bebegal Posted April 11, 2006 Posted April 11, 2006 How many treatments did it take, how expensive was it, hwo does it look now and what are the risks? THANKS
littlekitty Posted April 11, 2006 Posted April 11, 2006 I am in the process of having Q Switched Ruby Laser removal. My tattoo cost £65 and took about an hour to put on. My tattoo is costing over £1200, and taking over a year to remove. The removal process is not pain free by a long shot. Remember what it was like having it done? That's what it's like everytime you go. Except that they turn the laser up as it fades, so it becomes more painful. This last time I winced most of the way through, and I have a high pain threshold. Clients' descriptions range from an elastic band flicked against the skin to splashes of chip fat and even red-hot needles. The truth is that you will only know how painful you find it until you try it! Advice on pain relief will be given during your assessment. After treatment the area of the tattoo bubbles up into small blisters. These then burst and scab. The area around it is bruised. The area is sore and hurts for a good 3 days after. It looks horrible for 2 weeks after. I have a treatment roughly every 4 weeks. But that's provided I've not been in the sun. I have to bandage my arm in the summer this year otherwise I can't continue the treatment as the risk of pigmentation problems in the skin is heightened. The risks are: Although there is a risk of scarring with any laser, in most cases, scarring is not a significant risk for tattoo removal with the ruby laser. Tattoo removal has become associated with scarring because the first lasers used for tattoo removal were very aggressive and carried a high risk of scarring. The ruby laser does not heat the surrounding skin significantly and the risk of scarring is much reduced. The risk of scarring is mainly associated with a genetic pre-disposition to forming scar tissue and the presence of resistant, green pigment. To reduce the risk, we carry out an extensive medical evaluation to identify high-risk clients; we also have an adjunct treatment that can stop scar tissue forming and even improve existing scarring. The highest-risk side effect is skin de-pigmentation . (loss of natural skin colour) Because the laser targets dark pigments, ruby laser energy is also absorbed by the melanin in the skin. The most frequent side effect is for the natural colour in the skin to ‘bleach' after a number of treatments. While normal skin pigment will usually recover, it can take months, or even years to do so and, in some, rare cases, the natural colour of the skin may not return at all, or will return in patches. As a general guideline, the darker the skin and the more treatments required, the more risk there is of long term de-pigmentation. Because of the risk of damage to skin pigment, we will not treat tanned skin and will postpone treatment until any sun-tan has faded. The risks of permanent de-pigmentation is harder to measure than for scarring as the skin usually recovers to at least some degree. I have noticed a visible reduction in the outer shading of my tattoo some areas are now skin colour again. The black main part of the tattoo has faded significantly and is now shrinking somewhat at the sides. They took a photo on my 1st and 5th treatment and I was able to compare them, it's better when you can do that as you can see a big difference, you don't tend to notice it as much when you see it every day. Hope this helps.
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