Can I remove my old tattoo? Many people have this question and they want to rid. Here I am discussing some tips to get rid with this problem.
Tattoo removal:
Tattoo removal has been performed with various tools during the history of tattooing. While tattoos were once considered permanent, it is now possible to remove them with treatments, fully or partially. The expense and pain of removing tattoos will typically be greater than the expense and pain of applying them.
Methods:
Tattoo removal is most commonly performed using lasers that react with the ink in the tattoo and break it down. The broken-down ink is then absorbed by the body, mimicking the natural fading that time or sun exposure would create. All tattoo pigments have specific light absorption spectra. A tattoo laser must be capable of emitting adequate energy within the given absorption spectrum of the pigment to provide an effective treatment.
Widely considered the gold standard treatment modality to remove a tattoo, laser tattoo removal requires repeat visits. The newer Q-switched lasers are said by the National Institutes of Health to result in scarring only rarely and are usually used only after a topical anesthetic has been applied. Areas with thin skin will be more likely to scar than thicker-skinned areas. There are several types of Q-switched lasers, and each is effective at removing a different range of the color spectrum.
Another type of tattoo removal is the manual, or machine method. This practice is very unpredictable and uses a specialized type of gel, commonly mixed with saline, which is tattooed into the skin over the tattoo causing the ink in the dermis to bond with or be displaced by the gel and migrate to the surface of the epidermis. The incidence of scarring, tissue texture changes, keloids, prolonged healing, pain, discoloration (hyper- and hypopigmentation) and ink retention is extremely high with non-laser removal method; the person performing this treatment modality exposes him or herself to considerable liability. Methods like this are now only very rarely performed and in modern countries have been replaced by Q-switched laser treatment. Still other methods including thermal injury, dermabrasion and cryotherapy, are used but with the same unpredictable results and adverse side effects.
Pain management during treatment
Laser tattoo removal can be uncomfortable but is very tolerable in most cases. The pain is often described to be similar to that of hot oil on the skin, or a 'slap' from an elastic band. Depending on the patient's pain threshold, and while some patients may forgo anesthesia altogether, most patients will require some form of local anesthesia. Pre-treatment might include the application of an anesthetic cream under occlusion for 45 to 90 minutes prior to the laser treatment session. In very rare cases, if complete anesthesia is necessary, it can be administered locally by injections of 1% to 2% lidocaine with epinephrine.
Anecdotal reports have noted that patients receiving anesthesia by local injection will require additional treatments as the injection causes mechanical edema, spreading out the tattoo ink, which in turn makes it more difficult for the laser light to act on specific ink particles and may increase the risk of scarring. It has been reported that infiltration of local anesthesia will add an additional treatments.
For more you can visit at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo_removal
