still around today! Some people may get it, but they often regret it.

So how to get a stick and poke off? Contrary to popular belief, the ink using this method is still hard to remove! It is not an easy rub-off as the ink is embedded into the dermis. There are many DIY methods circulating the internet. So I will take a look at those methods to get rid of a stick-and-poke tattoo and give my opinion on them because some are very dangerous!

Key Takeaways

• There are many reasons that someone might want to remove a stick and poke tattoo, ranging from personal to professional reasons.
• There are many types of tattoo removal for stick and poke tattoos. I have divided them into natural and medical methods.
• The tebori is a traditional Japanese hand tattooing, one of the few methods of getting a stick and poke available today.

Why Get Rid of a Stick and Poke Tattoo?

There are many reasons why someone might want to get rid of a stick-and-poke tattoo.

So let’s look at some of the common reasons why

• Job prevention: some jobs do not allow the presence of a visible tattoo
• Fading: stick and poke tattoos can fade faster due to the quality of the ink
• Prison: stick and poke tattoos are most popular in prisons. One might want to forget their time there by getting the tattoo removed
• Infection: due to the less sterile ink used, it could be an unhygienic way to get a tattoo so removal is the best option to prevent infection
• Becoming less meaningful: the meaning behind the tattoo might not have changed so you want to remove it
• Regretting the design: stick and poke tattoos are not really precise if not done by a professional so you want to remove it because it looks bad

There are more reasons that you could want to get rid of the tattoo, these are just some of the more common reasons.

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Removing Stick and Poke Tattoo: 7 Methods

There are many ways that people swear by that will take off any type of tattoo, regardless if they are stick-and-poke or not. Some of these methods use natural ingredients while others are done professionally. So let’s look at these methods in detail. I will also be commenting on the effectiveness of these methods and if it is recommended or not.

Methods 1 through 4 are natural DIY methods.

Method 1: Salabrasion

Salabrasion is a really fancy way of saying salt rub. What you do is basically rub salt on the tattoo until it fades away. Salabrasion does this by opening the epidermis layer of the skin to get to the dermis layer where the ink is set.

Then the salt does its work to slowly break down the ink pigments which are then transferred to then broken down by the macrophage in the body. The capillaries transfer this to the liver where the ink pigments are broken down and passed out of the body.

How to use

Clean the tattoo area and then dip a microfiber towel in salt. Picking that up, you will have to rub the area of the tattoo for about 30 minutes. Apply antiseptic cream over the eventual wound.

Recommendation

Absolutely not! The pain that you will be receiving for how little effectiveness it will give you is not. You will end up ruining your skin in the process while also ruining your tattoo, not removing it at all. It can help to fade the tattoo slightly, but otherwise, it will not do much more than that!

Method 2: Lemon Juice

The idea behind lemon juice is that it has acidic properties which can interact with the tattoo ink to help break it down. Lemon juice also has bleaching properties which have the possibility to fade the tattoo.

How to use

Rub some lemon juice on the tattoo area about 5 times a day. Leave it on for 20 to 30 minutes before wiping it off. You can also use a combination of lemon and salt rub.

Recommendation

Not highly recommended. While it can help, it will probably be around 3 months before you see any results. The lemon juice will also make your skin tight and irritated with repeated use. It also does not penetrate the dermis layer at all! If you use lemon and salt rub, it will hurt your skin more than do any good. You could try this method but it will do your tattoo no good whatsoever.

Method 3: Sandpaper

The idea is the same as salabrasion. It is meant to open up the epidermis layer of the skin so that the ink can bleed out of the dermis layer.

How to use

Simply sand away the area until it starts to bleed the ink.

Recommendation

Absolutely not! This method could be effective but it will ruin your skin before getting rid of the tattoo. While it might be a stick-and-poke tattoo, the method won’t be able to remove the tattoo without experiencing excruciating pain first.

Method 4: Honey, Aloe Vera, Yogurt Paste

This method is to lighten the tattoo first with the help of honey and aloe vera. The aloe vera will soothe the skin while the honey will lighten the tattoo and eventually fade the tattoo through extended use.

