Stomach Tattoo Removal Results

The teardrop tattoo has a number of meanings. Most people associate it with prison tattoos, murder, gang affiliation, or the loss of a loved one. This client came to Removery's Ink-nitiative Program after spending a portion of his adult life in prison. This teardrop tattoo is an unwanted reminder of the past, the difficulty people have transitioning back into the public is extraordinary. To get rid of this job stopper, our client’s goal was full tattoo removal as quickly as possible.

Removal Challenge # 1 Prison Ink

A large variable in tattoo removal is the chemical composition of tattoo ink. Even in the USA, there is no FDA approval or regulation on tattoo ink. This leads to tattoo removal being unpredictable. Where some ink removes in just a few laser treatments, some heavier synthetic inks can take double the time than their organic counterparts.

Removal Challenge # 2 Amateur Tattoo Artists

When tattoos are applied within the walls of a prison typically they are a product of whatever the “artist” can find.
If this didn’t make the tattoo removal process difficult enough, the machines that are used within prisons are usually homemade, with very little accuracy for the depth they deposit the ink into the skin. Usually, prison tattoos are deposited higher in the dermis than a professional tattoo. This can lead to easier removal as the laser can target the pigment more effectively.

How to Remove Face Tattoos?

This tattoo was removed in 2 treatments. Unfortunately, the photo shown is the progress after only one treatment. Due to the blue hue of this tattoo, we chose to use our PicoWay laser for his first removal treatment. The 755 wavelengths allowed for ideal clearance of different colors, especially the blackish blue pigment with very little post-treatment aggravation.

Tattoos that are more likely to be consistently exposed to direct sunlight can present challenges for our laser technicians. Find out why.

Why Laser Before a Cover Up? With laser treatment being so readily available, many artists choose to refer their cover up tattoo clients to Removery to undergo laser tattoo removal before putting their art in the same place. This allows for the artist to do a tattoo to their full ability, without having to dance around different artists' old and unwanted tattoo ink. This also reduces the need for the cover up tattoo to be a very large, and a very dark tattoo. Thanks to laser, if you want a cover up tattoo, but don’t want a huge dark raven, the possibility remains.

How Many Treatments?

The main question asked when a client comes in to lighten an unwanted tattoo before a tattoo cover up, is “how many treatments do I need?” While this is a difficult question to answer for even full removal, it becomes even more challenging to give accurate answers for tattoo cover ups. This is due to the numerous tattoo styles, and artist preferences that play a roll in the cover up tattoo process, and different skin tones. Every artist will require a different level of lightening before they apply the new tattoo. This is largely due to the tattoo artist’s style, and style of tattoo. If you are looking to have an American traditional tattoo applied with heavy lines and bright vibrant colors, odds are your artist will require fewer treatments than an artist who specializes in light black and grey portraits, which an old tattoo would more easily show through.

How Do I Ensure my Tattoo is Light Enough for the Cover Up Tattoo?

At Removery our first piece of advice when seeking a cover up tattoo is to decide on the tattoo you want, find an artist who you love, and speak to them. The best results come from good communication between an artist and client who are on the same page. Every technician at Removery is highly skilled in laser tattoo removal, but typically we do lack the artistic insight your artist will have. Speaking to your artist can also reduce the size of the area you need to be lasered or colors that need laser removal. The less ink we need to remove, the less costly the removal process will be and fewer side effects.