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.