You may want to remove your tattoo for personal reasons or it might be for professional circumstances. Either way, the best and most effective way to remove tattoos has to be laser tattoo removal. Not only is it safe, but it has a very minimal chance of causing a severe reaction. You may still be a bit worried and think will laser treatment scar the skin? And how will the tattoo look after the procedure?
People often overthink and get stressed regarding laser treatment. A laser beam hitting the skin and causing some level of pain can stress anyone, it is completely understandable. But there is nothing to worry about. I will be explaining how the procedure is done, how the tattoo will look afterward, and a few aftercare tips that can put your mind at ease.
What Does A Tattoo Look Like After Laser Treatment
Right after the laser treatment, your skin may get white frosting which could last for about 30 minutes and then your skin may get mild swelling, redness, and irritation. Your tattoo will look faded after 2-3 laser treatments and will be removed after getting around 6 sessions.
Over this long period, you might be concerned about how your tattoo will look like. To ease your mind I have provided some detailed info on how your tattoo would look like during the healing time after laser removal.
Right after the session
You may get frosting because the ink particles will create carbon dioxide after being broken down. Not to worry as this white frosting will go away within 20 to 30 minutes. You apply ice packs over the affected area to reduce discomfort. The tattoo may look slightly faded if you have a light-colored tattoo. But a deep-colored tattoo may look the same after the first laser session.
After an hour of the Session
The first laser tattoo removal is always the worst one. It will be the first time that you probably had concentrated beams of light penetrating your skin. This is done so that the lights can help break up the pigments in the tattoo ink.
For the first three days, your skin will be extra sensitive. The tattooed area may look:
- Swollen
- Reddish
- Blisters
It will go away within a few days as your skin heals. The surrounding tissue will be safe but may show signs of trauma like being raised or appearing red.
A few sessions later
After a few tattoo removal sessions, you can expect that the tattoo will look considerably faded. Some of the sections of the tattoo will also be completely gone. The sections of the tattoo that have more ink packed in the skin will be noticeably faded but it will still show on your skin.
The redness and blistering will still be there after each tattoo removal session that you go through. As your skin gets used to the lasers, the redness and blisters will be considerably less each time.
After each laser tattoo removal, you will notice the tattoo either looks more faded or completely gone. It will be dependent on how big the size and how deep the color of the tattoo is.
After the last session
Immediately after the last session, you will notice the final bit of your tattoo still remaining. This is also normal as the body needs to work to get rid of the remaining broken-down ink pigments.
It will naturally fade away as the body removes the remaining ink from the skin. This means that you should not do anything extra. Just proceed with the normal aftercare for laser tattoo removal and the skin will look just like it did before you got the tattoo!
How Laser Removes Tattoos
Wondering how laser tattoo removal works and helps to eliminate tattoo regret? Laser treatment targets the tattoo ink pigments either using light energy or sound energy. Laser technology has come a long way, and now the latest technology PicoWay laser uses sound energy instead of light. But both can work well to break down ink pigments and then your body’s immune system or white blood cells plays a crucial role in getting rid of the broken-down tattoo ink particles. This removal process is safe and scarring rarely occurs.
Healing Process & Time For Laser Tattoo Removal
The recovery process is quite simple. You may or may not get white frosting right after the treatment which can last for half an hour. The first 3 days your will will remain super sensitive. Then for the next few days to a week, the lasered skin may feel raised, look a bit red, and may cause pain. But after a week things should get better as your skin is healing. For your lasered skin to become completely normal it may take around 4 to 6 weeks of healing time. In some cases, the healing process could take up to six to eight weeks as well.
The tattoo removal healing process can be shortened or lengthened depending on quite a few factors, a few such factors are:
- Body’s immune system
- Aftercare
- Lifestyle habits
- Size of the laser-treated area
Among these factors, aftercare and the immune system play a vital role. If you follow the aftercare instructions and have a healthy immune system then the recovery process will be much faster.
Before And After Photos Of Laser Tattoo Removal
Check out some of the before and after photos of going through laser tattoo removal below:
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Aftercare for Laser Tattoo Removal
Remember, each laser session will fade more of your tattoo and help you reach your goal of complete tattoo removal. Even if you are not satisfied with the result after the first session, you should the aftercare instructions properly. It can fasten healing and help you to avoid scarring.
1. Apply ice cubes to soothe the skin
You may get white frosting right after the treatment which can last only a few minutes. To get rid of the frosting and sooth the skin you may apply ice cubes or cold compress using a towel.
