Patience is key when it comes to laser tattoo removal. Sessions are typically spaced about 6 to 8 weeks apart to allow your skin time to heal and your body to process the ink fragments. This waiting period is crucial to avoid skin damage and ensure the best results. The healing process is essential for minimizing the risk of scarring and other side effects, as it allows the skin to recover fully before the next laser treatment.

Spacing sessions appropriately also ensures that the immune system has adequate time to effectively remove the fragmented ink particles, contributing to a more successful outcome. For some individuals, particularly those with larger tattoos or those with certain skin types, waiting even longer between sessions might be recommended to optimize results. Listening to the advice of your technician and not rushing the process is vital for achieving the best possible outcome.

During your consultation your provider will develop your treatment plan with pricing.

It does hurt but the pain is bearable. Some patients feel that the laser treatment is more painful than getting the tattoo and others feel that it is less. The good news is that each treatment is much faster than getting the tattoo. Topical over the counter lidocaine may decrease the discomfort associated with each treatment session. It is best to apply a thick layer over the top of the area to be treated and then apply plastic wrap or a Tegaderm patch over the treatment area. Do not apply lidocaine to large areas such as a full arm sleeve as it may cause lidocaine toxicity. The laser-treated area may be sensitive to touch for a short period of time and can possibly blister, but this resolves quickly.

This is dependent on the size and colors of the tattoo. Small black tattoos may take less than a minute. Larger tattoos will take more time. We generally recommend that you do not treat more than 30 minutes at a time. Remember, it is your immune system that needs to respond to the treated ink. If the immune system is overwhelmed, you may receive less improvement per treatment.

The goal of using newer lasers for tattoo removal is to avoid scarring. The Quanta Q-Plus Q-switched laser decreases the risk of skin changes and scarring. If there is scarring within the tattoo before treatment the scarring will remain.

Yes, this is a very common request secondary to misspellings, wrong dates, and other issues such as an unwanted name in a tattoo. The laser is very precise but it can affect the ink around the treated areas and may require a slight touch-up by your tattoo artist.

Yes, this is another very common question. We often have patients who do not like their old tattoos or have lost the personal meaning and would like to cover it up. We like to work very closely with the artists you will be using for the cover-up tattoo. We want to give the tattoo artist as clean a canvas as we can. This will allow the tattoo artist freedom with their design.

At Lazaderm® we will not treat during pregnancy. Your health and the health of the baby are our number one priority. Also, tattoo removal is based upon the response of your immune system and during pregnancy, your immune system will not be focused on removing ink from your skin as it has better things to do.