What Are the Ways to Remove Tattoos? 3 Tattoo Removal Options You Have
Did you know that 25 percent of people who get a tattoo regret it? Regardless, thirty percent of the American population is inked.
If you’ve found this article, you’ve heard the horror stories. There are a lot of different ways to remove tattoos.
The procedure can also be expensive and uncomfortable, which can make it even more difficult to choose which route to take is best.
In this article, we break down every type of available treatment and you will be able to confidently choose the best way to remove your tattoo.
Contents
Laser Tattoo Removal
The laser tattoo removal industry earned $82 million in 2018 and continues to grow. It’s safe to say that it’s one of the most common treatments for getting rid of unwanted tattoos.
Tattoo laser removal works in a very similar way to the ways other cosmetic laser treatments work. The lasers target pigmentation in the skin.
The high-powered light of the laser dissolves the ink into microscopic particles. After this, they pass through the body’s natural processes.
Laser tattoo removal requires many treatments for tattoos to fade, much like how laser hair removal or photo facials need many treatments.
Scarring is minimal when compared to the tattoo removal options mentioned above, but the healing process can leave scarring, depending on your skin sensitivity.
It’s important to note that getting a tattoo removed by the laser can be very painful, but none of the common methods is a walk in the park.
1. Skin Excision
This is a very extreme, but effective way to remove tattoos. This is the surgical elimination of skin where a doctor cuts away all the inked skin. This method creates the most scarring.
Skin excision is also only effective with minor tattoos. Surgically removing large areas of skin can be very complicated and high-risk.
2. Salabrasion and Dermabrasion
This tattoo removal method is one of the most archaic. It’s not used in the modern world, but it’s worth mentioning.
Salabrasion uses the logic that consistent abrasion to the epidermis and dermis will eventually wear away the tattoo. Salabrasion uses saline or a salt and water solution. It’s applied to the skin with a tool like a tattoo needle or microdermabrasion tool.
To understand how this works, you first need to understand how tattoos work. The epidermis is the outermost layer of skin, the one you see and sometimes scrape or burn. The epidermis is fragile, so tattoos are applied to the dermis, which is the layer of skin underneath the epidermis.
To reach the dermis, tattoo artists use a needle that pierces through the epidermis and penetrates the dermis of the skin. This ensures that the tattoo won’t peel off when the skin heals and that the tattoo will stick.
The goal of salabrasion is to rub away the skin of the dermis that is hosting the ink of the tattoo. As you can imagine, having salt rubbed through the layers of your skin is not an enjoyable process.
For deep tattoos, salabrasion doesn’t always go deep enough to completely remove the tattoo. This process also causes obvious scarring to the skin.
3. Injections for Tattoo Removal
New tattoo treatments that inject chemicals into the skin have become more popular. These chemicals are applied to the tattoo and then they soak into the cells colored by ink.
The chemical solutions use the body’s natural processes to remove tattoos. The injectables let the body know that the tattoo ink is an unnatural infiltrator. Once the body goes into defense mode, it will start to reject the tattooed area of the skin. The body will push the tattoo to the surface of the skin where it will scab and fall off.
Injections will take many treatments to get the desired results. These treatments are still new and more testing is necessary to get conclusive and consistent results. They could end up being an option that offers no scarring and minimal pain for treatments.
Should You Try Tattoo Removal Cream?
Remove your tattoos in the comfort of your own home for $20 and without pain. Sounds too good to be true, right?
Well, unfortunately, it is.
Nothing other than the medical procedures, like laser tattoo removal mentioned in this article, are proven to work for tattoo removal. There are cosmetic skin lightening products on the market that do work, but using them as a way to remove tattoos is not effective.
These ointments do not penetrate the dermis of the skin. They will only slightly lighten the tattoo. It will end-up just looking old and faded.
What are the Safest Ways to Remove Tattoos?
It’s important to not lose sight of the fact that tattoo removal is a medical procedure.
There are videos and tutorials on the internet where people claim to have perfected the at-home tattoo removal treatment. Undertaking these procedures can lead to severe scarring, infections and other complications.
But no matter what people on the internet say, these are not smart ways to remove tattoos. It might be cheaper than going to a medical office, but it’s not worth the risk. Like other medical and cosmetic treatments out there, don’t succumb to the temptation!
Get Rid of Those Tattoos Today
The FDA has approved many devices used for laser tattoo removal and dermabrasion. When considering getting treatment, ensure that the devices are FDA approved. Always have the procedure done by a trained doctor.
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