With very small tattoos, some cosmetic surgeons will perform an excision. This basically means cutting out the tattooed skin and sewing the remaining edges back together. There is a small amount of bleeding associated with this method but is usually managed easily. When this application is used on larger tattoos, its process is repeated several times starting with the removal of the center of the tattoo and working outward. In some cases, a skin graft from another part of the body is inserted where the tattooed skin is cut out. The advantage of excision is that the entire tattoo is completely removed, but the risk is that there will be some scarring where the skin was sutured back together.
Your plastic surgeon may also try dermabrasion on your tattoo. This involves temporarily "freezing" the affected area with a chemical then sanding it down with a small abrasive rotary. The sanded skin will peel off, removing the inked area. There will be some bleeding, so a bandage will be necessary for a few days afterwards.
One of the safest and most popular methods today however, is laser tattoo removal. After the application of topical anesthesia, laser beam pulses are aimed at the skin to break up the inked pigment. The pigment is then absorbed into the body after which the immune system works to expel the tattooed cells, gradually removing the coloring. It usually takes several laser treatments (between 5 and 15) though to completely remove the appearance of the tattoo. The number of treatments is determined by the size and the amount of tattoo; the ink used, and the colors of ink that were used.
The Recovery and Risks
With laser tattoo removal, the pain is very minimal. In fact, most patients say it is less painful than getting them done in the first place. The amount of time it takes for completely healing is different for all because it depends on the immune system of an individual's body. There are very few risks with the laser technique, although one potential side effect may be skin discoloration in the area of the tattoo. Sometimes a bit of the normal skin is removed, leaving the skin permanently lighter in that patch.
The Results
While every tattoo can be reduced in appearance, some are easier to remove than others. The removal of smaller tattoos will generally have better results than the removal of larger one's. Tattoos with red, black, dark orange and blue coloring are more easily removed than those with brown, purple, green, light orange and blue inks. The final results are also typically more favorable for those with lighter skin tones than those with darker ones. In any case there will usually be some discoloration or scarring.
