I'm going for my consult tomorrow. Even though my doctor will answer some questions, I wanted some advice/info from people who have actually had it done.
I've heard mixed things about it...
My tattoo is roughly 5 inches in height and 4 inches wide, across my lower back. It is all black. Some of it has already faded after having a few tatgoneink sessions and a few at-home chemical peels. I'm wanting laser surgery to hopefully remove the rest of it quickly.
My questions are:
1) Does it hurt badly?
2) If so, was this with or without numbing creams/injections?
3) And are numbing creams worth investing in or is the pain all the same?
4) My skin is EXTREMELY pale. I've never tanned, it is transparent white... are my chances of not scarring/discoloration better?
5) How long did it take for anyone with an all black tattoo to be removed?
I hope that this helps:
I have had laser removal of a tattoo. I do not actually know which kind of laser it was, but it was at a plastic surgeon's office. (I have also had laser hair removal, it is a different kind than those used to remove tattoos.)
Anyways; here's what happened with me:1.) Yes, it hurts, far worse than getting tattooed. I am no wuss, I have had at least 40 hours of tattooing done. One piece took 25 hours to complete, of course, it was not done all at once.
2.) Yes, Emla was applied 1 hour before the laser, and then just before the procedure, they used an ice-roller to cool the skin.
3.) Yes, the numbing creams are worth it. I went in for one treatment that I did not leave the cream on for long enough, and it was way worse.
4.) I am a Geman from Wisconsin, so I am very pale as well.
5.) My tattoo was a solid black scorpio symbol, 2 1/2 inches high by 2 inches wide (approximately). I went in for 4 treatments, and it did not get completeley removed. It ended up being still very visible, and we ended up covering it with another tattoo.
6.) I know that you did not have a number six, but here is my 2 cents worth: Yes, it will be ver painful, use the numbing cream, and expect it to take a while to heal (2 weeks). The first few days after, the area will be very sore and reddened, you will not even want to put pressure on it. It will feel like one of the worst burns that you got in your life. Take care of it to keep it from getting infected afterwards.
i work in a piercing studio in australia and one side of our business is laser tattoo removal. i am not the operator of the machine, but i talk to people all day about them.
firstly, the best machine to use is a Q-Yag laser. this is fast and effective and the best colour to get rid of is black, so your in luck. the only ink that cant be removed by any machine is an iron oxide based ink. this is mostly used in older red inks, but sometimes in black. the only way to know if its in your ink is to have a test patch done on your tattoo.
the process works better and quicker on older, faded tattoos. about 3-5 treatments i think would be nessacary. lasers will remove a tattoo completely but you may have to go for extra treatments to get rid of the shadow on the skin.(especially for very light skinned people) you should leave 6 weeks between any treatments to let the skin heal.
numbing creams are definately worth it. emla is the best and you should put it on an 1 1/2 hours beforehand. the shots with the laser feel like a rubber band being snapped on your skin and there is a burning sensation afterwards, so its a good idea, if they dont supply a cold compress, supply your own.
lasers only hit the pigment, so pale skin isnt a problem. lasers make the patch of skin kind of like albino skin until it has healed, so you will experience blistering and bad sunburn if you expose it to sunlight for too long. pale skined people actually respond better with more effective healing than people with deep tans.
1) It hurts! But it all depends on your tolerance for pain. All I can say is that it really does hurt more than getting a tattoo. It reminds me of getting popped with hot oil over and over again.
2)I never wanted to take or put anything on it. Its bearable.
3)I would say don't bother. If you want, take some pain relievers a half hour before, but I don't know how effective it'll be.
4)I think discoloration may be noticable, but hey, its better than having the tattoo.
5)I had a small tattoo on my ankle, which wasn't even that dark, but it took me about a year+, and its still there cuz I didn't continue my treatments. But, it probably wasn't as effective as a private doctor's office because I was receiving free treatments from a government funded program (I think the laser machine was outdated or something)