Tattoo Removal

After the pain you endured to get that beautiful tattoo on your leg, the one that wraps itself around your ankle and moves upward to your calf. Now you have this job to-die for and they do not encourage body art! Your only option is to get rid of this form of self-expression and rebellion! Yes, you need to remove your tattoo…! Those two words you wish you never had to focus on…Tattoo Removal!

Tattoos are gaining so much popularity in the world over, and are now seen all cultures, be it western or eastern. Did you know more than ten million Americans have at least one tattoo on their body and that there are more that 4000 thriving tattoo studios all across the country, bringing to life people’s fantasies in color on the skin. But on the flip side is the thriving industry of tattoo removal, its has been found that more than 50 percent of the people who have tattoos regret them later on and go to surgeons for tattoo removal. Earlier the method of tattoo removal was as painful of getting one done, but these days with the advancement of technology it is a fairly simple and painless procedure.

Before we leap forward into the world of tattoo removal, lets get a glimpse at what a tattoo is. A tattoo is a permanent design that has been made into the dermal layer of the skin using pigments and requires rupturing of the top layer of the skin. These days tattoo artists and studios use electric tattoo machines that make the design in the skin.

Now the question to arise is are all tattoos removable?

We have understood that tattoos are permanents, so removing a tattoo completely is going to be difficult and most often surgeons warn people that the whole tattoo isn’t going to come out. There are chances that traces of the tattoo will be left behind but this depends on the size, color and area on which the tattoo is located.

Methods for Tattoo Removal
While talking about these methods of tattoo removal, we are not talking about laser tattoo removal. These are the more primitive methods of tattoo removal, though not hugely popular, they are used.

• Dermabrasion – this is a method that sands off the top layers and middle layers of the skin where the tattoo is.
• Cryosurgery – this is a method that freezes the are where the tattoo is and then the tattoo is surgically removed. This method is very rarely used.
• Excision – this is a more popular method in case laser tattoo removal isn’t possible. This is a method where the surgeon uses a scalpel to remove the tattoo and stitches the wound. There are cases where this method may require skin grafting.

Laser Tattoo Removal
Laser or Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation is the most common method by which modern day tattoos are removed. The laser tattoo removal method doesn’t require a stay in the hospital and in most cases doesn’t even need anesthesia. The laser produces short pulses on intense light that passes quite harmlessly through the layer of the skin and is absorbed by the tattoo. The laser energy works in breaking up the pigments in the tattoo into tiny fragments, which are then discarded by the body’s natural immune system.

Interestingly removing a tattoo is more expensive that getting a tattoo! Ironically isn’t it how expensive your youthful rebellion and exuberance can cost!