Tattoo removal: what are the available techniques and how much does it do so

It would be strange to think that it did not happen.While feelings that - be for an aesthetic, loving, fanatic or spiritual issue - it seems that they will last a lifetime, the truth is that, in most cases, it does not happen.There are many people who, after seeking to "eternalize them" in their skin, after a while, choose to back down: between 60 and 80 percent of people with tattoos, according to the experts consulted, he regrets having them.

Therefore, Micaela Tinelli's decision to announce that some of her tattoos would be deleted again a recurring theme in aesthetic clinics, an order that exists years ago, but that she presents some novelties.

What options exist

"The percentage of patients who are made tattoo and who at some point in life want to get it out is very high: 80 percent of people regret, and that 80, 80 percent do something to take it off,"Stresses Soledad Rosenfeld, Medical Director of Olivos Plastic Surgery.

And details the existing treatments when carrying it out: “The first thing the patient does is camouflage, that is, perform another tattoo up to erase the previous.Then, there are two great options: the first is the surgical one, which consists of taking out the tattoo and leaving a scar in place, or other times put a leather graft.This procedure is very useful for small tattoos housed in places where the scar is not very visible, and it is a treatment that is carried out in a single session, ”he says.

And explains the second method they practice: “If they are very large tattoos and the surgical option cannot be used, a laser, a very advanced treatment is used.It has many sessions, in general between 5 and 8, and are made once a month.The result depends on some variables: the quality of the original tattoo ink, the color (the black is always easier to draw than other colors), ”he explains.

Adrianiana Raimondi, a member dermatologist of the Argentine Society of Dermatology, confirms that the lasers an extended party: “The removal of tattoos is a possible, accessible treatment, and is done through lasers whose wavelength are consistent with the pigment, then destroys it”, He says.

Also, within laser treatment, there are different options.Dr. Julia de la Torre, a medical specialist in aesthetics and medical director of EF Medical Group, explains the advances regarding the effectiveness in the results that, as stated, implies the use of Picoway technology.

“This laser, more powerful, is able to eliminate what was permanent until today.It is the first important advance in the erase of tattoos in the last twenty years.Compared to old laser rays, the new pepper laser reduces the treatment period by half and can extract colored ink (red, light and green) that previously barely react to treatment, ”.

The colors, the most difficult to erase

The experts consulted agree that black inks on white skins constitute the most successful cases, and that the colors are the ones that have to remove the most.

“You have to be careful in people with tanned skin, because this treatment acts by capturing the pigment.So, if the patient is tan.It is easier to remove dark tattoos, black and grayish colors, and more complicates with color, red, green.More or less carries eight sessions with intervals of a month and a half, ”explains Ana Tettamanti, a Dermatology specialist, president of the Dermatology Society of La Plata.

How do the lasers act?De la Torre explains Picoway's operation mode.“As a ND laser: YAG in double wavelength, offers high -power picosecond pulses that allow the treatment of all skin types.This laser triggers a lot of energy in a very short period of time that impacts the inks making them vibrate, and that is its big difference with the rest of the technologies that there were, that heated the inks until they broke them and this made it injuredThe deep layer of the skin, ”he says.

And he adds that the location of the tattoo is another factor to consider: “It is not the same one that is near the thorax mediastinum, than one further away, because the laser what it does is break the pigments so that the cells ofImmunity can remove them, they can get them out of there, ”he adds.

Is it a painful treatment?

Raimondi argues that the treatments "generate some degree of pain", and refers to the use of anesthesia: "In my case I apply topical cream anesthesia half an hour before, which minimizes the discomfort.With that, it is cushioned, and you have to do it quickly so that the patient has a better time, ”he adds.

“The treatment is painful with laser, in the surgical procedure not because it is with local anesthesia, which is like going to the dentist: the area to work is injected, the patient is awake, an aesthetic suture is performed that goes quite unnoticed and is usuallya very good option maybe not widespread.Laser treatment is painful, slow, requires post treatments as creams and others, but it is not as painful as the tattoo performed, ”explains Rosenfeld.

In any case, it will also depend on the pain threshold of each patient: “The treatment itself is painful because the inks are deposited in the deep layers of the skin, which is where are the nerves that make us feel heat, the cold, the cold the pain.When breaking the ink particles, these nerve endings are touched and felt, but being super fast, it is tolerated very well, and in case the person does not tolerate it, topical anesthesia can be applied, ”said the tower.

Is the skin as before?

The experts consulted indicate that, although most people are satisfied, because what they were looking for was removal, the expectation should not be that the skin is in the same way as before the tattoo.

“The skin as it was before is never, with either of the two methods: or there is a linear, camouflaged, disguised scar, an aesthetic scar, or a shadow remains, depending on the amount of sessions, the type of skin and carepost procedure with which the patient is committed.And that is very important, if the patient does not collaborate, it is more likely to be marks, but the skin as if you had not done a tattoo left, ”Rosenfeld explains.

“If there is a stain or shadow in the tattoo area it is not usually something very significant and does not usually care much.We must know that the virgin skin as it was before the tattoo does not recover at that level since that skin is located by the passage of the tattoo artist ”, coincides with the tower.

Therefore, it is important to moderate expectations.“The result of the removal is variable, this depends on the depth of the tattoo, the type of ink that has been used, the color the ink and the expertise of the laser operator to choose the appropriate wavelength with the proper equipment.This is a result that one cannot anticipate the patient because it depends on the aforementioned causes, ”says Raimondi.

How much does it cost

It is important to know that getting a tattoo has a significant cost and it takes time.If it is laser, the sessions can be around 8, with a month (minimum interval)."The values will depend on whether it is a surgical procedure or is laser, the size of the tattoo and the complexity of removal, but we can say that the costs vary between 20 to 100 thousand pesos," says Rosenfeld.

“It will depend on the number of sessions, and this in turn of its size.There are some that are the size of a stamp and others that cover large body surfaces.The value of a small tattoo per session can be around 6000 pesos, but you have to make a consultation to be able to estimate it ”, closes from the tower.