Tattoo Removal

Laser Tattoo Removal is a growing trend among those who had tattoos done when they were younger, but now view it as outdated or detrimental to their career and lifestyle. Others have become dissatisfied with the quality or subject of the tattoo. What may have seemed like a good idea at the time has become embarrassing or annoying.

Whatever your reason for removing a tattoo, laser treatments are the most common and effective method used for erasing them. Other treatments such as dermabrasion, salabrasion or skin grafting have given disappointing results and the use of lasers has become standard treatment. Topical creams and other over-the-counter remedies have proven ineffective.

 

What to Expect:

The procedure

Dr. Maguire believes that you shouldn’t have to endure pain in the process of tattoo removal. You dealt with enough discomfort when having the tattoo performed in the first place! That’s why he performs numbing injections of local anesthesia to make the procedure virtually pain-free.

The laser device fragments the tattoo ink with short, intense pulses of laser light. A specific wavelength of laser light is used to target specific tattoo pigments previously placed into the dermis of the skin during the tattoo process. The ink itself is targeted while damage to surrounding layers of the skin and the body’s natural pigment is limited. Different colors of laser light are used for different colors of ink. The standard bluish-black ink used in many tattoos is the easiest to remove and some of the brighter metallic inks are the most difficult to completely erase. Dr. Maguire utilizes two wavelengths to effectively treat virtually any tattoo color.

Passing through the surface layers of skin, the laser light is absorbed by the pigments, causing them to break into smaller particles. The body’s immune system then removes the fragmented particles of pigment.

A tattoo may require 6-10 treatments for complete removal. These treatments are separated by 4-8 weeks. The results are progressive over time with complete or near-complete resolution of the tattoo being the ultimate goal.