Lasers removal tattoos by breaking up the pigment colors with a high-intensity light beam. Black tattoo pigment absorbs all laser wavelengths, making it the easiest color to treat. Other colors can only be treated by selected lasers based upon the pigment color.

Yes, lasers can remove tattoos completely. In fact, lasers are the safest, most effective tool to remove unwanted tattoos with. However, you may need to receive several sessions before the tattoo is removed completely.

Tattoo removal is done in a series of treatments about 5 – 8 weeks apart depending on skin healing. Most people require 6-10 removal sessions; black, extremely colorful and dark shaded tattoos may require more than 10 removal sessions.

The speed of removal depends on the patient and their tattoo.

The Kirby-Desai scale is a popular and well-regarded tool for analyzing the number of treatments a tattoo will need for removal. The scale accounts for the following factors that affect the rate of removal:

• Fitzpatrick skin type

• Tattoo layering (if the tattoo is a cover-up)

• Location on the body

• Ink colors

• Amount of ink (vividness of tattoo, if it was professionally applied)

• Pre-existing scarring

Side effects are to be an expected part of the tattoo removal process for most patients. In fact, some side effects are an important part of the immune response that helps eliminate ink from the skin.

All patients should expect some level of side effects.

The most common side effects are:

• Redness

• Tenderness

• Swelling

• Blistering

• Scabs

• Bruising

• Hyperpigmentation

• Hypopigmentation

If all of the proper protocols are used based on the tattoo and the patient's skin tone, all of these side effects are temporary. Redness, tenderness, and swelling typically subside within a day or two following treatment. Blisters sometimes appear within 24 hours of treatment; sometimes the blisters are very large and may look alarming – this is completely normal. Scabs, bruising, and blistering may take up to a week or longer to heal.

Hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation occur when the body's production of melanin is skewed after a laser treatment. With hyperpigmentation, the body overproduces melanin in reaction to the laser treatment, so skin in the treated area is darker than the natural skin tone. With hypopigmentation, the melanin is depleted by the laser treatment and the skin appears bleached. Both hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation are typically temporary and resolve naturally with time. Patients with middle to darker skin tones are at the greatest risk for pigmentation changes and should avoid sun exposure the weeks following each treatment.