What should you know about professional tattoo removal?

A clinician assesses the tattoo’s colours, depth, age, location, and your skin history before choosing settings. Q-switched and picosecond lasers deliver very brief pulses that target pigment while aiming to limit injury to surrounding skin. Different inks respond differently, and a tattoo may fade unevenly as the treated pigment is cleared. Complete clearing cannot be promised.

Tell the clinic about recent tanning, medicines, a history of poor healing, and any previous tattoo treatment. Follow instructions about shaving, cleansing, and sun avoidance. After a session, redness, swelling, pinpoint bleeding, blistering, or crusting may occur. Keep the area clean, avoid picking, and protect it from sunlight while the surface heals. Attend only when the clinician says the skin is ready for another session.

Contact the clinic if blistering is extensive, pain is increasing, redness spreads, drainage develops, or healing appears delayed. Seek urgent help for breathing difficulty, widespread hives, or facial swelling. Report a lasting change in texture or a marked light or dark patch so the area can be reviewed and future settings reconsidered.

Ask which laser suits each ink colour, how your skin tone affects settings, what side effects are possible, how to care for the treated area, and how progress will be judged between visits.