The Science Behind Tattoo Removal

Over the years, you’ve changed your taste in fashion, music, cars, and foods, so it stands to reason that whatever inspired you to get a tattoo in your youth (or last year) has changed as well.

But until recently, your only option for getting rid of the ink you’ve come to regret has been a painful process that wasn’t very effective. But that, too, has changed.

At Contours LaserSpa in Fairfax, Virginia, our experienced team led by Dr. Tammy Jones helps people erase their signs, symbols, words, and images so they can face the future with clean skin and a clean slate.

We use a safe and highly effective technology called PicoSure® to carefully remove the embedded ink and free you from your past. Here’s how it works:

PicoSure: A high-tech solution to an age-old problem

Tattoos have been a part of many cultures and customs throughout history, and attempts to remove them have been around for just as long. But removing the ink has never been as easy as depositing the ink — until now.

The advent of Q-switched laser technology has made all the difference, and PicoSure is the latest generation of this application.

This method relies on a combination of heat and pulsing light to break up tattoo ink under your skin. Even if you’ve tried tattoo removal before and didn’t get the results you wanted, you may benefit from PicoSure.

The science behind PicoSure

We use a hand-held device that hovers over your tattoo. The device uses PressureWave™ technology that allows the laser tool to deliver constant, rapid-fire pulses of light through your skin’s surface.

The energy from the light disrupts and separates the ink under your skin and scatters it into tiny fragments. Over the next few days, weeks, and months, your lymphatic system envelops the ink fragments and naturally flushes them away just as it does all waste it finds in your system.

What PicoSure feels like

If you handled getting a tattoo in the first place, you can handle removing it. Is it uncomfortable? Yes. Is it unbearably painful? No. Plus, we give you a pre-treatment numbing cream to keep you comfortable during the process.

The length of time it takes to remove your tattoo depends on several variables, including how long you’ve had it, the colors of the tattoo, type of ink used, the size, location, and of course, your individual body and metabolism.

We can give you a better idea once we have a consultation, but on average it takes 4-10 treatments, with a month or two of recovery time between each treatment.

Recovering from PicoSure tattoo removal

You may feel some discomfort after your treatment session, but most people find that over-the-counter pain medications like ibuprofen work well.

If needed, we may prescribe an antibiotic to avoid infection, and we send you home with detailed cleaning and aftercare instructions. You can count on 6-8 weeks for total recovery.

It takes a little time and effort, but with PicoSure and our expert team here at Contours LaserSpa, you can finally get rid of that tattoo once and for all. To find out if this procedure is right for you, call us today or book an appointment online.