26 November 2011

No photos to post just yet. I've still got a small bit of redness around some of my tattoos. It isn't much, but I'm going to wait a few more weeks to update with photos. The tattoos gradually fade more and more the weeks following a treatment.

I know I shouldn't, but I have been looking at a few sites that show tattoos that don't completely fade after doing many laser removal sessions. Mine are going very well, but sometimes I wonder if they will be able to be completely removed. I started looking for people that have used other methods after lasers didn't work. After digging through a ton of sites with obviously Photoshopped pictures, I found a girl who got a surgical excision. For anyone who hasn't heard of this method, it is basically cutting the tattoo out and stitching the skin around it. It is best for small tattoos where the ink is deep and it will almost definitely cause scarring. However, with a small tattoo, the scar might not be noticeable. You can view the blog I found which gives a detailed account of the excision method here.

I'm thinking about possibly doing an excision for a very small tattoo I have on my neck. Not that I am not highly pleased with how the laser removal is going, but if it isn't too costly and can get rid of a tattoo in one sitting, it might be worth trying. The tattoo I am thinking about doing is so small that the scar would probably only be about one half of an inch. Smaller incisions like that tend to fade better, so it is possible it wouldn't leave any scar. If the tattoos I am currently having removed end up not fading completely, this is something I might consider. I don't mind minimal scars and I would rather that instead of nearly faded tattoos. As of right now, I am not worried about that ... I do plan on asking about the neck tattoo during my next laser treatment, though.

If I do decide on getting a tattoo excision, I will go through the entire process and post photos detailing it all here. If anyone reading has any stories about tattoo excision or know of any other blogs that have detailed it, please post!

08 November 2011

I did my third treatment last Friday and it went well. It hurt more this time, but it went by pretty quick.

It will be a bit more difficult to get good photos right away, due to the surgery I had on my shoulder. I did take a photo using my phone of the right wrist since it is the one doing the best.

I don't see much ink left at all on this one, but won't be able to tell for sure how it did for a few more weeks. You can't even tell what it once looked like.

I will update as soon as possible with the photos of the healing process. If things go as well as they did after the last two treatments, I won't need nearly as many treatments as I thought.

13 October 2011

It has been a while since my last update. As I mentioned, I had a surgery on my shoulder and would have to wait to get the next treatment on my tattoos. My surgery went well and I thought about getting a treatment done while I was still in the sling. That idea was quickly put to rest when I realized the sling had at least some contact with all but one of my tattoos. The pain medicine I was taking on top of the sling rubbing the tattoos would have made the already annoying itching completely unbearable.

As of yesterday, I am sling-free. I start my physical therapy tomorrow. Once I get the ability to move my arm a bit more, I will schedule my next treatment. Currently, I cannot turn my right arm or hold it high enough to get anything done.

I will post as soon as the next treatment is done.

23 July 2011

It has been a while since my last post and around seven weeks since my second treatment. I should be getting my third treatment soon, but I have a surgery for a tear in my shoulder soon, so I'm going to have to put off the tattoo removal for a little while.

I finally have pictures to post of all of my tattoos since the last treatment.

I didn't think the lower part would fade as much as it did this time because of how thick it is, but it is disappearing well. The shading in some spots is pretty much gone.

I've noticed that some of the scarring on this one is healing bit by bit as I get these treatments. Hopefully by the end the scars will fade along with the ink. There are some spots where I no longer see any ink. Clicking on the picture and comparing it to how it looked in the first post, a difference is extremely noticeable.

There are small spots I notice in this one that are completely gone.

As mentioned before, this one is doing the best. I can't wait to see how it looks after the next treatment.

My skin is very pale due to not being able to get into the sun while I am getting the treatments done. It made it harder than normal to get a good picture. I almost didn't need a flash because of how white I am.

My next update probably won't be until I find out exactly when I will be doing the next treatment. If my surgery goes well, I will probably schedule it sooner than I plan.

15 June 2011

Another quick update for today!

I am still red in a lot of spots. If it is anything like time, the redness won't go away for another week.

I have healed a lot since Saturday. This photo is before applying Aquaphor, so you can see that I am peeling a bit around the edges. All the shading that had been done looks to be gone.

