The main reason people want to have their tattoos removed is because what they thought looked good when they were 18, no longer seems attractive when they are 30. Many people get tattoos when they are teenagers, but when they want to enter the job market, they find their tattoos become a barrier to being employed. Another reason is as people age, their skin loses elasticity, and the tattoos become distorted, colors fade and the tattoos lose their original appearance. In the past, tattoos were considered permanent. People may have scrubbed them with salt or had them covered with a skin graft, but today tattoos can be removed without pain thanks to laser tattoo removal.
There are many methods for removing tattoos, but there is only one that leaves the skin in natural-looking condition – YAG Laser Tattoo Removal. The YAG laser uses tiny bursts of light at very high energy, which breaks the pigment in the tattoo into very small particles that are naturally eliminated from the body. This technique is very effective and has little or no risk. At Mariposa Medical Spa, we use this technique to remove even the largest and darkest tattoos.
The main benefit of YAG laser tattoo removal is the condition of the skin when the tattoo is gone. Another benefit is the fact that the YAG laser can remove the most difficult colors, which are red, black and blue. We can also remove orange, purple, yellow, aqua and green with different wavelength lasers.
There are four main types of tattoos:
- Cosmetic tattoos that use black, brown and red pigments for eyeliner and lipstick.
- Professional tattoos that use multiple colors and are the most difficult to remove. It may take several treatments before they are completely gone.
- Amateur tattoos are the easiest to remove. These include self-applied tattoos. They have a small amount of pigment or only black ink and can be removed in only a few sessions.
- Traumatic tattoos happen because of an injury or accident. They occur when a foreign object enters the skin such as asphalt from a fall or car accident, pencil lead or dirt. When this is embedded in the skin, it can leave a permanent dark mark. Depending on the size, it may take a quite a few treatments.
People who would like to remove their tattoo with a YAG treatment should avoid direct sunlight for at least six weeks before undergoing the treatment. The skin may feel irritated for about a week after the treatment. YAG laser tattoo removal treatments are more than 95 percent safe and effective. The treatment feels like several very small pinpricks, and some people prefer a topical anesthetic cream, but the majority of our patients do not require anesthesia.
Laser tattoo removal is no longer a painful and partial process. With our YAG laser treatment, you can have smooth, un-tattooed skin back after a few treatments depending on the size and colors of your tattoo. Contact Mariposa Medical Spa today to schedule your consultation for laser tattoo removal. Our medical team will work with you to determine the most effective treatment plan for your needs.