How Laser Tattoo Removal Works

[00:00:00] Billy: Are you wondering how tattoo removal works? how long it’s gonna take, how many sessions it’s gonna take, what kind of results they can expect. How much it’s gonna cost 

[00:00:10] Billy: And How bad it hurts. My name’s Billy DeCola. I’m the owner of Studio Kiku. We’ve successfully removed thousands of tattoos on all types of skin, whether it’s permanent makeup, whether it’s a body tattoo, full color, and gray. You name it, we’ve done it all.

[00:00:31] Billy: We’ve worked on all types of skin. From the lightest skin to the darkest skin. We’ve worked on different textures, we’ve worked over scar tissue, we’ve done it all, and I’ve developed a system over the years that works.

[00:00:45] Billy: Before we talk about laser tattoo removal, let’s talk about how tattoos work. And if you understand how tattoos work, then you’ll better understand how we can remove tattoos. So the needle penetrates the skin and it [00:01:00] has pigment on the needle. When the needle goes in, it pushes pigment in, and when the needle comes out it leaves behind that pigment and those pigment particles most of the time are pretty large pigment particles, and because they’re large, they stay lodged in the skin. and most of the time the pigment. Is a mixture of actual pigment, like powdered pigment, and it’s usually mixed with some type of carrier, a liquid carrier. So it’ll definitely be water. Uh, there’s usually a little bit of alcohol in there and some glycerin.

[00:01:37] Billy: To keep it so it doesn’t dry up. And then there’s witch hazel. your body will absorb the liquid and it will leave behind those pigment particles.

[00:01:46] Billy: those pigment particles won’t go anywhere unless the particles are disturbed somehow, and there are some things that can do that. Uh, the sun is a really big factor.

[00:01:58] Billy: If you get sun on [00:02:00] your tattoo, it will break those pigment particles down, and that’s when you see fading from sun exposure because the tattoo is being broken down by the sun. Now a laser does pretty much the same thing, but it’s much, much faster. The laser targets the pigment in the skin. It actually penetrates the skin without damaging it, and it shatters the pigment into tiny particles.

[00:02:24] Billy: those particles are small enough, your body can absorb those pigment particles and every time we laser the tattoo, it’s breaking down those pigment particles further and further until they’re dustlike particles. And when that happens, your body will absorb that pigment over time.

[00:02:45] Billy: And the key there is time. You can’t expect to see results immediately. your body is very slow with breaking down pigment particles. The laser is super fast. It’s like a split second. It’s all shattered done deal. [00:03:00] When you walk outta here after a session, all those particles are shattered.

[00:03:05] Billy: It’s gonna take a long time for your body to actually absorb it. that’s just the brakes. I mean, there’s no way to speed up the process, but there are some things you can do to help lymphatic system is, you know, it’s your immune system, your body’s health, the more healthy you are.

[00:03:22] Billy: The better effect you’re gonna see after laser tattoo removal. So there’s some things you can do. General things, uh, drink water, get good sleep, eat good food, and just be happy. You know, everything that you can do to boost your immune system is going to help with the laser tattoo removal process. You’ll see better results if you do those things, and there are some things you should avoid or things you shouldn’t do, which

[00:03:50] Billy: are pretty much the opposite of what I just explained. You could have the same exact tattoo on two different people use the same exact settings on those two tattoos, [00:04:00] and one tattoo is gonna lift quicker than the other one.

[00:04:03] Billy: And the reason why is not because of the laser. It’s not because of the technician, it’s because of the person’s body. So your body plays a huge, huge role in how effective the laser is. exercise is a big thing. I mean, if you think about it, your lymph doesn’t have a pump. The only way your lymph moves through your body is through exercise, through moving. So the more you exercise, the more you move. The more your body’s gonna pump that lymph through and the more your, lymph is gonna pick up that those particles.

[00:04:39] Billy: So it’s not always about coming, you know, every six to eight weeks. Like that’s great if you want to be super consistent with it. But there are other variables that are way more important than timing Or coming in exactly at eight weeks. Sometimes I tell people, Hey, give it 3, 4, 5 months. Give it six months.

[00:04:58] Billy: You’re gonna see better [00:05:00] results if you just let it ride and let your body do the thing. Okay? So keep that in mind, uh, when you’re getting laser tattoo removal, that it’s not only about just pounding the pigment, it’s about your body’s ability , to pick those particles up once they’re shattered. ?

[00:05:17] Billy: Now let’s talk about what you can expect during the process. every tattoo’s different and like we talked about just now, everybody’s body is different. There are some tattoos that will lift right away if it’s a very light thin line tattoo that’s not very dark or deep, it’s gonna lift a lot quicker than, let’s say, a deep tattoo that is super saturated and there’s 

[00:05:41] Billy: A little bit of scar tissue on top. When you see scar tissue on a tattoo, what actually happens is that scar tissue is like a, a barrier. The pigment is underneath and the scar tissue is on top. So when that laser is trying to penetrate, it’s hitting that scar tissue and it’s not really able to [00:06:00] get to that pigment underneath.