On another note, the weather here is miserable. I cannot wait until this done so that I can get to the beach again.

15 June 2011

Before I decided on laser tattoo removal, I looked into various options. I hoped there was something less expensive that worked quicker. I researched abrasion creams like Wrecking Balm and Tat B Gone and learned that they really don't work. I tried Tat Gone Ink (mentioned in one of my first posts, which is basically the same as Rejuvi. It worked, but left a lot of scarring.

I always looked for blogs or sites with stories from real people who used these removal methods and posted updates on how the process went. I found that while researching a removal method called Nuviderm. Nuviderm uses Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA), which is also used for facial peels and acne scarring. Using a much stronger concentration, it can fade tattoos. It looked promising and buying TCA alone isn't very expensive. A little more research made me change my mind. I found two blogs (Tinastier's and London Diva's) which detail a TCA removal process. They do show fading, but the scarring and damage to the skin doesn't look worth it to me.

There might be success stories with all the methods mentioned above. I cannot personally say that they work or they don't, but I want to post as many personal experiences with various removal processes as I can. If anyone reading has any experience with these methods, positive or negative, please post! Also, I would love to read any other blogs being written by someone going through any type of removal process.

11 June 2011

I haven't taken a new set of photos of all my tattoos yet. There is still a good bit of redness, scabbing, and some bruising around them. I do want to post one new photo of the right wrist though.

Clicking on that image will give you a closer view of it. There is a lot of minor scabbing, but there is now a better view of how faded this tattoo is. Comparing it to the before and post first treatment photos shows how much ink has been lost.

While my others haven't done nearly as well as this one, I'm still more than pleased with how they are turning out. They are all much better than I expected.

I should be healed well enough to get good photos next weekend. I can't wait to see how they look.

09 June 2011

I started this blog to document my tattoo removal both for myself and for other people who are interested in any part of the removal process. Not only did I find very few sites where people were writing about their own treatments, but most of the pictures I came across on websites were horrible Photoshops with attempts to sell various products that obviously did not work. Finding up-to-date blogs or sites with legitimate before and after photos is difficult and it makes researching even tougher.

I recently received a comment from another blogger documenting her laser removal. She started very recently and has a tattoo with red ink, so it will be interesting to see how a different color reacts to treatment. Click here to visit her blog.

As I find out about other blogs and informative sites, I will post them here and to the Blogs or Removal Resources links on the left of this page.

No two people are going to have the exact same results, but the more resources and firsthand information, the better.

06 June 2011

The itching has started and I am still trying new things to make it better. Ice helps temporarily, but I still haven't found anything that helps for longer than ten minutes.

I have one picture to show of my right wrist.

The only reason I am posting this one right now is because I am really excited about how it is starting to look. As you can see from my post on February 11, 2011, the tattoos stay fairly red after a treatment. Though it is hard to tell in the pictures, you are able to see ink loss. What is surprising me about this tattoo on my wrist is that I can see almost no ink left! There are a few spots where it is very dull, but it is still so much better than I expected.

After my first treatment, I noticed that some of the ink faded more and more throughout the first few weeks. If this one keeps fading more than I can already see, there won't be much left at all.

It did start off a lot lighter than all my other tattoos, but I will be really happy if this one is completely gone after my third treatment.

I have a lot more bruising this time. It's hard to tell if it comes from the Lidocaine injections or the actual treatment.

As soon as I am a little less busy, I will update with pictures and hopefully a new miracle cure for the itching.

03 June 2011

I have just returned from my second treatment. It was more painful than I remember. Don't let that discourage you from getting laser removal, if you plan on doing it though. The pain of the laser is temporary. Right now, I mostly feel like I have a sunburn.

This time it was done a little different. Lidocaine injections were done, like last time, but a topical Lidocaine gel was also put on my stomach and left arm. Also, more injections were done around the bottom part of my stomach. It was very noticeable which spots received more of the medication than others. Some spots I barely felt, other spots were pretty bad.

The laser was also turned a little stronger than last time. If that is supposed to make it feel any worse, I didn't notice.

I will have more pictures as soon as I start to heal. I do have some I got with my phone while still in the office.

