You Know You Have Your Options in Tattoo Removal

So you didn't listen when your mom told you that one day you will regret that your skin has been inked? And now, you might be one of the many who is deeply contemplating on the removal of your tattoo.

This is a truth: regardless of the design, size or artistry of your tattoo, once the pigment is punched into your skin there are no ways that you will regain the pure skin color you had before. However, you are still fortunate enough that medical science discovered ways for tattoo removal. Nonetheless, dermatological science argues that complete tattoo removal is close to impossibility since artificial pigments used in tattooing are meant to retire into your skin permanently.

These tattoo removal options have high success rates yet cases of scarring and skin color variations are still likely. These possibilities are largely dependent on several factors including the location, size, complexity of the design, healing properties of the individual's skin, healing process the tattoo wounds have undergone, the lifespan of the tattoo and the quality by which tattooing was done. The latter pertains to the even distribution of pigments into the skin. Moreover, newer tattoos are much more difficult to remove as compared with those that had been imbedded into human skin for long.

Choices for tattoo removal:

Excision

This method is normally employed when the tattoo size is significantly small. Since this method requires the removal of the entire pigmented skin, it is almost impossible that the method can be used for larger sizes.

Although this definitely would cause the person some millimeters of his skin, he still has the advantage of total removal of the tattoo.

Excision may be done in stages. The principle of which is to facilitate the gradual healing of the first portion of the skin which typically takes up the enter part. Afterwhich, the edges are removed.

Laser

The removal of some skin portions are definitely unnecessary for this method. Instead, the pigments that were driven into the skin are forced to undergo the process of breaking down due to pulses of laser lights. The natural mechanisms of the body will then finish the process by removing the ink from the treated areas. While this may be less risky than excision, patients are required to undergo a series of treatment before the tattoo is completely removed.

Dermabrasion

Acknowledged as a practical method of removing unwanted severe skin impurities, dermabrasion is said to help much in the field of tattoo removal. This works by peeling the skin by means of a rotating abrasive instrument that functions like a sandpaper. Bleeding normally occurs in this form of treatment thus the presence of wounds. Healing then will take several months depending on the intensity of treatment incurred.

Salabrasion

Probably the oldest method used in tattoo removal, salabrasion works by mechanically abrading the skin to remove the uppermost layer of the skin. Sometimes, treatment requires the vigorous abrasion of the dermis layer, which resides next to the top skin layer. This treatment calls for a device similar to that of the rotary abrasive instrument used in dermabrasion. Or a much simpler instrument such as gauze-wrapped wooden block.

Most doctors specializing in tattoo removal assert that predictions for the exact degree of tattoo removal are not guaranteed. There are perhaps more than 100 kinds of tattoo inks circulating in the market these days. Each has its own property and there are still no standard removal techniques for each type, let alone for each ink.