26 April 2012

Small two week update, because everything is still red.

This is the one from my right wrist. Take a look at the last image in this post that shows how it looked before any treatments. As you can see, there really isn't much ink left now. I mentioned it is still red and some skin is still peeling around it. It also still itches, which I take as a good sign. From what I know, this means that the body is still breaking down and destroying the ink. If there is any ink left on this one, the next treatment will be the last it needs.

The other tattoos still have a few treatments to go, but I can see a noticeable difference in all of them. I've learned to wait a while to compare the difference, because it does continue to fade weeks after the treatment has been done.

Now for some technical details ... I have information on the lasers used at Williamson Cosmetic Center, where I am getting this done. Currently, they are using the YAG Laser at a 1064nm wavelength. I am told this is great for black ink and good for blue and green. They will later switch to the Alexandrite Laser at a 755nm wavelength. This will be better for the harder to get black ink and it is also used for green ink.

I will update again soon with pictures of all the other tattoos.

17 April 2012

It hasn't been a week since I got my last treatment, but things are going well. Somehow this procedure was the least painful yet. I've been doing yoga and I think focusing on my breathing while getting it done helped a lot. Normally, while getting the stomach done, I ask to stop a few times. I didn't have to do that this time.

As with all other treatments, the tattoos on the right arm are looking the best. There shouldn't be much left at all this time. I will now for sure in a little over a week when the redness is gone.

I'm so happy with how things are looking this time that I am wanting to get my next treatment as soon as I possibly can.

I will update with photos soon.

12 April 2012

There has been a lot happening for me, so I haven't updated. It seems to be the norm amongst people getting tattoos removed that treatments have a tendency to get put off for a little while, as well. I am getting my next treatment tomorrow. The photos I am posting are from today. While there has been a great deal of fading, the flash made the ones on my right arm look more faded than they actually are. The fading was still very impressive.

There are spots where shading have completely disappeared here. The thinner lines are nearly gone.

This one is doing better than I expected. I do think the laser is helping the scarring, though they won't be able to be completely removed. Once the tattoo is gone, I will definitely get some type of scar treatment.

I had to turn the contrast up for this one to be visible in the photo. The thicker lines are all that are left.

This one can barely be made out anymore. It almost looks like bruising. Any bit of shading that was there is now gone. The thinner lines have disappeared, too.

I will update again after my next treatment.

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.