This is my right forearm right after the injection of Lidocaine. I have sensitive skin, so it was already getting red.

This is my left arm right after treatment. The white spots are how the skin looks as soon as the laser hits it. Soon after, it starts to turn red.

This is my right forearm about 15 minutes after, right before getting bandaged.

This is my stomach a few minutes after treatment. I worried last time because the ink started to look darker, as it does here.

It is going on three hours since the treatment and I am not sure how everything looks yet. I am still bandaged and will keep this on throughout the day.

It will be a few weeks before these are fully healed and I am able to see the difference since my last treatment, but if it is even half as good as the first, I will be completely satisfied.

I will try to post updates tomorrow and will post as many as possible throughout the coming weeks. As for now, I am going relax and drink a lot of cold water.

21 May 2011

It has been a while since I last wrote about my removal process. I didn't get the second treatment yet, but yesterday I finally set up an appointment. I will be getting it done in less than two weeks.

I have no new pictures to post of my tattoos, because there really isn't a noticeable difference since the last pictures I put up. It looks like there has been a little more fading since then, though I could be imagining. I'm still extremely pleased and cannot wait for the second treatment. I will post new pictures right after getting it done and then again as they start to heal.

07 April 2011

Today makes exactly eight weeks since my first treatment. I was told to get my next treatment sometime between eight and ten weeks. I hope to get it done in the next two weeks and will update as soon as I do.

I just took some pictures to show how great things are now. The before pictures can be seen here for a comparison.

With this, you can see the biggest difference in the smaller lines and areas where shading was used. In some spots, ink has completely disappeared.

I haven't been using the Dr. Blaine's ScarCare sheet as I should, but I've used it enough to notice a very slight difference in the scar. I can't say if it is the sheet or the healing process. I will see as I keep using it in the future.

As for the reduction of ink, this one also did very well.

There are some spots on this one that are completely gone.

As I had guessed, this one is doing the best. It was already a bit faded to start, most of it was done as shading, and the lines were very thin. I did expect it to do better than all the others, but I am honestly surprised at how good it is turning out. I can't wait to see how it looks after the next treatment.

24 March 2011

Today makes six weeks since my first laser removal treatment. Everything looks great and I cannot wait for the second treatment. I should be going in either the eighth or ninth week. The only bad thing right now is that summer is soon and I'm having to keep my arms covered. I'm trying not to chance it, so I'm keeping my arms covered and wearing sunscreen.

No photos of the progress at the moment, but I will post some before my second treatment. I hope it goes as well as the first. Except maybe less itching this time?

09 March 2011

I'm making this post about possible good ways to save for laser tattoo removal and other treatments. I'm sure most reading this have seen ads for money saving sites that will send you daily deals on random things in your area. I have signed up for a few of these and have been getting a lot of deals sent to me for deals on laser tattoo removal, laser hair removal, and things like that. The majority are great deals, but sadly, none have come to me for the location I am currently getting my own treatments done.

Some examples of great deals I have seen are $115 for $350 worth of laser tattoo removal in Los Angeles, $100 for laser hair removal treatments in New York City, $125 for two bikini laser hair removal treatments in Austin, and things along those lines.

If you are someone who is considering laser treatment, keep an eye on these sites. Do a lot of research on the places you'd like to go in and near your own town and keep an eye out for when they have deals.

My favorite of these sites is Living Social with Groupon coming in a close second. There is a way to save more than what you already would if you were to purchase deals through these sites. If you sign up for Ebates, you can earn cash back for purchases you make through sites like those. You just have to visit Ebates and click on the link to Groupon or other sites.

Using the referral links posted above to sign up will start you out with cash already in your account ($5 on both Living Social and Ebates, not sure about Groupon).

Good luck and let me know if you find any good deals.

03 March 2011

I purchased Dr. Blaine's ScarCare earlier this week. It is one single gel pad that sticks directly to a scar. The good thing about it is that it can be washed, stays sticky, and can be reused. It is supposed to last for three months. It comes with a small bottle of a mineral oil and Vitamin E mixture that can be rubbed into a scar when the gel sheets aren't being used.

The bad: It's really annoying to wear and is supposed to be worn as often as possible (at least twelve hours a day) and it can get dirty very easily since it is so sticky.

