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.