Reassure your patients that you use proper protocols and a professional-grade system that is safe for their skin. Ultimately, as a practitioner, you'll still want the patient to sign a consent form addressing the risks of the procedure and promote a strong emphasis on personal aftercare outside your practice.
Every tattoo removal practitioner will encounter patients that don't want their tattoos removed completely, but rather revised. Yes, you can provide support to patients looking for tattoo revision. Anyone that is a candidate for tattoo removal liked tattoos enough to get inked at one point in their lives. As a practitioner, you'll want to be sensitive to this and not assume which tattoo a patient wants removed or whether they want complete removal at all.
We always suggest starting out the patient consultation with the question, "Which tattoo are you looking to treat today? Selective removal patients are looking to erase a part out of a larger tattoo piece. This is a common request for patients with name tattoos. For example, they like the overall design of their tattoo but dislike that it features an ex-boyfriend's name.
Patients also request selective removal if their tattoo artist botched the artwork in an area or the tattoo extended further than they wished — they just want certain parts of the tattoo "cleaned up. Generally, selective removal patients want complete removal of the specific areas they want erased, but sometimes they want it faded in preparation for a cover-up tattoo. Cover-up patients only want their tattoo faded down to make it easier for their tattoo artist to design a tattoo to be drawn in its place.
Tattoo fading needs fewer sessions than complete removal. Often 2 to 3 laser sessions are adequate to fade the tattoo significantly and allow the tattoo artist to have a better canvas to work on. Having established relationships with local tattoo shops will be a great asset to your practice. Not only will you likely get patients referred to you by the tattoo shops, you'll also feel confident referring patients to artists that provide quality work for cover-ups, touch-ups, and revisions.
Side effects are to be an expected part of the tattoo removal process for most patients. In fact, some side effects are an important part of the immune response that helps eliminate ink from the skin. We encourage practitioners to not gloss over side effects during the initial consultation — explain the various side effects in full detail. This way, when your patients commit to the tattoo removal process, they're informed and aren't shocked the next day when their skin is sensitive and they are potentially limited from their normal activities or clothing.
The most common side effects are:. If all of the proper protocols are used based on the tattoo and the patient's skin tone, all of these side effects are temporary. Redness, tenderness, and swelling typically subside within a day or two following treatment. Blisters usually appear within 24 hours of treatment; sometimes the blisters are very large and may look alarming — this is completely normal.
Scabs, bruising, and blistering may take up to a week or longer to heal. Hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation occur when the body's production of melanin is skewed after a laser treatment. With hyperpigmentation, the body overproduces melanin in reaction to the laser treatment, so skin in the treated area is darker than the natural skin tone.
With hypopigmentation, the melanin is depleted by the laser treatment and the skin appears bleached. Both hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation are typically temporary and resolve naturally with time. Patients with middle to darker skin tones are at the greatest risk for pigmentation changes and should avoid sun exposure the weeks following each treatment.
For patients with pigmentation issues, do not treat at the regular treatment intervals — wait until the area has returned to its normal skin tone before treating again. The main risk for permanent pigmentation changes is if the practitioner continues to treat an affected area too aggressively.
Even from the start, it is important to treat darker skin tones conservatively — using wavelengths that have less absorption by melanin and reduced fluence levels. Patients are generally more concerned of permanent side effects than temporary ones; the side effects that could be permanent are scarring or pigmentation changes. All permanent side effects are completely avoidable if the proper protocols and aftercare are used. We encourage practices to discuss aftercare during the consultation, have aftercare posted clearly on the website, and give patients a take-home sheet of aftercare instructions.
Much of the aftercare for a tattoo removal treatment are similar to that of aftercare after having a tattoo applied, so patients should be familiar with it. How does laser tattoo removal work? Honestly, this is one of the least common asked questions on this list. Your clinician may recommend applying an antibacterial cream to the treated site as it heals to avoid infection and reduce scarring. The treated area will likely feel painful and raw for several days after the procedure.
Your skin may look red or pink during this period. Full recovery can take two to three weeks. The pinkness of the treated area usually fades in 8 to 12 weeks. Make sure the clinician has proper licensing and good reviews, too. Tattoo removal creams are the most widely available and least expensive option. According to experts and anecdotal evidence, the best these creams do is fade or lighten a tattoo.
Another option is to cover the unwanted tattoo with another tattoo. This is known as the cover-up method.
Yes, it involves adding more permanent ink to your skin, but it can be used to mask a tattoo that you no longer want. A cover-up can be a cost-effective, quick option for disguising the tattoo you already have. Larger, more time-consuming pieces can run into the thousands. Since cover-up tattoos often take more planning and time to ink onto your skin, they may cost more than your original tattoo.
This may involve creating a design with heavier lines, more shading, or unique shapes. Many tattoo artists are quite skilled at creating new designs to hide unwanted tattoos. After you agree on a design, your tattoo artist will apply the cover-up just as they did your original tattoo. Your tattoo artist will give you instructions on caring for your new tattoo. After washing, pat-dry your tattoo. After those few days, you can wash your tattoo once a day and apply unscented lotion to the tattoo twice a day.
If the tattoo gets very dry or itchy, apply a thin layer of unscented lotion to get some relief. Avoid swimming, sun exposure, and tight clothing, which may stick to your cover-up. Within a few weeks, your tattoo should be completely healed. Make sure your tattoo artist is wearing gloves and using sterilized equipment.
Read reviews before booking your appointment. These zones are usually treated in a longer span of time in order to deal with the pain more efficiently. Multiple appointments are usually taken for very sensitive areas.
The color of the tattoo also affects how soon it can be removed. If the tattoo is multicolored it will take longer to remove it as different colors require different wavelengths of light to be dissolved.
Some colors are easier to be removed. These are black, brown, green, and dark blue. Colors that are harder to remove are orange, light blue, yellow, and red. The darker the shade of the tattoo is the closer it is to the surface of the skin.
This tattoo will be removed easier than if the color is in the deeper part of the skin. With time, tattoos fade away. The ink breaks down in the skin and becomes less noticeable. This is why older tattoos are easier to be removed with the lasers than new ones. One tattoo removal method that isn't talked about as much is semi-removal—i.
If you don't want to take your tattoos all the way off, you can simply lighten them enough to get some good cover-up work done. I have a friend who had a bird piece lightened enough to have a tattoo artist ink a lightbulb over the top. I thought it was smart because it meant her new tattoo didn't have to be heavy-handed.
If, like me, you want your ink completely removed, you should know that the skin that is left might not be flawless. While the risks are nowhere near as big when you are treated by a removal specialist or medical professional, your skin pigment can be lightened.
Which, again, is all the more reason to refer back to the first point on this list—go to a qualified doctor or specialist. Lauren Chan is a fashion expert and designer in New York City. Follow her lcchan. By Whitney Perry. By Deanna Pai. Rewards Free Stuff Promos. It might be worth getting a cover up tattoo instead of a full tattoo removal.
Know that the process could leave scarring.
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