The good: There are many positive reviews for this product and those like it, it is sticky so it doesn't move, it can be cleaned, it's big enough to cover one large scar and can be cut to smaller sizes if needed.

I'm going to try to stick with this to see if it works, unless I come across something better.

26 February 2011

Another small update to say that everything still looks great. Still some itching, but that gets better by the day. I had some minor peeling the past few days. It peeled in the way a sunburn does, but on a much smaller scale. There were very tiny spots over the ink that simply flaked off.

Having to keep these covered is going to be the hardest part. It already hit over 90°F (32°C) here in the south and I had to spend an entire day in the sun. I wore both a light cardigan and used sunscreen.

This week, I was given the go ahead to use something like Mederma or Scaraway to help healing the scars on the tattoo on my left arm. Both have decent reviews, but the sheets seem to help the most with flattening out raised scars. Once I start using something, I will post any results I get.

20 February 2011

I mentioned in the last post that I was going to try a new baby oil. I bought some that day and have been using it three to four times a day. I can't say that it stops the itching, but it does help more than anything else I've tried. The itching isn't as bad as it was, but it is still there and I will try whatever I can find that will help. Plus it will prepare me for what to use after the next treatment.

If anyone reading tries out the baby oil, make sure not to use it before going outside. While shea butter does have a small SPF, the mineral oil can cause your skin to burn. Any exposure to sunlight for up to three months after laser treatment can cause hyper/hypopigmentation. If you have to be in the sun, stay away from products containing mineral oil, try to cover the treated area, and use an all natural sunblock, like Soleo Organics or Loving Naturals.

It has been one week and three days since my first treatment. There is still a slight bit of redness, but everything is looking better and better each day.

There is still some bruising at the bottom of this one. It was a lot worse last week, but never painful. You can see a good bit of difference between this and the first pictures I posted.

Because I take these photos myself, this one is a little hard for me to get. The angle is a bit off, but you can still tell how it has lightened.

There is still some redness left to the outline in this one, which makes it hard to see how much lighter it is. Looking at it and the first picture, I can notice a few spots that have almost completely disappeared already.

This is the most shocking to me. I know it was already light before starting the removal process, but I didn't expect the difference to be so noticeable already. There is a slight bit of bruising around the edges of this one, too.

I wanted to do a morphing style image to better show the differences, but I will wait until these have healed more.

I am more than happy with the results thus far. I have well over a month before I have to go in for the next treatment, but I will update soon with any progress I notice on the tattoos or with anything I find that helps with itching, scarring, or anything that one might come across after treatment.

16 February 2011

Almost a week to the day after getting my first laser treatment and the itching is still bad. From what I've read, this is one of the main complaints as the skin starts to heal. As I stated in the last post, I tried a few things and nothing helped. Last night I found some baby oil and slathered it all over my arms and stomach. The itching didn't stop completely, but it was minimized enough that I could sleep.

After a quick search, I came across Johnson's Baby Oil Gel with Shea and Cocoa Butter. Cocoa Butter is great for itching and shea butter is supposed to help prevent scarring. That on top of the relief from the oil could help a lot.

This is just a suggestion, as I haven't been able to find anything better to relieve the itching. If I come across any better suggestions, I will post them.

14 February 2011

I'm posting a small update today because I am a little surprised how things are going. First, last night was the worst night I've had yet since getting the laser treatment. Nothing painful, just a lot of itching. I woke up every 30 minutes or so simply because of how annoying it felt. I tried Hydrocortisone, prescription Lidocaine, and ice packs. None of it helped, but I managed not to scratch. If anyone has any suggestions on what can be used to stop the itching, please post a comment.

I don't have pictures today, because there is still a lot of redness, but everything looks great. The skulls on my right wrist are the best. If you look at my first picture post, you will see that the eyes are already light, but you can see that they are there. Now they look to have disappeared almost completely. I notice more and more little pieces of ink that have disappeared each day. It has only been four days, so I am hoping that things keep disappearing at this rate.