How to use

Mix 2 tablespoons of honey, aloe vera juice, and yogurt together to create a thick paste. Then apply the paste over the tattoo once per day.

Recommendation

I can recommend this method for small tattoos and lighter colors in the tattoo itself. It is simply painless but not that effective. You won’t be seeing the tattoo fade any time soon, needing several months before you start seeing any effect at all. However, it is good for the skin so it is worth trying if you want to use it to eventually fade the tattoo.

The next few methods are medical procedures that need to be done by professionals, so I won’t be including how to do these methods. Be sure to consult a physician about any of these methods.

Method 5: Excision

This is a surgical method where the layer of tattoo is surgically removed from the skin and then the surrounding skin is stitched back together. It is done with local anesthesia around the tattoo so you will be up for the procedure and requires several sessions to carefully remove the tattoo.

Recommendation

I don’t recommend this method. It might be an effective method but it will leave a scar on the skin that will take years to heal. You can get this done for small tattoos that don’t cover a large area but otherwise, it is not worth experiencing the pain during and after the sessions. The number of sessions will start to cost a lot for this method.

Method 6: Dermabrasion

This is a medical tool that is used to open up the layers of skin to get at the tattoo ink in the dermis layer. It is effective for ink that is embedded deep in the skin but might not be something that works on all skin types. There is also the fact of how thick the skin is. So it will really depend on the site of the tattoo.

Recommendation

I can recommend this method if the tattoo is in an area where the skin is thinner. It will remove the tattoo but it will be painful to get the procedure. The cost is also not as much as other types of medical procedures. But you will need to talk to a doctor because it won’t be suitable for all skin types.

Method 7: Laser Tattoo Removal

With the use of lasers, the tattoo ink is heated up to break up the pigments in the tattoo. Different ink requires different wavelengths to help break up the ink so it can safely be passed out of the body.

Recommendation

I highly recommend this method. It might be painful and you might experience blistering of the skin, but it is also the safest and most effective method for removing stick and poke tattoos. It is also costly because the number of sessions required to remove the tattoo will be high, up to 15 sessions of a very large tattoo over the course of a year at most.

Japanese Stick and Poke Tattoos

They are called tebori tattoos. It’s a method of hand tattooing by having the needles stuck at the end of a bamboo and poked at the skin so that the ink has an entry point. They are most famous for being the type of tattoos that members of the Japanese mafia families, known as Yakuza, get to establish an affiliation with a certain crime family.

Surprisingly, people have noted that this method of tattooing is not as hurting as a tattoo machine because of how carefully the skin is being punctured by expert Japanese tattoo artists. This type of craft has been honed for hundreds of years and is still popular today.

These tattoos are also much safer than prison or DIY poke-and-stick tattoos and the method has been regarded as part of the Japanese tattoo culture. Nowadays, only a handful of master tattoo artists are able to do such type of hand tattooing and are considered to be the best in the world.

FAQs

Are tebori tattoos safe?

Tebori tattoos are considered to be safe practice by Japanese tattoo artists, who are known for their hygienic practices. These tattoos also do not hurt as much as regular modern-day tattoos if they are done correctly.

How long do stick-and-poke tattoos last?

They could last for years if the ink is properly set in the skin. The deeper the ink is, the longer it will last.

How many sessions of laser tattoo removal are needed to completely remove a tattoo?

It will depend on the size of the tattoo. A small tattoo will need less than 6 sessions, a medium tattoo will need less than 10 and large tattoos might need over 15 sessions to completely remove!

Final Thoughts

There might be a lot of DIY methods available on the internet but they are unsafe and cause irreparable damage to your skin. Natural methods like honey, aloe, and yogurt paste are harmless and could fade the tattoo over, but none of the methods will completely remove the tattoo overnight.

You will need to be patient with removing stick-and-poke tattoos as the ink is embedded in different layers of the skin. Each section of the skin will have a varying degree of success at removal so be warned about DIY methods as a result.

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