2. Keep the area bandaged
It is highly recommended to keep the lasered skin bandaged for the first 2 to 3 days. Because your skin will be extra delicate during this time, a bandage can help to protect it from possible issues.
3. Clean the area
Use an antibiotic solution to clean the area for the first few days till you take off the bandage.
4. Wash the area twice a day
Take off the bandage after a few days and start washing with a gentle cleanser that does not have fragrance. In some cases, the skin can stay extra sensitive for up to a week, in such circumstances just be extra gentle with your skin.
5. Moisturize
Keep the area moisturized by applying a quality moisturizer or a healing ointment that has moisturizing properties.
6. Apply sunscreen
After the first 3 days of laser tattoo removal healing, you can start applying sunscreen on the lasered area. It can protect your healing area from the harmful UVA rays and UVB rays of the sun.
7. Avoid rubbing or picking on scabs
Avoid rubbing, scratching, or picking on scabs. As it can delay the healing process and can even lead to scarring. Your immune system plays a crucial role, if you have a strong immune system then you will face very minimum scabbing issues.
8. Avoid making the healing complicated
Avoid soaking the lasered area right after the treatment and avoid direct sunlight, swimming pools, etc. until your skin is fully healed. These can irritate the healing area and make the healing process complicated.
Types of Laser Tattoo Removal: What They Look Like
As technology has advanced, so have the types of tattoo removal. Some want to remove all of the tattoos while others would like to remove only certain parts of it. Here are the types of laser tattoo removal and what they will look like.
Selective removal
In selective tattoo removal, you can expect certain parts of the tattoo to be completely gone! The laser technician will carefully work on the parts that you want to remove. If you are concerned about the surrounding tattoo, you wouldn’t have to worry at all. The precision of picosecond lasers is such that they will only work on the area where you are getting removed.
If you are worried about the surrounding tattoo, you will only notice redness on the edges and it will be a bit swollen and cloudy in the areas. Blisters will not form on the area that the laser hasn’t passed over.
Fading for touch-ups and cover-ups
Another thing many people like to do is get tattoo removal with lasers to help make touch-ups and cover-ups easier. Your tattoo will fade with time as your body continuously tries to attack the tattoo pigments but they are too big for them to completely break down. The lasers have become so precise that you will only have faded tattoos that will be easier to touch or cover up.
As these types of laser tattoo removal usually gentler intensity of light, you can expect less redness and swelling on your tattoo after laser treatment. The tattoo would look a bit cloudy but that will be because the ink pigments are broken up and create a cloudy and blurry view of the tattoo. After your area has healed from the laser removal, your tattoo will look considerably faded.
Complete removal
Complete removal, as the name states, means that you are completely removing the tattoo ink from your skin. Much like selective removal where only a part is removed, complete laser removal will result in your skin looking exactly as it did before your tattoo was placed. It will look exactly like how I have mentioned the different stages of the laser removal so expect that for complete removal.
Scarring After Laser Tattoo Removal Session: Does It Happen?
What most people fear is that the laser removal will leave a scar on where the tattoo used to be. However, I will say that this is more dependent on your aftercare than the technician. A reputable skincare or laser tattoo removal technician is trained to work as precisely as possible to make sure there is no scarring. Lasers are used to treat scars so there should be no scarring left if the procedure is done correctly.
The area will be very sensitive to light and touch after getting laser removal. For example, if you get a sunburn on your skin that just got a laser tattoo removed, you can expect the area to be scared. If you itch or rub on the healing area, you are more likely to leave a scar on it! So make sure you use a non-fragrance sunscreen on your skin after getting laser removal so that you can keep it safe from sunlight. Wash it twice a day and apply a mild moisturizer to keep the area from drying out. Do not scratch or pick on scabs or healing skin after the laser tattoo removal process.
In case by accident you get any scars you can minimize the scar by using vitamin E oil. To avoid accidents, let the healing process be completed then you can scratch it like regular skin without any worry.
Final Thoughts
Laser removal is considered to be the safest option to get a tattoo removed. Before you decide on anything you may go for a free consultation and gather some knowledge regarding the laser treatment.
There will be some side effects such as redness, dryness, blistering, and swelling, but these are normal. After being treated by the laser, your skin is bound to go through a certain level of trauma and these are the signs that your skin is healing. The tattoo will look more faded with each passing session while on the last session, it will have almost completely removed. Remember that your body will work to remove the last bit of ink after your last session so don’t be too worried about that!
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