With apologies to the REAL Mythbusters – Adam and Jamie …
We’ve done a little myth-busting of our own at Disappear Ink!
Myth No.1 – Laser Tattoo Removal leaves scars and burns
BUSTED – A correctly set and calibrated tattoo removal laser will not leave a scar or damage the treated area or the surrounding skin. The laser energy pulse actually shatters the tattoo ink layers into micro-particles. It doesn’t ‘burn’, ‘zap’ or vaporise the ink or the skin, it simply shatters the ink into tiny fragments the body can eliminate.
Using the wrong TYPE of laser, like a hair removal laser can will probably cause scarring as it is not fit for purpose. Just because it’s a LASER it doesn’t mean you can use it for LASER tattoo removal. Dermabrasion and salabrasion methods will always leave a scar because you’re rubbing away multiple layers of skin with sand-paper effectively.
Myth No.2 – Laser Tattoo Removal hurts
BUSTED – Does Tattoo removal hurt? Again, a correctly set and calibrated tattoo removal laser will not cause unbearable pain. A top class clinician will set the laser treatment to be effective without causing undue discomfort. To reduce the overall discomfort level your clinician will ALWAYS use a Zimmer cooling machine as part of the treatment. This machine chills the area and removes the latent heat produced by the ink shattering process. Some tattoos are on very sensitive areas such as feet, ribs and other bits. To overcome the natural sensitivity of the body, you should use a topical anaesthetic cream such as LMX-4 or EMLA. Once applied correctly our clients report an overall Discomfort Level of 4 out of 10. Easy to take.
Myth No.3 – Tattoo Removal Creams Work
BUSTED – Miracle creams like Wrecking Balm and other tattoo removal creams might fade a tattoo a little bit but they cannot fully remove tattoos simply because the cream cannot penetrate deeply enough through the skin to completely remove the ink. Given that tattoos reside in the secondary layer of skin, the cream has to ‘eat’ its way through the primary (top) layer of skin before attacking the secondary layer. So if its eating your skin, it’s leaving a scar not just removing some ink.
Myth No.4 – Black Ink is the hardest to remove
BUSTED – Of all the ink colours, black is technically the easiest to remove. The reason is PHYSICS. Black absorbs all light. It has no colour, it’s black, because it doesn’t reflect any light. Since lasers emit light of an exact frequency, black ink absorbs the laser light perfectly. So, using a laser with an ultra violet frequency such as 1064nm, only the black ink is targeted and the surrounding skin is left untouched. That gives you a great result when removing a black tattoo. Since the vast majority of tattoos are black, laser tattoo removal works and works well.
Myth No.5 – That Internet video showed instant Tattoo Removal
BUSTED – As much as we all like to believe everything we see on the Internet, those videos showing ‘instant’ laser tattoo removal are only telling half the real story. The laser in those videos IS treating the tattoo. The laser IS fading the tattoo. That whitening you see IS normal. What it isn’t doing is removing it instantly. If those videos ran for another 15-20 minutes, you would see the skin settle down and the ink will still be there, lighter, but still there. Laser Tattoo Removal is a fading process. There is no instant method of tattoo removal available EXCEPT a surgeon with a scalpel.
That’s all for now.
See you in the Clinic soon,
The Team at Disappear Ink
