How Many Tattoo Removal Sessions Do You Really Need?

Full Transcript

I can get your tattoo off in one session, but you're not gonna like what that leaves behind. I'd have to turn the laser up all the way and blow a hole in your skin. The tattoo would be gone, but you would be left with a scar in the exact same shape as the tattoo that you had before. So how many sessions does it really take to do it right? I'm gonna walk you through it session by session.

My name's Billy DeCola. We get this question every single day at Studio Kiku. For a dark, saturated tattoo, the honest answer is somewhere between 9 and 12 sessions for complete removal. Those sessions are spaced out at least two months apart. So you're looking at anywhere between a year and a half to two years. Sometimes it even takes longer. Some tattoos need fewer than nine sessions, and some need more. I'll tell you exactly what makes the difference.

So why does it take so long? Here's the thing. The laser's really fast, but your body is slow. The laser penetrates your skin without damaging your skin, your hairs, or your hair follicles, and it finds the pigment in your skin, and it shatters it into tiny particles. When those particles are small enough, your body's lymphatic system comes through and picks up those particles slowly. That process is happening anyway as your tattoo has been fading. The laser just speeds up the process a little bit.

That's why we wait a minimum of two months in between sessions. We wanna allow your lymphatic system time to pick up those pigment particles. Coming in more often doesn't mean the tattoo is gonna fade quicker.

So here's what the timeline looks like session by session. If your tattoo is new, you need to wait at least 12 weeks after getting the tattoo before you start your laser tattoo removal process. It starts with us assessing your tattoo. For the first three or four sessions, we recommend you come in every two months. Somewhere between session three and six, that's when we normally start seeing that pigment really break up, and that's when the fading really starts happening.

Tattoos normally don't fade evenly. Light shading normally goes first. The deeper, more saturated lines and packed in pigment normally take a longer amount of time. Once the pigment's really breaking down, we recommend waiting at least three to four months in between sessions.

If you want it light enough for a cover-up, you're normally gonna need less sessions. How many sessions you'll need will be determined by the new design and the artist. For example, if you're covering up a tattoo with a black panther, you're probably gonna need less sessions of tattoo removal than you would if you're gonna get a realistic portrait covering up that tattoo. But you'll wanna talk with your tattoo artist and have them involved in the process so they can determine when they're ready to cover up the tattoo with the new design.

So why does one tattoo take five sessions and another one will take 12 sessions? Here's what makes it faster or slower.

Number one is saturation. The more pigment, the more colour packed in, the longer it's gonna take to fade and the more sessions that will be required. A soft black and grey piece will come out a lot quicker than a deep, dark, saturated tribal piece.

Number two is depth. If the pigment is sitting close to the surface, it's gonna fade much quicker than a tattoo would if it's placed deep into the skin.

Number three is the location on your body. Your torso, your shoulders, your thighs, those body parts have a lot more lymph flowing through them than let's say your fingers, your feet, your ankles, those have a lot less. The more close to your heart, I would say, the quicker the tattoo is gonna fade.

Number four is scar tissue. The scar tissue could have been caused by the tattoo application. It could have been while the healing process was taking place, or you could have scar tissue from a previous laser tattoo removal session. If there's scar tissue present, one thing, it's gonna protect the tattoo from the laser, so it'll create a little shield. So when the laser's penetrating the skin, it's gonna block that laser from penetrating. That's number one. And number two, pigment can become encapsulated inside the scar tissue. And if that happens, there's a lot less lymphatic flow, if not any, in scar tissue. So sometimes the pigment can become lodged in there and it won't get released by the scar tissue. The PicoWay does have a handpiece called the PicoWay Resolve, and we do use that to break down scar tissue in those cases. But that's gonna take a longer time than it would if you didn't have any scar tissue.

Number five is the pigment itself. Some pigment shatters into little dust particles, and other pigments reflect the laser or don't absorb it whatsoever. Some pigment oxidizes. Other pigment actually melts because it has little particles of plastic in it. Not all pigment is created equally, and some pigment is easily removable and others is impossible to remove.

Number six is the age of the tattoo. The older the tattoo, the easier it is to remove. The newer tattoos are most of the time more difficult.

And here's one that often surprises people. Just because a tattoo is small, it doesn't mean it's gonna take less sessions. A big tattoo that is less deep or the perfect type of pigment may take less sessions than a tiny tattoo that is super saturated and deep in the skin.

Number seven and probably the most important factor in this whole process is your health. Once those pigment particles are broken up, it's up to your body to remove that pigment. If you're a healthy, active person, you're most likely gonna see better results than if you're a couch potato and you're unhealthy. Some things that you can do to help the removal process: you wanna stay hydrated, you wanna eat healthy, you wanna exercise, you wanna get good sleep, and you just wanna be healthy overall.

You can have the same exact tattoo in the same place with all of the variables the same except for the personal health. And the tattoo on the healthier person is gonna fade much quicker than the tattoo on the unhealthy person.

So if someone tells you it's gonna take anywhere between 9 and 12 sessions and it's gonna be about a year and a half to two years to completely remove the tattoo, then they're not dragging it out. That's what it takes to safely remove a tattoo with laser.

So if you wanna get a quote for tattoo removal, then send in a photo at studiokiku.com/faded, and we'll take a look at the photo and we'll give you some honest feedback based on what we see in the photo. If you're not near one of our studios, then you can take these questions to your consultation. You wanna ask how far apart they space the sessions, and you wanna ask if they start gently and work their way up as the pigment fades.

Thanks for watching the Faded Podcast, and we'll see you again next time.