Let’s face it. Tattoo removal is COMPLEX. Isn’t it so ironic how something many of us did on a whim or a dare (or possibly to piss off our parents)—in short, super impulsively—is now one of the most difficult things to get rid of. Not impossible! But no matter the reason for getting the tattoo, the path to removing it can be a tricky and lengthy process.
And of course, we shouldn’t generalize. There are also many of us who thought about the precise tattoo we wanted for a long time and planned out the experience really carefully. For some, time passes, things change, minds change, and we kind of want to erase that tattoo that no longer has the same significance it did many years ago.
Have you embarked on the tattoo removal journey already? A lot of the time that looks like spending a ton of money, enduring pain, and being left with a faded or warped tattoo, or one that’s gone from being one colour to another. And let’s hope you haven’t been left with anything worse, like burns or scarring!
So now this tattoo that you don’t want is an awkwardly faded and uneven tattoo you couldn’t like less, and you seem to have hit a wall with your treatments… 😖 It’s ok, don’t panic! At MD Beauty Clinic we do have the technology to remove it where others have failed. If you’ve already had a gazillion treatments, you may need a few more. But we can get there.
Why is my tattoo so hard to remove?
We won’t stop saying it. Tattoo removal is just SO complex. There are actually a lot of misconceptions out there not only about tattoo removal itself but also about which tattoos are harder or easier to remove. So if you’re wondering why your tattoo may be a tough one to remove, it might be because it falls somewhere into one of these categories or across several.
What colour is your tattoo?
Believe it or not it’s actually easiest to remove dark blue or black tattoos. Basically, the greater the contrast between the colour of the tattoo and your skin the easier it’s going to be for the technology to target the ink. The brighter the colours, like red, yellow, green, or any neon colours, the tougher the removal process can be.
How big is it?
Probably an obvious one, but if you have a bigger tattoo, it’s going to take longer to remove it.
Are you a smoker?
If you’re a smoker it’s going to be tougher for your body to metabolize the shattered ink particles. So basically when we start removing your tattoo, it breaks the ink down into these miniscule particles that your body can absorb and then naturally eliminate.
When you’re a smoker this becomes a slower process because your immune response will be more compromised. Smoking also inhibits healing, so the healing process between tattoo removal treatments will also be a bit slower, meaning you may have to space out your sessions at longer intervals.
Where did you get it done?
If you got your tattoo with a professional tattoo artist, they probably used top notch ink, had the expertise to evenly distribute it, and most likely applied it relatively deeply under the surface of the skin. This is great news when you love the tattoo forever, since they’re designed to look their best as long as possible. Unfortunately these tattoos will be harder to remove than amateur ones due to the quality and depth of ink.
We’re not saying get your tattoo with an amateur because it would potentially be easier to remove. Not at all—you risk scarring and a terrible result. All we’re saying is that if your tattoo has depth and substance, it can be harder to get rid of. Tattoos are designed to be permanent.
Is your tattoo layered?
Did you have a tattoo semi-removed then covered it up with another one? That’s also going to be tougher for obvious reasons. There’s just more ink to deal with, ink from your new tattoo and your older faded one underneath.
How old is your tattoo?
It’s typically easier to remove an old tattoo than a new one, because your body has actually begun the process of eliminating the ink particles on its own, which is why tattoos fade over time. So if your tattoo is relatively old, it’s as if you’ve already had a few tattoo removal treatment sessions to start.
What part of your body is your tattoo on?
Fun fact time! 🤓 Tattoos that are lower down the arms or legs tend to be more difficult to remove than tattoos on the back or chest. They just take longer to fade and are slower to heal between treatment sessions because your body circulates blood less well in these areas of the body as opposed to areas that are closer to the heart, where there is increased circulation.
Does darker or lighter skin affect outcomes?
There’s a lot of contradictory information online about whether or not tattoo removal is more difficult depending on your skin colour. Published research has shown that tattoo removal is safe and effective for dark skin. Patients with darker skin are at a higher risk for hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation (the skin appearing darker or lighter) and keloid scarring.
The reason for this is that darker skin contains higher amounts of melanin, which absorbs heat energy faster and at a higher rate. This means that using a higher setting or using the laser for too long (especially if the laser itself is not so great) can cause more damage to the skin, leading to the risks above. But a highly skilled practitioner who follows the right protocols and uses the best technology will help ensure that tattoo removal on dark skin is as safe, effective and efficient as possible.
PicoWay Tattoo Removal to the Rescue
Ok, so here’s what we didn’t say before. Older tattoo removal systems present the drawbacks we’ve listed above. Yes, it’s hard to get rid of your tattoo, but it’s even harder if you’ve gone to remove your tattoo somewhere where they’re using older inadequate technologies. Those technologies are the ones that can’t target bright colours or can be extremely risky for darker skin tones causing hypopigmentation or keloid scarring.
Here’s why we love PicoWay: because PicoWay takes care of so many of the drawbacks we just mentioned. It’s truly the premier technology for tattoo removal because it can work on the most stubborn and hard to remove tattoos.
PicoWay uses these super fast and powerful pulses that are measured in picoseconds, or one trillionth of a second (which is insane). These super short pulses are delivered via a high powered and extremely precise laser that targets ink particles and shatters them into much tinier fragments that your body can easily absorb and eventually naturally eliminate, getting rid of the tattoo.
And the thing is that even though it’s super powerful, it actually emits less heat than traditional lasers, making it much much safer for the skin. PicoWay was basically developed to address so many of the difficulties mentioned above: it can target a variety of tattoo ink colours including those hard to remove neon ones; it’s safe and effective for people with darker skin; it can penetrate deeper under the surface of the skin and more precisely, so can target those professionally applied tattoos and even those layered ones.
It won’t really help with the smoking thing (if you’ve always wanted to quit, this could be a great motivator to go for it!) but basically the power of the pulses that PicoWay emits allows for better results in much much fewer treatment sessions.
So if you’ve gone somewhere else to get your tattoo removed and ended up with something faded, and have been told that your tattoo is impossible to remove, then come see us. We can work on it. It’s not impossible to remove, you just need the sophisticated technology and, most importantly, the expertise.
For those who haven’t started getting their tattoo removed yet but are thinking about it, come see us too! Tattoo removal can be painful and expensive. Why not get the most advanced technology available to remove it in the fewest treatments and as efficiently as possible?