[00:06:01] Billy: the scar tissue acts as a shield and kind of protects that pigment from being shattered by the laser. Other times the pigment particles will be lodged inside of the scar tissue. And then when that happens, if you think about it, there’s not much flow. There’s no lymph flowing through scar tissue.

[00:06:22] Billy: So even if you break that pigment down in the scar tissue, it could stay lodged in there. And we do have a technique that kind of breaks down scar tissue, and sometimes that will be necessary in order to free up that pigment. It loosens up the scar tissue, which then will allow your body to pick up that pigment that was lodged in the scar tissue.

[00:06:44] Billy: So sometimes if there’s scar tissue present, it is a little bit more difficult to remove the tattoo, but we do have techniques to break down that scar tissue, which will then allow us to break up that pigment and get your body to access that pigment and [00:07:00] process it.during the first few sessions of laser tattoo removal, if it’s a dark tattoo you might not see much movement, and a lot of people get super bummed out when they come in and there’s a, you know, a dark tattoo if it’s somebody’s name or some dark script or something like that, and they just want it off immediately.

[00:07:19] Billy: A lot of times we’ll hit the tattoo six to eight weeks later, they come back and they’re like, nothing happened. Well, yeah, I mean, it takes time for this to happen. Uh, we have to give your body enough time to. Break that pigment down. If you would’ve let it ride instead of two months, give it six months or a year.

[00:07:39] Billy: I guarantee you, you’re gonna see some fading taking place, but there’s nothing you can do to speed up the process. over the course of the first few sessions, a lot of times clients won’t see any results whatsoever or very, very little results. But then all of a sudden when your body starts breaking that down, when the particles get small [00:08:00] enough, then you’ll just see it take off and, and it just starts fading quickly.

[00:08:04] Billy: But the first few sessions are it’s very important for us as laser technicians to treat the tattoo lightly. We don’t cause any scar tissue. That’s the last thing we want to do is laser it so your skin blisters up, opens, gets infected and causes scar tissue. That’s not what we’re trying to do, and there’s a lot of people who try to do that.

[00:08:29] Billy: They, I think part of it is that. Laser techs are trying to over please the client. So they’re like, okay, I’m just gonna, I’m just gonna turn this thing up and I’m gonna really blast the pigment out so this guy’s happy, or This girl is happy. But what you end up doing is causing damage to the skin and you’re done.

[00:08:49] Billy: Once that happens, your skin is scarred and there’s no way to reverse that. You’re gonna have scar tissue there. Whether it’s hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation, that is definitely [00:09:00] not what you want. So basically the way we treat it here at Studio Kiku is when we see dark saturated tattoos, we’ll treat it very lightly during the first few sessions, and when we do that, we’re breaking up the pigment without causing damage to the skin.

[00:09:17] Billy: We’re allowing thatbody to get started on processing the pigment. And once the pigment starts fading a little bit, that’s when we turn the settings up and we start going stronger. The darker and more saturated the pigment is, the more pigment underneath that’s going to explode under the skin and the

[00:09:36] Billy: more, , fuel there that, you have to explode under the skin. The more heat that’s gonna be caused, the more heat, the more blistering, the more damage. That’s just not what you want to do. So we start off lightly and as the pigment fades, we increase the settings. That’s how we do it here at Studio Kiku.

[00:09:57] Billy: We don’t try to brag about how quickly, [00:10:00] or you know, how little sessions, how few sessions we got the pigment to fade. What we wanna do is brag about how beautiful the skin is after the process is done. And if it takes one or two or three more sessions, yeah, it might cost you a little bit more money, but you’re gonna walk away happy instead of, you know, with a faded tattoo and a scar that looks exactly like the tattoo that you had.

[00:10:25] Billy: Besides seeing slow progress right from the get go, There are some other things that will happen during the process, especially during the first few sessions. It’s definitely normal for tattoos after laser tattoo removal to itch and pigment moving through your skin after it’s broken up that

[00:10:44] Billy: causes your skin to just itch. I remember when I got laser tattoo removal, my skin itched so bad in the area, just the tattoo. I couldn’t stand it. I was like, oh my God, what’s going on here? Why is this itching so badly? be honest, I used [00:11:00] some cream that alleviated the itching. You can use, uh, hydrocortisone.

[00:11:06] Billy: Some people use hemorrhoid cream. Whatever your doctor or laser technician tells you to use, I recommend listening to them. But, uh, itchiness is definitely normal. Um, redness and swelling is also normal. We normally recommend icing the area after, for the, the day of for sure, and, uh, possibly the next day just ice the area.

[00:11:30] Billy: But be careful. Ice can also cause blistering if you ice too much. So you wanna go on and off, like a couple minutes on, couple minutes off, if you can put a little rag in between or something like that. That’s a good idea. Don’t put ice directly on the skin ’cause you can burn your skin. Believe it or not, we’ve seen it happen, so be careful with the ice, but it is very important to keep your skin cool for the first couple days.

