We are proud to announce we have a wonderful new member of our team. Braley Millin, BS, CLS is working hard on removing tattoos in our Houston, TX location. She has a great personality, a knack for tattoo removal and we are pleased to introduce her to all of you. If you are ever in the Houston area please come on by and meet Braley. I am sure you will love her like we do.
Posts Tagged ‘tattoo removal’
New Look Laser Tattoo has added a new member to the team
Friday, August 29th, 2008Are you allergic to your tattoo ink?
Thursday, August 21st, 2008Here at New Look Laser Tattoo Removal in Dallas, TX we have seen several clients who are allergic to their tattoo ink.
How do you know you are allergic to your tattoo ink?
There are several indicators and you don’t have to have all of them to have an allergy to your ink.
1. Swelling in the area that was tattooed that won’t seem to go away.
2. Redness on the tattoo area and surrounding the tattoo.
3. Itching that will not stop.
All these are signs and symptoms of being allergic to your tattoo ink. Sometimes you are allergic to all tattoo colors. In our experience people who are allergic to their ink tend to be allergic to different shades of red more than other colors. Infact, your tattoo can be perfrectly healed in every area except for the color you are allergic to.
(Caution: Redness and Swelling are also signs of an infection so be sure to consult our New Look Laser Tattoo Removal staff or your doctor if you tattoo does not seem to be healing)
What do you do if you are allergic to your tattoo ink?
Don’t worry, it is more common than you think. We have seen several cases in both our Houston and Dallas locations. You simply need to get it removed. We can remove your tattoo just like any other tattoo. The only difference would be you would want to take an anti-histamine like Benadryl or Claritin while we are doing your removal. It is safe and you will have your tattoo and the itchiness gone in no time.
Give us at New Look Laser Tattoo Removal a call to schedule your free consultation and have any of your additional questions answered.
Laser Tattoo Removal testimonials
Thursday, August 7th, 2008Here at New Look, we have a lot of satisfied patients who have completed their laser tattoo removal. If you are a satisfied patient of New Look, please email us your comments to info AT newlookdallas.com and we’ll post it anonymously on our site.
Swimming After Laser Tattoo Removal
Monday, June 23rd, 2008Pool time is here and even with those tattoo removal sessions you should still be able to enjoy the water. During our consultations at New Look in Dallas, we often have folks ask us if they are able to swim after their tattoo removal treatments. The answer is absolutely yes, after just a few days. My advice is to always wait until all the scabbing and blistering is gone before swimming in a pool or soaking in a bath or hot tub. This healing process is quick and the more treatments you have the quicker the healing process gets. Tattoo removal should not interfere with your summer plans so have a great time and we will see you at your next session for laser tattoo removal.
Tattoo Removal – Wear What You Want
Monday, June 23rd, 2008Many of our patients seeking removal of an unwanted tattoo so they can have more options in the clothes they wear. They might have gotten a tattoo a few years ago on their lower arm that is very difficult to cover with clothing during hot summer months. This same patient might have several other tattoos that they still love, but this one in particular is causing them a fashion nightmare. Tattoo removal offers a way out – wear the clothes you want and get a new look.
Am I required to come in every 4 weeks for my tattoo removal treatment?
Thursday, June 5th, 2008No, you are not required. In our Dallas office we often schedule tattoo removal sessions every 6 weeks or even 8 weeks apart. There is no medical reason to have a tattoo removal treatment every 4 weeks versus having more time in between sessions. The summer is here in Dallas and most people have traveling they want to do. Tattoo removal should not interfear with your plans. Schedule more time in between treatments if you need to. Your body will only heal more while you wait.
The exciting news is that with today’s new laser technology we CAN do a treatment every four weeks. This makes the process much faster than before. The laser targets the tattoo pigmentation so well now, your body does not have as much extra injury to the surrounding tissue to heal. However, do plan to wait atleast four weeks in between tattoo removal sessions to allow your body to flush out as much ink as possible. Your body works on flushing out your ink for a full four weeks and you want to get everything out that you can with each treatment.
Teachers and Laser Tattoo Removal
Saturday, May 31st, 2008One of the top reasons someone wants to remove a tattoo is because of work. This may mean someone already has a position that requires them to cover every tattoo they have or it may mean someone is trying to obtain a new position and doesn’t want their tattoo to show during interviewing.
The most common profession requiring tattoo removal in our Dallas tattoo removal clinic is teaching. On most days I will have the joy of working with one of Dallas’ hard working teachers. Some say they wish to remove the tattoo because it is the policy of the particular school they work in to cover all tattoos and they are tired of wearing the sort of things they need to in order to properly cover it. Some say they wish to start tattoo removal because they do not want the students to see the tattoos and ask about them and some say they just don’t like the tattoo anymore and want to get rid of it. No matter what their reason there are alot of teachers successfully removing tattoos in the Dallas area.
Thanks to all of you hard working teachers out there! Let us know if laser tattoo removal would help you in your work place.
Age of tattoo and laser tattoo removal
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008How does the length of time you have had a tattoo affect your laser tattoo removal treatment?
The longer you have had a tattoo, the easier it is to remove with a laser. Someone who has had a tattoo for 15 years will be able to get their tattoo off in fewer treatments than someone who has had the same tattoo for 1 or 2 years.
