Erase The Ink

                                                                                                               by Dr. Padmavathi Surapaneni

One in six people has a tattoo. That’s a million tribal armbands - fluttering butterflies, and countless declarations of enduring love. While some people live with these tats, others (20%) end up regretting them and eventually getting rid of them. With a 43% increase in tattoo removal in the last three years, most people have cited different career goal as the major reason - for instance, military regulations forbid tattoos visible above the uniform collar. Other reasons are changes in lifestyle and relations. Previously, many ways were used to remove unwanted tattoos but with incomplete removal and scarring. Today, this is possible. For people who are particularly anxious about tattoos, newer laser tattoo removal techniques can eliminate your tattoo with minimal side effects.

How do lasers work?

Lasers remove tattoos by breaking up the pigment colour of tattoo with high- intensity light beam.

What types of lasers are used for tattoo removal?

Q-switched laser, KTP laser, and Alexander laser, pulsed dye laser and so on. Your dermatologist will decide a laser tattoo removal protocol depending on the colour of your tattoo and your skin type; different lasers could be used in the same session if your tattoo is multicoloured.

What is the removal procedure?

We apply local anaesthesia cream to make the skin numb. All safety precautions are taken; with eye shields, and with cleansing, laser tattoo removal is done under aseptic conditions. The laser makes more than one pass every few minutes for effective removal of the unwanted tattoo.

How many sessions are required?

You may require multiple sessions for effective removal. Depending on the size of the tattoo, amount and type of ink used, an area of the body, four to eight sessions may be needed, over intervals of six to eight weeks between sessions.

What are the side effects?

Immediately after the laser tattoo removal session, there may be erythema and swelling, and sometimes pinpoint bleeding and blister formation. These are temporary and subside in a few days.
There may be a change in a tattoo colour. For instance, white and light-coloured cosmetic tattoos may turn dark due to oxidisation of titanium dioxide in them. Eventually, they fade out but may require a number of removal sessions. Ghost images may nevertheless remain. Your dermatologist may use different modalities of treatment to diminish their visibility. So, laser tattoo removal is a safe new technology to get rid of unwanted tattoos.