How Many Treatments Are Needed Before A Tattoo Is Fully Removed?

Tattoos used to be forever. But for some people, tattoos become permanent reminders of a big mistake. Breakups and lifestyle changes can mean the design (especially if it’s a name) and location of your tattoo now just causes embarrassment. But if you have a tattoo you regret, you don’t need to cover it with clothing or more ink. Now unwanted ink can be safely and effectively removed using laser technology.

How does laser treatment remove tattoos?

Precisely targeted laser beams fragment the ink pigments, creating minute fragments. These miniscule fragments are then removed by the immune system.

How many treatments does it take to remove a tattoo?

The amount of treatments you need depends on the tattoo: its size, its location on your body, its colours, and the depth of ink. Older, faded tattoos are easier to remove than newer, brighter ones. And of course successful removal depends on the skill of your dermatologist and the type of laser they use.

• Size: Larger tattoos, obviously, take longer to remove.
• Location: tattoos on your arms, hands, and legs take longer to remove.
• Colours: Black tattoos are the easiest to remove. Brightly coloured inks take longer
• Ink depth: if you have already had a cover up tattoo, there will be more layers of ink to remove, which takes more sessions.

As mentioned, laser treatment breaks up the ink particles under your skin. Your body’s immune system removes these particles as part of the natural healing process. The tattoo will gradually lighten as the ink particles dissipate, but this process takes time. It may take weeks before you notice a change, and may even take several laser treatment sessions.

Laser tattoo removal treatments must be scheduled a few weeks apart, as your skin needs time to heal from the laser micro-wounds between sessions. If the skin does not have time to heal, scarring and unwanted pigmentation can result.

On average, sessions are scheduled 4 to 8 weeks apart.

Although the size of the tattoo is a key factor in the removal time, on average successful removal requires at least 5 treatments. This could be as long as 40 weeks, or even longer.

Lifestyle changes to improve healing time

As your body’s natural healing process removes the ink particles, its essential that your immune system is healthy. If you smoke, you should quit. Excessive exposure to the sun’s UV rays should also be avoided.