"Unhappy Pictures": tattoo removal is not an easy task

Thanks to tattooing, humanity satisfies one of its key needs - the need for self-expression. At the same time, situations are possible when a tattoo from a source of pride can eventually turn into an excuse for regret. How to help a client get rid of a once-beloved body painting and avoid the undesirable consequences of its removal?

Touching upon the topic of tattooing, experts insist on a high level of motivation - a person's confidence that a tattoo on the skin is vital for him. It is no coincidence that in our time, the so-called false tattoos are widespread - drawings that are applied to the surface of the skin with washable substances (for example, henna) and last for a few weeks. It's also a good rehearsal, a way to test how comfortable you feel with a real tattoo on your body. By the way, mini-tattoo is a fashion trend of the last season, and continues to maintain its position this year.
But back to our question: what to do if the tattoo is categorically not to your liking? And the point here is not only in fleeting fashion, radically changed views, new status or dress code of the employer company. Indeed, over time, the drawing can stretch and get an extremely unattractive look. In this case, it is permissible not to remove the tattoo, but to correct it, improving and even significantly altering the image, or cover it with another pattern (to produce the so-called cover up). Such methods are suitable for the correction of small works of tattooing and require special skill from the master in performing the work.

If your client decides to completely and irrevocably remove the tattoo, you should warn him that this will take more time and money than applying it, and also get ready to find a solution to the problem of residual effects on the skin.
Absolute contraindications for tattoo removal:

• injuries and diseases of the skin in the affected area;

• cardiovascular and acute infectious diseases;

• epilepsy;

• oncology;

• pregnancy.

Removal difficulties

Removing a tattoo is a complex procedure. For this, the master will need to undergo preliminary specialized training, purchase a high-quality apparatus, equip his office or salon accordingly. The client will have to visit the master's office more than once. The exact number of sessions must be determined by the removal specialist before starting the procedures, based on the size of the pattern, the depth of penetration of the paint, the thickness of the skin, the gender and age of the wearer. In practice, it has been proven that professional tattoos are easier to remove than amateur ones. It is easier to work with relatively fresh drawings. Finally, you need to remember that it depends only on your qualifications and removal technique whether scars remain on your client's skin and how noticeable they are.

Not just a laser

Relatively recently, one of the most common methods of tattoo removal was dermabrasion, or grinding, - sequential cutting of skin layers with a dermatome. After such a procedure, swelling forms in the injured area, and then a dry crust, which disappears after a few weeks. The main dangers of dermabrasion are scarring and tissue infection. Note that today this technique is used very rarely, more often they turn to the method of layer-by-layer exfoliation of the upper layers of the skin with a stream of aluminum salt crystals acting under a given pressure.

You can also get rid of a tattoo by electrocoagulation - when the pattern is cauterized with electrodes using high-frequency current. Please note that if not professionally performed, the operation is fraught with burns. Following removal, a dry scab forms on the treated area, which disappears after seven to ten days.

In cryosurgery, liquid nitrogen is used to reduce tattoos. Matter impregnated with this substance is pressed against the skin area - as a result, a burn appears, then the treated area swells and begins to get wet. Sometimes a blister appears on the injured area, after two or three days it turns into a dry crust. After a week, the crust disappears, and a pink scar remains on the skin. Over time, it brightens and becomes almost invisible.

Today's lasers

With the advent of laser technologies in aesthetic medicine in the 80s of the last century, tattoo removal moved to a qualitatively new level. Lasers made it possible not only to get rid of tattoos of any complexity, but also to correct them. The basis of laser skin resurfacing with excimer or CO2 lasers is the thermal effect on the anatomical tissue with its subsequent evaporation. In terms of safety for health and painlessness, this technique undoubtedly surpassed the methods mentioned above, but it did not avoid obvious disadvantages - long healing, high risk of scarring and the danger of incomplete removal of color pigment from the skin.
Today's lasers project a beam extremely selectively, working only with tattooed areas and not affecting healthy tissue. Light pulses act on the dye, absorbing light and converting it into heat energy. The paint particles absorb the energy of the laser beam, explode and split into tiny fragments that the body removes with blood and lymph.

Today, several types of lasers are used in cosmetology. The ruby laser is typically used to remove blue, black and green pigments located in the upper layers of the skin. This laser is not suitable for removing deep tattoos. To reach the desired layers of the skin, it will be necessary to increase the intensity of the light beam, which is fraught with pigmentation disorders and scarring. In addition, the ruby laser is slow and the reduction of large-scale drawings will take a lot of time. The alexandrite laser is similar in its mechanism of action to the ruby one. It also does an excellent job with shallow dark tattoos, has the same side effects, and is also powerless over some shades of pigments, although it works much faster.

The neodymium laser is considered practically universal. It simultaneously operates with several waves of different lengths, successfully copes with both dark and colored tattoos, perfectly removes pigment from the deep layers of the skin. The skin after tattoo removal is restored within seven days, and completely heals in three weeks. It is not surprising that the price of neodymium laser procedures is quite high.

The main advantage of the neodymium laser is that it does not damage tissue, and, as a rule, does not lead to scarring. This technology creates conditions for the immune system that allow effective removal of the dye. A laser beam with a wavelength corresponding to the color of the dye destroys the paint particles into smaller fragments that are accessible to phagocytes - "eating cells" of foreign bodies. Complete removal of the color pigment usually occurs in 3–7 sessions over a period of 6–12 months. It is recommended to remove permanent makeup with a neodymium laser. Although sometimes it is difficult to remove permanent makeup with this laser in the lip area. After this first session, the crimson pigment may turn black. Today, in order to predict the reaction of a dye to the effect of a neodymium laser, so-called pigment passports are created, where it is supposed to indicate the laser wavelength that is most favorable for removing one or another dye from the skin.

Laser technologies delicately eliminate the consequences of incorrect or unprofessional tattooing, for example, the deplorable results of incorrect dye injection technique. In permanent make-up, clients most often come to the removal procedure with a damaged eyelid shape, unnatural eyebrow color or skewed lip contour. It is important that the laser does not violate the integrity of the skin - this is especially valuable when exposed to the skin of the face.

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