Tattoo removal timeline
Ask 99% of the planet if you can remove a tattoo and they’ll tell you you can’t. Not completely.
They’re all wrong.
Tattoo removal used to be a scene in a sci-fi movie. Tattoos were as permanent as Dr.Spock’s spray-on blue sweater. As forever as Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks. As unremovable as the Mandalorian’s mask. But that’s all changed.
Thanks to the amazing science of PicoWay laser technology we can now actually undo a tattoo.
Let’s just stay with that a second. We can now remove the permanent. And we mean remove, gone, like it was never there. No blemishes. No ink. No sign on the skin whatsoever.
It’s truly amazing. Almost magical. But it’s a process and it takes…yes, time.
Well it’s part laser and part your body. In each session the laser breaks down the ink into smaller and smaller particles. When they’re small enough your body can flush them away naturally, and when we say flush and naturally, yes we mean in the loo.
So we leave around 6 to 8 weeks between sessions to give the body time to remove as many of these smaller particles of ink as it can. Then we repeat until it’s all gone.
Our lasers are so accurate that they can target really tiny particles of ink and speed up the removal process. Read more about how good they are here. But it still takes time. How long depends on a number of factors we’ll go into now.
We recommend staying out of the sun between treatments or at least using really good protection.
It’s a partnership between your body and our laser. Drinking lots of water, avoiding alcohol and staying out of the sun, will help improve your ability to flush out the ink.
The type and amount of melanin, the pigmentation of your skin and whether you tan or burn easily are all really important to the best treatment that suits your skin.
Tattoos fade. A tattoo that is 15+ years old will have fewer pigment partials in it today than when it was brand new. Less pigment means fewer treatments.
Neck, chest, and back tattoos tend to take fewer treatments than tattoos on the ankle or foot. Put simply, the closer to your heart, the better the circulation, the faster it goes.
Black is considered the easiest to remove. Warm and cool colored pigments are not so easy. For this reason, tattoos with a lot of layers of color can take longer to remove too.
In just a few minutes our experts will size your tattoo, discuss desired results, and answer all your questions.
We offer flexible pricing and finance packages so you can spread the cost over time.
Our technicians are trained to make the process as comfortable as possible and most laser sessions last just a few minutes.
We take this to another level as we know how important it is to getting the best results.
Yes nicotine can narrow the small blood vessels, slowing down the body’s ability to flush out the ink particles.
We hope you’re still with us, the main point being that for the safety and care of your skin it takes time. Please, please don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. They are quite simply yanking your chain.
No matter how many sessions your tattoo needs to be removed, you pay only one low price.
We know all of this information can feel quite overwhelming and you’re going to have a lot of questions. That’s why our experts explain it all as simply as possible right here.
Joshua Weitz, MD turns to the white board to help him explain it in detail. It’s laser science so it’s pretty complicated but we’ll do our best to explain it as simply as we can.
There’s a lot of confusion when it comes to time and laser tattoo removal. It can take over 12 months to actually remove a tattoo with treatments happening every 8 weeks or so, but the treatments themselves can be over in less than a minute.
The settings on the laser are different per skin type. So having extensive experience is essential. Changes to skin pigmentation can happen in the wrong hands.
We’re on a mission to give you the most straightforward, easy and efficient laser tattoo removal experience. Your estimate will be entirely bespoke to your tattoo; the size, the colours, the ink. It won’t take long and afterwards you’ll have a plan to finally get rid of your unwanted tattoo and get back to being you.
Get Your Free Estimate
Every tattoo is different, from the size and age to the inks and colours used. It all affects how long full tattoo removal will take.
So just fill in the form and we’ll give you a quick call to chat it through.