Tattoo removal at the centre of expertise

When getting a tattoo, ink is put into the skin. Our body is shocked by this unknown substance but because of the large size of the ink particles it isn’t able to remove it. The skin must therefore ensure in another way that no damage is caused by the unknown substance. The skin does this by encapsulating the ink particles. With this way the ink will form in spheres and don’t damage the skin, but are visible from the outside and will always remain in place.
The most commonly used and safest method to remove a tattoo is through laser therapy. The laser beams are absorbed by the color pigments of a tattoo causing the large ink particles to break into smaller ink particles. These ink particles are so small that the can be discharged through the body. How long it takes for the body to remove the ink particles of one treatment differ per person. On average, this process takes 8 weeks. The results of 1 treatment can therefore only me read after at least 8 weeks.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to predict how many treatments will be needed to remove a tattoo prior to the process. The speed at which a tattoo can be removed depends on many factors.

Examples of factors that influence the process are:

Color of the tattoo
The PicoWay is able to remove all colors, however one color will go faster than the other color. Dark and red tones are generally easy to remove. Bright colors such as neon graan, light blue and bright yellow require more treatments on average.

Depth of the tattoo
The deeper the tattoo is in the skin, the more treatments will be needed. If it’s a tattoo more in the surface of the kin, it will be easier to remove.

Amount of ink
The amount of ink determines the number of treatments. The more ink has been used during tattooing, the more treatments will be required for tattoo removal.

Quality of the ink
There are many different inks on the market. Each type of ink has its own composition and reacts differently to the laser treatment.

The individual lymphatic system
The ink particles that are pulverized during a laser treatment must be discharged through the lymphatic system in the weeks after the treatment. For some, this process works faster than for others.

Skin type
The lighter the skin, the easier it is to remove a tattoo. The more pigment the skin contains, the more treatments will be needed to remove a tattoo beautifully and without scars. This has to do with the minimal presence of pigment in fair skin while this is strongly present in darker skin types.

In addition to the above factors, there are a number of other factors that influence the speed at which a tattoo can be removed. These are: the presence of scartissue, location of the tattoo, age of the tattoo and health.

On average, the PicoWay requires 5-9 treatments to remove a black tattoo on fair or slightly toned skin. We would like to emphasize that this is only an average number.

With the PicoWay we’re able to completely remove most of the tattoos. We often get tattoos in our clinic that could no langer achieve results with other lasers (such as the Q-Switched ND-Yag, Harmony laser, and the PicoSure), but where we’re still able to completely laser the last haze away. This is partly due to the combination of an ultra short pulse length and the deep penetration of the laser.

With older lasers (such as the Q-switch ND-Yag, Alexandrite, Ruby, Medlite and Harmony laser), scar formation was a common side effect. This is because these laser mainly produces so much heat in the skin that the skin can be damaged to such an extent that scar tissue is created. These older laser treatments can therefore also be classified as a thermal treatment.

The Picoway laser works based on a picosecond (as opposed to a nanosecond or the older lasers). Because the ink particles are now pulverized in such a short time frame, 100 times faster compared to the older lasers (a trillionth of a second), the skin has no chance to heat up. The treatment of the PicoWay can therefore also be classified as an acoustic treatment. There’s now so much less heat in the skin, so that the skin has less chances to be damaged. As a result, scar tissue and or discoloration in the pigmentation no longer occur and with the PicoWay we can safely treat all skin types, even the darkest skin.

Keep in mind that scar tissue sometimes already has arise during the tattooing process. You can usually see/feel this. You’ll feel a thickness or you’ll see whiter parts in your tattoo. We’ll inspect with you during the intake whether there is scar tissue in your tattoo. If you have scar tissue in you tattoo, we can additionally treat the tattoo with the PicoWay Resolve. During this after treatment, small holes are made in the skin with the use of a fractionated laser, which also improves the skin structure.

During a treatment large ink particle that cannot be discharged through the body, will be pulverized into small ink particles. After a laser treatment, the body is then able to remove the pulverized small ink particles. This means that when you just had the treatment, the same amount of ink is still present in the skin. However, the ink has been made so small that the body itself is able to dispose of it in the weeks after the treatment.

The drainage is done through the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system works relatively slowly, which means that it takes an average of 8 weeks between treatments. However this treatment interval can vary per person due to the individual immune system.

The PicoWay is the first laser that can be applied to any skin type. With the combination of our laser and the expertise of our laser specialist and skin therapists, you don’t have to worry about discoloration in the pigment of scars.

However, removing a tattoo on dark skin will require more treatments than a tattoo on fair skin. This can be explained by the fact that the dark skin contains more natural pigments and have to be treated lower.

Our PicoWay has 3 different wavelengths. This allows us to treat all colors except white. White ink contains no pigment, so white cannot be removed with any laser. In addition, white ink can contain a certain type of metal that can oxidize during a laser treatment. The white ink of the tattoo can then turn darker. This should then be removed with further treatments. In very rare cases, whit ink can be very stubborn and sometimes remain visible for a long time.

We do not treat during pregnancy and/ or breastfeeding. During this period, the hormone balance has changed. This can lead to how unpredictable treatments can be.

That is no problem, we even see many tattoos where no results could be achieved elsewhere and where we are still able to laser the whole tattoo away.

An IPL laser is not suitable for removing tattoos. Unfortunately, this is often offered in the Netherlands. In addition to the act that with an IPL laser, more than 20 treatments will be required to remove a tattoo, an IPL laser can cause serious damage to tattooed skin. If you are treated with an IPL laser, we advise you to stop immediately.

We remove permanent make-up almost every day. The PicoWay laser is the first laser approved by the FDA in America for its removal. For more information on removing permanent make-up, click here.