[00:11:54] Billy: What I always tell people is when you’re done with your laser [00:12:00] session, go home, ice it. When you take a shower. Take a cool shower. . Don’t take a hot steamy shower. No jacuzzis. No saunas, no hot yoga, nothing like that. Just chill for the first couple days. Let your body temperature, you know, go down. Don’t raise your body temperature.

[00:12:18] Billy: Anything you do to raise your body temperature is going to increase the chances of blistering, and it’s just gonna be more difficult to heal. So I recommend icing and resting for the first couple days, drink lots of water and just rest. That is what I recommend and that’s what we recommend here at Studio Kiku after laser tattoo removal.

[00:12:42] Billy: Let’s talk about pain management a little bit. So we talked about how the process works. The laser targets the pigment under the skin and it shatters the pigment. When that pigment shatters, it’s an actual explosion under the skin.

[00:12:55] Billy: We normally ice the skin before we laser, and we have a machine that blows [00:13:00] very cold air , as we’re firing the laser. You can also use numbing cream if you want, and that’s not gonna impede the efficacy of the laser at all. It doesn’t have a negative impact.

[00:13:12] Billy: So if you wanna put numbing cream on, I recommend putting it on at least 45 minutes before and putting some saran wrap over the area. So the ointment has a chance to kind of absorb into the body without drying up or wiping off on your clothing or whatever. So put the numbing cream on, put some saran wrap on, let it marinate for about 45 minutes.

[00:13:34] Billy: When you come in, we’ll wipe that off. We’ll sit you down. We’ll ice the area a little bit and we’ll blow cold air on it, and then we’ll start doing the laser. We laser the area, we’ll ice it again, and then we’ll bandage it up and send you on your way. I’m not gonna tell you it doesn’t hurt because any laser tattoo removal hurts.

[00:13:57] Billy: Like I said, there are some things you can do to alleviate [00:14:00] the pain and there are some things that you probably shouldn’t do beforehand, so it doesn’t hurt as bad. If you come in with a sunburn or your skin is irritated in any way, you’re definitely gonna feel the laser a lot more than if you didn’t do that.

[00:14:17] Billy: So take care of your skin before you come in. Don’t get any sun exposure whatsoever on the treatment area. Have your body temperature nice and cool if you can when you come in and have an ice pack ready when you go home. And those are some things that I think will definitely alleviate the pain. Before, during and after you get laser tattoo removal.

[00:14:40] Billy: give you some tips for better results. Okay. So number one, give it time between sessions. If you think you want to come in every two months, you give it four months, just trust me when I tell you. Giving it more time in between sessions is going to.

[00:14:58] Billy: Make a big, big [00:15:00] difference. You’ll end up coming in less, which means you’ll end up spending less money. You’ll be going through less pain, you’ll be traumatizing your skin less, and you’re gonna get the same results. So give yourself ample time in between sessions. Second tip for better results is, like I said, be healthy.

[00:15:20] Billy: Drink lots of water, eat good food, be happy. Have a, have a positive, uh, mindset and exercise a lot, all of those things are gonna help your body’s immune system boost. And if you boost your immune system, your fading is gonna definitely increase. those are a couple tips that will help you get better results with your laser tattoo removal process. 

[00:15:45] Billy: How much does tattoo removal cost? Well, everybody’s a little different, and depending on the laser being used and the market, it’s all kind of different. What we charge here and what somebody else charges down the street may be a little bit different, [00:16:00] but I think everybody’s pretty

[00:16:02] Billy: consistent with how they base their pricing. Pricing is based on the size of the tattoo We start our prices out at 200 per session, and that could be, you know, a business card size tattoo or anything smaller than that. And the prices go up based on the size.

[00:16:21] Billy: We do offer discounts if you purchase a package. So if you buy a package of three, we discount 20%. 

[00:16:28] Billy: If you decide to go for the complete removal package, which is very popular, the way we price it is we’ll take the single session price and we’ll multiply it times 6.5. And like I said, on average, dark tattoos take anywhere between nine and 12 sessions. So if you’re looking to remove a completely, and you’re.

[00:16:48] Billy: Dedicated and you’re committed to doing it, then the complete removal package is definitely the way to go. What that covers is as many sessions as needed to reach the [00:17:00] maximum amount of fading. That does not guarantee that we’re gonna remove the tattoo completely. We never guarantee complete removal, but what we do promise is that we’ll continue to treat it until we reach the point where

[00:17:16] Billy: it’s completely gone, or your body decided that it’s not able to break it down anymore. 

[00:17:22] Billy: Thanks for checking out this podcast and make sure you tune into our other podcast where we’re gonna talk all about laser tattoo removal, and we’re gonna have some guests on who are gonna share their stories about their tattoo removal journey.