I've done a bit of reading and found out that keeping yourself healthy, drinking more water, and exercising can help the removal process. The body naturally starts to break down a tattoo as soon as you get it, but the ink particles are too large for the body to completely remove on its own. During laser removal, the ink is broken into smaller particles and is removed much quicker. The healthier you are, the easier it is for your immune system to take care of the ink particles.

I will update later this week with photos, if the redness goes away.

11 February 2011

I am done with my first treatment and I am pleasantly surprised. My skin responded very well. I had read about the pain, but wasn't expecting it to feel the way it did. It's not the worst pain I have felt, but it is extremely uncomfortable. I've heard it described as repeatedly being popped with a rubber band. I'd say it is more like being popped with a rubber band made of metal and tiny needles which has been heated to 400 degrees. I was lucky that I was injected with Lidocaine instead of a topical application of it.

Here are pictures of the tattoos about 24 hours after the treatment. There is still a lot of red around them and I was told to expect this for a few days. The tattoos may also appear darker than they were before treatment for a little while too.

The sides of my stomach are red from having just cleaned the area and applied a topical cream. It was easily the most painful. I could feel the zaps of the laser going through my ribs as the top was done. The bottom of it hurt the most. There are small lines that I noticed have completely disappeared. There is some bruising at the bottom from the injection.

This one will probably the the hardest to remove and may require some laser resurfacing to get rid of the scars from the first removal attempt.

This one was quick and easy, and some small parts are gone already.

This one was the lightest and I can notice the most difference in it. I think it might be almost completely gone after the next treatment.

Once the redness goes away, I will take more photos. Then again as I notice any changes.

Right now there is a lot of itching and irritation when anything touches the area. The pain during the treatment only lasts as long as the treatment itself. After it's over, it is only minor discomfort. Once the next treatment rolls around, I will have forgotten how much it hurt and be excited to do it again. As of right now, I am happy I have a while before then.

04 February 11

I have made the appointment and I will start getting the tattoos removed on the 10th, unless there is another freak ice storm.

30 January 2011

Now for the photos. Don't laugh. Actually, do. I made the mistake of getting these starting at age 14 without any thought going into what I was doing or what I was getting put on my body.

This, as you can tell, is on my stomach. It has already started to fade in some spots. I am hoping that because of this, it will be easier to remove.

This is on my left forearm. The reason it looks so faded is because I did do one removal process on it about six or seven years ago. It was a newer removal method at the time and it sounded promising. I was tattooed with an ink called Tat Gone Ink. This ink attaches itself to the original tattoo ink. The skin then rejects the Tat Gone Ink and the tattoo will basically bleed out of the skin. It did work, but as seen in the picture, it left a little bit of scarring. I have a freckle that can be seen on the right side of it. This wasn't visible before the Tat Gone Ink removal. If there is noticeable scarring after the laser removal process, I might try a laser resurfacing procedure.

This is on my right forearm. It is probably the darkest of all of the tattoos that I am removing.

This is my right wrist. It is the lightest and will probably be the easiest to remove.

Though I did make a stupid decision in getting all of these almost 15 years ago, I am lucky that I only used black ink. It is the easiest to remove. Having pale skin will also help in the removal process.

The next photos I post will be the first after-treatment photos.

28 January 2011

I have tried to use a concealer cover up in the past to hide some of my tattoos. I tried Dermablend Leg and Body Tattoo Primer with the Leg and Body Cover Creme, which did help a little. I am hoping to try these again as I go through the removal process and my tattoos are more faded.

If anyone has used any other good cover ups, please share them in the comment section.

26 January 2011

Hello and welcome! I have started this blog as a way to document the process of my tattoo removal. I will soon start getting laser removal treatments done on three separate areas:  right forearm/wrist, left forearm, and stomach. I wanted to document this not only to have a record of the progress for myself, but to let others who may be interested in tattoo removal know how it goes every step of the way.

I will soon post a few before photos. I will update with new photos after each treatment, throughout the healing process, and right before each new treatment. If allowed, I will try to get pictures or video during the treatments to show exactly what happens.

If anyone has stories or pictures from their own removals (laser or any other) or links to other blogs that you would like to share here, I would be happy to post them here for you.  I will also do my best to answer any questions that anyone might have during this entire process.

Thanks for reading!