23 October 2014

Here are the updated pictures of my tattoos. These were taken today. I have had five treatments. My last was May 30th, 2014. I am long overdue for another. As you will see, the treatments thus far have really helped a lot.

Lots of the shading has completely disappeared. The bottom part of the skull is gone. As painful as this one is to get treated, I'm really excited that it is almost done.

A lot of the ink in this one on the left arm is gone. The scarring is the real problem.

I could barely tell where to crop this one. This is the skull from my right wrist. I can barely make out some of the outline when I look at it. It almost looks like veins when I'm this pale. When I had been in the sun some over the summer, it wasn't visible at all.

These are almost gone, too. I actually see it more in these pictures than I do looking at it on myself right now. I took the pictures of the right arm in a brighter LED light, so maybe that is why it shows up a little more.

Until I have another treatment, I am going to try the derma roller that I mentioned in my last post. I hope this will reduce the scarring on the left arm. I may even try it on the stomach, just to see if it does anything.

Thanks for reading! I'm a bit surprised I got this post up as soon as I did. I will try to get a video using the derma roller on my arm soon.

18 October 2014

It has taken some time, but I am finally here with the update I promised months ago. I had problems finding the pictures I had taken before my last treatment. Once I found them, I realized the quality was horrible compared to previous photos I had taken. I tried to fix them, but there wasn't much I could do. On top of that, I've just been fairly eh for the past few months. I assume "eh" is the technical term? I've had many nights like tonight where I am sitting in front of my computer trying to organize the mess I've made on my desktop. There are so many random folders full of photos from my phone, from my camera, or that I've scanned. Pictures of cats, pictures from vacations, pictures of my ancestors from 100 years ago that I'm trying to clean up for my Ancestry tree ... but mostly cats. Anytime I do this, I come across the pictures I meant to upload here and think that I need to get with it and finally post an update. Tonight is the night I finally did it.

Without any further delay, here are the photos of my tattoos that were taken before my treatment in May of this year.

Comparing this photo with the photo before my fourth treatment, you can see a difference around the edges.

Though the flash is really bright, you can see that this one has also faded a decent amount between the fourth and fifth treatments.

This is the underside of my right wrist. While you can still see the outline prior to the filth treatment, you really don't see it at all anymore.

This is the top of the right wrist. This one is also nearly gone. I can show people my arm and they have no idea there were tattoos there. It is amazing to compare it to how it looked before starting the removal process.

Now that I have done this update, I need to take pictures of how everything looks now. Though the left arm and stomach tattoos are still visible, they have faded even more. The right arm looks great. I'm hoping to get another treatment before the end of the year and look forward to seeing if they are even going to be able to do anything on the right arm. Since there really isn't much there at all, I don't know if the laser will hit it correctly. If that is the case, I hope the price I normally pay gets cut a little.

I've mentioned the scarring around the tattoo on my left arm before along with different things I've tried to reduce it. I'm attempting something new now and will post any results I might get from it. Some of you may have heard of derma rolling. For those that haven't, it is a procedure where you take a handheld device called a derma roller, which is outfitted with hundreds of small needles, and roll it across your skin. The needles slightly pierce the skin and cause the skin to heal itself, producing collagen. It is done for acne scars, fine lines, stretch marks, and things of that nature. When I first learned about this, I did a lot of reading up on it. When I heard positive reviews from people whose opinions I trust, I decided to try it out for myself. I found a roller with great reviews for an amount that I didn't mind wasting (if it didn't work) on Amazon. Before it arrived, I read more and more about derma rolling and how people do it. That is when it clicked that if it can be used to heal scarring from acne and stretch marks, perhaps this might help my arm. (For those who don't remember or haven't read, I explain the reason the tattoo on my left arm is scarred in this post.)

This is my roller. Yes, those little needles are sharp. Yes, it is painful. It is meant to pierce the skin. Most people use these rollers on their faces and they do bleed. This procedure is better done by a dermatologist or at a clinic where the roller can be properly cleaned and your skin can be treated to make sure you do not get an infection. It can be done at home. There are rollers specifically for medical professionals and others which are meant to be used at home, though they must be cleaned and sterilized.

I have used my roller on my face. I don't do it hard enough that I bleed. Some people do. It all depends on the reason you use it and the results you are trying to achieve. I do it and then will massage coconut oil over the area. I feel my skin has gotten brighter and even a little bit tighter. Has it helped the scarring from my tattoo, though? I only did it once, so no. The reason I didn't continue is one of the reasons I decided to finally update this blog. I created this blog because I wanted to share the details of my tattoo removal. I don't want to do something that results in a dramatic difference in the appearance of one of the tattoos and not detail what went into it. The roller has been sitting there, waiting for me to use it on my arm. I will get post-treatment five photos this week and finally start using this roller. I am actually thinking about using it only half of the tattoo to see if there is any change. When I do use it on my arm, I will be using it the way it is intended. I'm going to need to bleed a little in order for the scarring to re-heal. If I can figure out how to do it, I will get a short video.

That is it for this post. I will take current photos and get to the next update much quicker than I did with this one. Until then, if anyone has tried derma rolling or any other procedures like it, please tell me how it worked! Same for anyone else going through tattoo removals right now. Especially those of you documenting the process. Leave a link to your blog, Instagram, Facebook, or whatever else you might use in the comment section and I will link to it.

Have a great Halloween everyone! Enjoy the candy and the weather.

