Tattoo removal

Tattoo removal has been performed with various tools since the start of tattooing. While tattoos were once considered permanent, it is now possible to remove them with treatments, fully or partially. Tattoo removal has been performed with various tools since the start of tattooing. While tattoos were once considered permanent, it is now possible to remove them with treatments, fully or partially. The 'standard modality for tattoo removal' is the non-invasive removal of tattoo pigments using Q-switched lasers. Different types of Q-switched lasers are used to target different colors of tattoo ink depending on the specific light absorption spectra of the tattoo pigments. Typically, black and other darker-colored inks can be removed completely using Q-switched lasers while lighter colors such as yellows and greens are still very difficult to remove. Success can depend on a wide variety of factors including skin color, ink color, and the depth at which the ink was applied. Q-switched lasers first became commercially available in the early 1990s. For a couple of decades before that, continuous-wave lasers were used as medical lasers for tattoo removal. Continuous-wave lasers used a high energy beam that ablated the target area and destroyed surrounding tissue structures as well as tattoo ink. Treatment tended to be painful and cause scarring. Before the development of laser tattoo removal methods, common techniques included dermabrasion, TCA (Trichloroacetic acid, an acid that removes the top layers of skin, reaching as deep as the layer in which the tattoo ink resides), salabrasion (scrubbing the skin with salt), cryosurgery and excision which is sometimes still used along with skin grafts for larger tattoos. Many other methods for removing tattoos have been suggested historically including the injection or application of tannic acid, lemon juice, garlic and pigeon dung. Recent research is investigating the potential of multi-pass treatments and the use of picosecond laser technology, which seem promising. A poll conducted in January 2012 by Harris Interactive reported that 1 in 7 (14%) of the 21% of American adults who have a tattoo regret getting one. The poll didn't report the reasons for these regrets, but a poll that was done 4 years prior reported that the most common reasons were 'too young when I got the tattoo' (20%), 'it's permanent' and 'I'm marked for life' (19%), and 'I just don't like it' (18%). An earlier poll showed that 19% of Britons with tattoos suffered regret, as did 11% of Italians with tattoos. Surveys of tattoo removal patients were done in 1996 and 2006 and provided more insight. Of those polled, the patients who regretted their tattoos typically obtained their tattoos in their late teens or early twenties, and were evenly distributed by gender. Among those seeking removals, more than half reported that they 'suffered embarrassment'. A new job, problems with clothes, and a significant life event were also commonly cited as motivations. Tattoos that were once a symbol of inclusion in a group, such as a gang, can make it difficult to become employed. Tattoos that indicate a significant relationship such as a spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend, can become problematic if the relationship ends. Angelina Jolie, Eva Longoria, Marc Anthony and Denise Richards are some of the celebrities that have had this kind of tattoo removed. The choice to get a tattoo that is later regretted is related to the end-of-history illusion, in which teenagers and adults of all ages know that their tastes have changed regularly over the years before the current moment, but believe that their tastes will somehow not continue to grow and mature in the future. As a result, they wrongly believe that any tattoo that appeals to them today will always appeal to them in the future. Some wearers decide to cover an unwanted tattoo with a new tattoo. This is commonly known as a cover-up. An artfully done cover-up may render the old tattoo completely invisible, though this will depend largely on the size, style, colors and techniques used on the old tattoo and the skill of the tattoo artist.Covering up a previous tattoo necessitates darker tones in the new tattoo to effectively hide the older, unwanted piece.Many tattoos are too dark to cover up and in those cases patients may receive laser tattoo removal to lighten the existing ink to make themselves better candidates for a cover up tattoo.