Laser Tattoo Removal Perth

Lasers have been used for tattoo removal for more than 20 years and remain the gold standard in removing tattoos today. Over the past few years, several non-laser based tattoo removal techniques have emerged with extraordinary claims about their ability to remove professional tattoos. The non-laser techniques are questionable at best and often dangerous to the skin.

The process begins when a laser emits a pulse of light that is absorbed into certain colours of ink. The laser light penetrates the skin at high speed (billionths of a second) that produces a shock wave effect that disperses the ink particles into smaller pieces. The body then identifies these particles as something that shouldn’t be there and attacks and removes these via the body’s immune system.

Unlike most other laser devices in the market today, Revlite™ Laser can emit four wavelengths of laser beams and is therefore able to target the widest possible range of tattoo colours. In our experience, not all colours respond very well to Laser treatment. Blacks and red colours are removed effectively as well as some brown, purple, orange, pink and occasionally yellow ink. Greens and blues are less effective, although these can be faded by up to 50% allowing for a more successful cover-up.

It has been found that 80-90% of tattoo images are made from black ink.

Understanding Tattoo Ink And It’s Depth in the skin

Different colour ink settles in different depths in the skin. Black ink settles the deepest in the skin, Blues/Green colours settle mid skin and Red/Orange colours settle closer to the surface of the skin. In order to successfully treat different ink colours, you need different wavelengths to properly target each colour and its depth within the skin.

The best laser wavelength to successfully target dark pigment (Black, Dark Blues, etc.)
is 1064 nm. The ideal laser wavelength to target the difficult Blue and Green colours is the 694nm and the only wavelength to target Red colour is the 532nm.

Every tattoo responds differently to laser treatment due to several variables including :

Natural colour of the skin

Age of the tattoo

Colour & depth of the ink in the skin

Size and concentration of the ink particles

Individual’s immune system

Predicting how many treatments any tattoo will require is an educated guess. During your consultation, we will make an estimate of the number of tattoo removal sessions likely to be needed to remove your tattoo. On average most black ink tattoos require between ten to fifteen sessions spread over several months.

Both Revlite SI™ and Picosure™ lasers are manufactured by the same US company, Cynosure. Revlite is a Q-Switched Laser operating in a nanosecond range delivering 1064 nm and 532 nm wavelengths and with MultiLite Dye Handpieces extending the wavelength capabilities to include 585 nm and 650 nm. Hence, 4 wavelengths to target the most diverse range of tattoo inks. Picosure™ Laser operates in picosecond range but able to generate only one wavelength of 755nm. This makes it less ideal for removing dark ink tattoos.

Tattoo fading is a slow process and is dependent on your body’s immune system to work. We recommend that you wait for at least six to eight weeks to give your immune system enough time before coming in for your next treatment.

The discomfort of laser tattoo removal is often described as a “rubber band snapping the skin” and can vary in intensity from client to client. Our highly experienced Perth-based team do their utmost to minimise any pain or discomfort associated with the treatment. We use high-strength topical numbing cream, inhalation anaesthesia as well as skin cooling device to make the procedure as tolerable as possible.

It takes four weeks for the body to start breaking down the ink and even though the tattoo may appear healed, it is not. The laser breaks the ink down into smaller pieces and then the body must remove it. This process takes 4 to 6 weeks so getting treated sooner will not make the tattoo remove any faster and can also put you at risk for scarring.

Limit the amount of physical activity that you do and sun exposure for the first 24 hours. If the body gets too overheated it can cause the tattoo to blister. Showers can be taken but only if they are lukewarm and you use mild soap.

Yes, the laser tattoo removal is highly precise and accurate and can remove just the unwanted parts of any tattoo.

Yes, this is the most commonly performed laser tattoo removal treatment at Medaesthetics®. There is a small risk associated with it. Some cosmetic inks have metallic bases and when the laser beam hits it, it can turn black. Once this darkening occurs, it can take several sessions to fix it. A test spot is always done first.

The price of laser tattoo removal treatments depends on the size of the tattoo. A coin-sized tattoo costs $150 per session. Larger tattoos may cost anywhere between $350 to $500 per session. At Medaesthetics, we do not treat tattoos bigger than the size of palm of a hand.

Yes, depending on the colour of the tattoo, we recommend having a few treatment sessions to lighten the tattoo ink before having a cover-up tattoo put on top.

Superficial blisters and scabs are normal after any laser tattoo removal treatment. These usually heal without any issue within few days.

Unfortunately, health insurance does not cover Laser Tattoo Removal procedure.

Unfortunately patients must wait for at least six weeks after a tattoo has been put on before starting the removal process.

It is important to understand that not all tattoo removal lasers available today are the same. Only top of the range Class 4 (C4) Q-Switched Lasers from the US and European manufacturers can properly tackle the inks of professionally done tattoos. These high-end laser platforms are extremely expensive (over $100,000) and in Western Australia, by law they can only be sold by the manufacturers to medical clinics operated by medical professionals.

The aftercare for Laser Tattoo Removal is very similar to the aftercare when you initially had the tattoo done. Keeping the treated area clean and effective during the healing process in very important.

Icing the treated area after during first twenty-four hours helps with the healing process.

We recommend applying a wound healing balm (petroleum gel, pawpaw cream, any burns cream/gel/ointment) to the treated area several times per day to keep it moist and protected for first few days.

Any blisters should be left alone. These usually heal without any intervention.

There are other ways to remove tattoos, but the results can be disappointing and carry a relatively high complication risk. Injections, creams, acid and other non-laser methods are, in our experience, not just ineffective but potentially hazardous. If these low-cost alternatives worked, we would use them. You need to know all the facts before deciding on tattoo removal.

Acid, or chemical removal: These methods involve the use of a concentrated caustic compound to chemically burn skin tissue to the depth of the tattoo itself. This can obliterate the tattoo but only through the formation of scar tissue, which may still contain pigment. Scarring is inevitable but removal is not assured. Several scientific sounding acronyms such as Trans Epidermal Pigment Release (TEPR) have been used to mask what is in fact simply a chemical burning.

Medaesthetics® does not recommend using such methods. Chemical injection burns and scarring are the main complications that we see and while we can usually improve on the mess that is left behind, in most cases, we can never completely repair third-degree chemical burns.

Dermabrasion: To remove the pigment, layers of skin are removed, and full thickness scarring will result. If the treatment fails to go deep enough only partial thickness scarring will occur but remnants of the tattoo can remain.

Surgery: Removing the skin which contains the tattoo and replacing it with a partial thickness skin graft from elsewhere on the body – two areas of scarring will result.

If you want your tattoo removed effectively, whilst minimising the risks of skin damage and scarring, you should be treated with a high-end Q-switched Ruby or Q-switched Nd: Yag Laser. This is the proven method for effective tattoo removal. High energy Q-Switched laser treatments are the only effective method of tattoo removal in the world currently.

Non-Laser Tattoo Removal methods by non-medical operators almost always involve an injection of chemical acids to burn the skin in an attempt to fade away the tattoo ink. Third-degree burns have been reported after such treatments which leave lifelong scarring.