Treatment Time for Dallas Laser Tattoo Removal Patients
Expert advice by a leading provider of laser tattoo removal
By Lynette K. Kennedy, FNP, CLS
One of the most common questions when I have a patient in for a consult for laser tattoo removal is how long will it take to do the treatment. This of course really depends on how big the tattoo is but it also depends on a few other factors as well.
Here is a quick list with a short explanation:
1. Size of tattoo- it of course takes more time to remove bigger tattoos. Our laser produces 10 pulses of the laser per second so a fairly large area is able to be covered in a small amount of time. A tattoo that is approximately 2 inches by 2 inches would take about 2 and a half minutes for your first laser tattoo removal treatment. If you are someone with a sleeve from the elbow down to the wrist it would take about 45 min to complete your first treatment.
2. Number of previous treatments- the more treatments you have had in the past, the more ink you have already removed. When there is only a small amount of ink left it takes a little longer to get to it. This means your last couple of laser tattoo removal treatments takes longer than your first few treatments. If you have a 2 inch by 2 inch tattoo and it takes 2 and a half minutes for your first treatment it will probably take around 4 minutes for your last treatment. If you have a sleeve from your elbow down and it took 45 minutes for your first treatment, then your last would probably take between an hour and an hour and 15 minutes.
3. Multi-colored tattoos- if you have both dark and light colors, both wavelengths of light have to be used which increases the amount of time it would take to remove your tattoo. Some colors that are harder to remove, I will actually go over that area with first the 1064nm and then the 532nm laser so the same area gets covered at least twice in one session.
4. Fine detail- The finer the lines, the harder to get to them with either wavelength of light. When lines are very fine, they usually do not have very much ink in them which requires more pulses in the same spot to get to that ink. As a nurse practitioner who performs laser tattoo removal treatments, I make sure and go along the line and let the laser hit in the same spot until I see enough swelling coming into that area. This allows me to know I have given enough energy to get an injury so that the immune system responds and can take the ink that has been broken up with the laser away. This idea is similar to when you are on the last couple of laser tattoo removal treatments and there is not a lot of ink left in the skin.
5. Difficult colors- difficult colors increase your time per session because they do not absorb the laser energy as well so they have to have more pulses in the same area to get a response. When someone is doing a treatment for laser tattoo removal they should always be looking for a good response (immune response) and should allow a few extra pulses per area until they achieve the effect they want in the skin.
Laser tattoo removal treatments have a wide range of lengths of time for a treatment. Most treatments do tend to be between 2 minutes and 20 minutes. Most people should be able to tolerate the treatment well and get good results with each treatment. Be sure to talk to your provider and understand what to expect out of each laser tattoo removal session.
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