It’s possible remove a tattoo? Short answer: yes, thank you picosecond laser. It is a laser that selectively hits the pigments that make up the ink, thus heating them and fragmenting them. The results can be truly impressive, leading to complete removal of the tattoo, but this is not always the case: successful removal depends on several variables such as the color, location, age of the tattoo and the ink used. Let’s see in this video how picosecond lasers work and all the variables involved.
Laser tattoo removal
Nowadays it is very common to be tattooed. But if it is common to have a tattoo, it also often happens that you “regret” it. According to statistics reported by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, i repent in Europe they go from 5 to 20% and in the United States from 14 to 17%, while if we focus onItaly is the 17.2% of tattooed people who have thought about removing a tattoo. The reasons are usually loss of meaning, the fact that you no longer like the tattoo, the faded color, incompatibility with work or health reasons.
But let’s get to the point: How do you remove a tattoo? It is amedical operationwhich therefore must be performed by doctors specialized in the practice. The tool that is used for removal is a picosecond laserthat is, a laser that acts with pulsations at a speed in the order of picoseconds, i.e. 10-12 seconds. What the laser light pulses do is go acselectively cleanse the pigments that make up the tattoo ink. By doing so, the pigments are heated without however heating the surrounding skin, it is the so-called selective photothermolysis. This process causes that the pigments break into smaller fragmentswhich the lymphatic system is able to “digest”. In short, the action of the laser reactivates the immune system – just like when a tattoo is performed – which attempts to dispose of the ink by recalling the so-called macrophages, cells capable of incorporating the ink pigments and disposing of the smaller ones.
However, tattoos do not all come off in the same way, but there are different variables at play.
Which tattoos come off best
The first variable to consider is the color. First of all it must be said that the laser must be adjusted depending on the color of the ink. Different colors absorb laser light more or less well: darker pigments, such as black, they absorb more energy and therefore fragment e removed more easily. Colors instead like the yellow they absorb less and are more difficult to treat. The wavelength of the laser is adjusted depending on the color to be treated so that the laser is selective on the pigment. , because different colors are affected by different wavelengths λ of the light ray. For example, a wavelength λ = 694 or 755 nm is effective on black, green and blue, while λ = 1064 and 532 nm are effective on black, blue, red, orange and some yellows. And this also explains why tattoos with multiple colors are more complex to remove: they need multiple treatments with different wavelengths.
Another important variable is the type of ink. Often very old tattoos cannot be removed because they were made with inks that are not suitable for removal. The type of ink is also important for our health. There is European legislation, the REACH, which tells us which pigments are safe and which are harmful and cannot be used, because they are dangerous for our health. This is why it is so important rely on certified tattoo artists: to make sure the right inks are used and the correct hygiene rules are followed.
If on the one hand i old tattoos they may be difficult to remove due to the “wrong” ink, on the other hand if done correctly they turn out easier to eliminate thanks to the fact that over the years the immune system continues to try to dispose of the pigments, making the tattoos blurrier. As for new tattoos, however, the quantity of ink in the skin is much greater and for this reason they are more complex to remove.
Then there are other important variables, such as position, The skin type or the pain experienced by the patient, which can compromise the success of the operation or on the contrary, a skin favorable to removal could help.
The last less scientific variable is the cost: tattoo removal is very expensive, so often those who want to remove a tattoo desist for economic reasons.
