Laser Tattoo Removal

Overview | Treatment | Before and After Pictures | Cost

Having a tattoo is extremely commonplace in today’s world. Over the past several years, tattoos have become an exceedingly popular way to express individualism and style. It’s estimated that one in every 10 people has a tattoo. While the demand for tattoo art has increased, the demand for tattoo removal has also. The laser tattoo removal business is booming.

New technology is being developed to meet this growing demand. Lasers work by breaking up the tattoo ink particles into smaller bits that the body will “see” as foreign and work to clear naturally. Unfortunately, what only took a few hours to create still takes several months or more to get rid of. Laser tattoo removal is still a slow process.

If you’re thinking about laser tattoo removal, you’re not alone. Many people consider the procedure. It is effective even if it takes a while to complete. There are usually three main questions that people have when they first consider laser tattoo removal: how much will it cost, how many treatments will I need and how much does it hurt?

For the first two questions, there is no one, exact answer. The shape, color(s), size, and location of your tattoo all figure into what the cost will be to remove it with the laser.

You should know upfront that multicolored tattoos are harder to get rid of. Blue and black ink are ideal colors for laser tattoo removal, as they provide easy targets for the laser’s energy. But if you’ve got a tattoo with a lot of colors, you will most likely end up spending more to get it removed.

The size, shape, and location of your tattoo all matter too. A smaller, simply shaped tattoo on your arm is much easier to treat (and get to treat) than a large, intricate design on your inner thigh or underarm area. The time that it takes to treat the tattoo counts toward the overall cost of treatment.

The last point about the cost to discuss is whether your tattoo was done by an amateur or a professional tattoo artist. Amateurs tend to use different inks and equipment to place tattoo ink than professionals. Because of this, they tend to be easier to remove and will cost you less to treat with laser tattoo removal.

Now, on to the last question. Yes, laser tattoo removal is uncomfortable. This answer is virtually the same for every person across the board! Most people describe it as a sensation of sharp, needle pricks on the skin—not a lot unlike getting the tattoo in the first place!

This feeling of sharp needle pricks occurs as the heat energy that’s generated by the laser is absorbed by each ink particle in the skin which triggers it to shatter, breaking into many smaller ink particles. The reason that your tattoo lasts forever is that untreated ink particles in the skin are just too big for your body to get rid of on its own. The laser assists the body in this process by breaking up the ink into small, little particles that the immune system can digest and carry away by your lymphatic system to be removed completely. Over time, as there’s less and less ink that needs to be cleared, your tattoo will virtually fade and disappear!

If you’ve got a tattoo that you really don’t like and want to have removed with a laser, we want you to know that no matter how large, multi-colored or intricate your tattoo may be, virtually any tattoo can be successfully removed over time with laser tattoo removal. It is not hopeless! Please give us a call today to schedule your free laser tattoo removal consultation. We provide services in either our Torrance and Los Angele offices and we look forward to helping you decide if laser tattoo removal is the right choice for you!