Tattoo pigmentation or color is foreign to your body and your body wants to get rid of it if it can. The pigment that is used in your tattoo is slightly too big for your body’s immune system to easily carry away and flush out of your body. The idea behind laser tattoo removal is to break down the ink into small enough pieces for your body to carry away. Your body naturally starts doing this very same thing the moment your tattoo is placed. It takes your body much longer than a laser but after 10 to 15 years, your body has chipped away at the edges enough to get the process started. This is why as your tattoo ages, it tends to get fuzzy and blurry.
The color of ink dictates the size of the particle in your skin. Black ink is much bigger than white and so you see black will stay longer than white which usually fades fairly quickly. When the particles are smaller, they tend to rise and spread in the skin and flake out as your skin cells turn over. This is the reason black ink is usually used as an outline to anchor the color of your tattoo in place. When that black outline is removed, the color naturally fades much more quickly because it is not being held in place.
The last important component of time and tattoo removal is new tattoos. As a nurse practitioner I do treatments on an unwanted tattoo as soon as possible. If someone has a brand new tattoo I would recommend doing a treatment early on in order to avoid the ink setting in completely. Once a new tattoo is completely set in and the irritation to the skin in that area is gone, it takes several more treatments to remove the tattoo. I am not saying do the removal the same day but as soon as it is no longer tender to the touch or red to the eye. Most of the time I can perform a first laser tattoo removal treatment in about a week from the tattoo being placed. The bigger the tattoo, the longer you must wait to heal the area enough for a first treatment simply because the body’s resources are spread more thinly with a larger area. Certainly the body’s immune system plays a big role as well. Healthy people heal much faster than folks with uncontrolled health issues such as diabetes.
If you have any more questions regarding age of tattoo and laser tattoo removal please feel free to contact me at anytime. Lynette Kennedy, family nurse practitioner and certified laser specialist at info@newlookhouston.com.
Blistering, the common side effect of tattoo removal.
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008One of the most common side effects of laser tattoo removal is blistering. Blistering occurs in most successfully executed laser tattoo removal treatments. This is the body’s natural response to the injury in that area of the skin and does not provide long term damage. Blistering in tattoo removal is not deep so there should be no scarring but it can be quite big. In fact, blistering can cover the entire area of treatment. Don’t worry, these blisters (even the big ones) heal up beautifully like they were never there. In 95 percent of cases, blistering is gone in one week after your first treatment. During each additional treatment the blistering becomes less and less so if you can make it through the first treatment (and everyone has so far), it is all downhill from there.
Unfortunately, there is not an easy way to prevent blistering but I can give a few examples of what would make you more likely to get blistering:
1. Colorful Tattoos- colorful tattoos require the use of the 532nm wavelength of light in the tattoo removal laser and this wavelength tends to cause more blistering.
2. First Treatment- on your very first treatment you have the most ink in your tattoo and which causes the most side effects including blistering. As your treatments progress to your second, third, fourth, etc, you will notice you have fewer side effects and those that you do have are less severe. This is due to your body flushing out ink during every laser treatment.
3. Light Skin
Don’t worry too much about blistering with your tattoo removal treatment. Expect to have some form of blistering because most people do and know that they will heal wonderfully. You will never know you had them after your skin is fully healed.
If you have any further questions regarding blistering please let me know. I would be happy to give you all the information you need so you can have a successful tattoo removal experience.
Thanks,
Lynette Kennedy, FNP CLS
How well can we remove the colors in your tattoo?
Monday, May 26th, 2008Hello Everyone! This is Lynette Kennedy, family nurse practitioner at New Look Laser Tattoo Removal. I am very excited to start using our new blog to discuss some key issues that come up during laser tattoo removal treatments in both our Dallas and Houston locations. Please let me know if there are any specific questions you would like me to address especially regarding the medical aspect of laser tattoo removal.
An important issue that frequently comes up during any treatment is whether or not a certain color can be removed. I am very happy to report that I have seen most colors out there be completely removed with the newer lasers for laser tattoo removal. Older lasers were not equipped to handle the vast array of color that tattoo artists use for their work and we are glad that within that last 2-3 years laser technology for tattoo removal has come a long way. We are lucky that the laser we use in our clinics has wavelengths of light (1064nm and 532nm) to target both dark and light colors. Having said that, there are still a few colors that we are not able to remove all the way but thankfully those are very, very limited.
The most difficult color to remove has to be teal. It certainly can be faded fairly well and in some cases it may even come all the way out but there may be some slight shading of that color left over after all your tattoo removal treatments are done. One of the things most tattoo artists utilize to keep your tattoos lasting so long is the power of black ink and outlining. Most artists tend to make the outlines of tattoos slightly deeper and layer black ink in that area. This black ink outline tends to hold all your colors in nicely. The good news is black is one of the easiest colors to remove so as soon as we get rid of your black outline normally your body goes to work diffusing your colors throughout your skin and making them blend in more naturally with your skin color. If you have teal in your tattoo and you can’t seem to get it out completely with laser tattoo removal, don’t worry, your body will naturally fade it much faster now that you have the outlining out of your tattoo.
On the flip side, yellow is one color that used to be extremely hard to remove with the older lasers that has now become fairly easy with our new laser. When I first started using the newer laser I learned very quickly that we would be able to take care of yellow more easily and in almost every case, completely. It was a great shock when my first client showed me how her tattoo lost all of its yellow after just one treatment. During your first consultation for your tattoo removal session we will make sure we explain how well we can work with all of the colors in your tattoo but you no longer have to worry about that yellow in your tattoo.
Please let me know if you have any other specific questions regarding colors and our ability to get rid of your tattoo with laser tattoo removal. I would love to answer all your questions so you are prepared for your treatment at New Look Laser Tattoo Removal.