14 March 2014

Hello again! It has been quite a while since my last post. I mentioned in previous posts that I had my own health issues. Those haven't been as bad, but I'm still having minor issues here and there. Not to make this an extremely personal depressing post, but the main reason I haven't felt up to posting is that my mom passed away last year. Though things have gotten back to what is now normal, I always forgot to update even when I was up to doing it. I'd look at my arm while taking a shower and think that I'd get out and at least post a small update. By the time I would get out, my cats usually take my focus off of whatever I planned on doing because they yell at me until I turn on the sink so they can make a mess. Anyways, I finally am here. This isn't much of an update, but more of a reminder for me to do an an actual update. Not only do I still need to post photos from before I had my last treatment, but I need to take photos of how they look now. For those of you still reading, have a great weekend and I will be back with pictures soon!

03 June 2013

I had my fifth treatment on May 30th. I did get pictures before the treatment, but have been busy and haven't uploaded them yet. I will get those up at some point this week. This was the best procedure I have done, as far as pain goes. We started with the typical Lidocaine injections around each of the tattoos. When we got to my stomach, I almost didn't want to continue. I was told it is a lot more painful without, so I went ahead. It's weird, I'm fine getting blood drawn and didn't wince when an ER visit required getting an IV in my neck because I was too dehydrated to find a vein in my arms. These tiny Lidocaine injections are the worst, though. I'm glad I got through it because I barely felt the laser this time. I didn't have to ask for a break at any point. The best part was that the PA who does my procedures had a problem seeing the two tattoos on my right wrist because of how faded they are. I have no doubt those tattoos are completely done. It will be another two weeks before I am able to tell with absolute certainty, but there wasn't much left to remove.

The left arm looks good. It isn't as red as it normally is after a treatment and I can already see a great deal of fading. The problem there is still the scarring that existed before my first laser procedure (due to the Tat Gone Ink). Depending on how much ink is left, it might be time to start looking into some type of laser resurfacing. The tattoo removal has actually helped reduce the scarring a bit, but it is still noticeable enough that something will need to be done.

The stomach tattoo is fading nicely, too. It is impossible to tell with this tattoo how the result will be until a few weeks after. There is always minor bruising from the injections and it can get a little more irritated from shirts rubbing across it. Each time I get it done, there are small spots that completely disappear. The more it fades, the more excited I am about it going away. I've hated wearing swimsuits in the last few years because of it. It will be great when it is finally gone and my only concern will be working out enough to be able to put on a swimsuit.

I really hope that I will be able to get another treatment before August, when the PA will be on pregnancy leave. I've been saying it since I started getting these, too, but it really is time to start on getting the tattoos on my back and neck removed. I feel the one on my neck will go quick, like the ones on my right wrist. The others will be a bit more like the stomach. There are some thin lines that will disappear almost immediately and then some thicker spots which are going to take some time.

Though getting these tattoos have been some of the stupidest mistakes I have ever made, the removals has been such an interesting process. I'm glad I decided to document it. I honestly cannot believe how much they have faded since starting this. I knew I'd have some success, but I was extremely nervous going into this. I knew it would be painful. I knew it would be expensive. I was worried about how many treatments it would take and if it was even possible for them to fully disappear. Williamson Cosmetic Center and Kristi, the PA who has done all of my treatments (minus one during a pregnancy leave), have been perfect. Anyone in southern Louisiana or Mississippi in need of tattoo removal, make sure to get

I will try to get the "Before Treatment 5" photos up this week. If there is anything that will show up in photos as everything is healing, I will try to get those, too.

I hope those of you getting your own treatments are having as much success as I am!

24 April 2013

Wow. It has been almost exactly a year since my last post. I've gotten a few comments and messages asking for an update. The last year, I've been having some problems with kidney stones. I've had more than a few surgeries for that and I'm still getting over the previous shoulder surgery. Anyone who is getting a tattoo removed or knows someone who is can vouch, we almost always end up taking a much longer break in between treatments than we would like. This is especially true once the tattoos have faded enough that you aren't noticing a constant reminder any longer. As my health seems to finally be on an incline for the first time in a while, I'm hoping that I will be able to get another laser treatment soon.

Since my last update was soon after a treatment, I will post a wrist picture to show how things look now.

It's almost completely gone!

I think if I were to get some sun, I wouldn't see it at all. Right now, it looks like a slight bruise. The others are still visible and will probably take at least two more treatments, though they have faded very well. I am almost certain this one will disappear completely after one more treatment. Something interesting I have noticed is that even months after having a treatment, the tattoos are fading a little each month that goes by.

When getting IVs for the surgeries I had recently, the nurses would always ask about the tattoo on my left forearm. Because it is a bit of a faded blob that has some scarring for that first non-laser removal I did, the nurses all seem to tread lightly at first when asking about it. One thought it was a burn and didn't want to hurt my feelings. Many guessed correctly by asking if I was having a tattoo removed. When I would tell them about the one on my right wrist (the one pictured above), they've mostly been shocked because they didn't even realize I had one there. I can't wait until the same can be said for the rest of my tattoos.

Thanks to everyone who wrote to ask how the process was going. If anyone reading has started getting their own tattoos removed and is documenting it, please comment so I can link to your page.

I'm going to attempt synching my various accounts (Facebook, Google, Tumblr, Twitter) to keep myself a little more organized and able to update across various platforms. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm willing to try anything. That's it on the update for now. I hope to have another post-treatment update in the near future.

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.

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.