As the holiday season comes around, many of us start thinking about what we can do to look our best.  This may mean getting some special clothes, hair styles, or cosmetic treatments.  When considering rejuvenating or enhancing cosmetic treatments, timing is crucial.  For instance, Botox lasts 3 months and doesn’t take full effect for 1 week.  So, there’s no rush to get it for a special occasion that is 3 months away, but you should give it at least a week, and possibly more if you are prone to bruising.  Other injectable treatments, such as Juvederm and Radiesse, have instant results but may have some swelling or bruising that takes a few days to resolve.  Fraxel, should be done at least 2 weeks prior to a an engagement since there may be some redness or roughness to the skin after treatment.  Laser tattoo removal requires multiple treatments, so timing is not that important.  Chemical peels are variable but at least a week should be allowed.  Other esthetician treatments, such as facials and microdermabrasion are less invasive and a day may suffice, depending on the treatment.

Please join us on SAT. APRIL 25TH    10AM- 6PM

There will be Food, Fun, Drawings, and Freebies!
FREE DRAWINGS FOR:
JUVEDERM

BOTOX

TATTOO REMOVAL

LASER HAIR REMOVAL

FREEBIES:            MINI FACIALS OR WAXING (BY APPT. ONLY)
LIMITED SPACE – CALL EARLY TO
SCHEDULE

Please stop by the office on the party day and fill out an entry form to
be eligible for drawings.  Good Luck!!

There are many reasons why people choose to get tattoos removed. As the medical director of Tattoo MD, I can attest that there is no single category that people can be easily lumped into. However, there are some patterns that emerge that are interesting to comment on. One is the differences I have observed between men and women getting their tattoos removed. The following is based on our experience at Tattoo MD Laser Clinic in Los Angeles.
There are some characteristics that are much more common in men who are getting tattoos removed. Men appear to be more likely than women to have just part of a tattoo removed rather than the whole thing. For men, it seems to often be due to a change in the technical appreciation of the tattoo. For instance, they may want some letters or a component of a drawing removed. It seems that men are more likely to be become dissatisfied with the particular appearance of the tattoo rather than the entire tattoo itself. This is not universal. A man, just as a woman may want to completely remove a symbolic tattoo, such as one that is gang-affiliated, once they no longer identify with that lifestyle.

Another characteristic that appears to be more common in men is teenage self-administered tattoos. These are the homemade tats done with pen ink, india ink, homemade charcoal or other locally available materials. The needle used may be a sewing needle, guitar string, or other sharp object. The tattoo typically has no artistic quality and is frequently removed later, often at the demand of parents. Interestingly, women who get an homemade tattoo often get one from another man, particularly a boyfriend. They may get the guy’s name tattooed on their chest as a mark of belonging to him. This is common among gang members.
Both men and women get names tattooed, but it seems that women get them removed more often than men. Perhaps there is a greater tendency among women to be labeled as belonging to a mate. This might also play into the “all or nothing” tendency that I believe functions more strongly in women than men. Thus men are more likely to tolerate a name on their body that no longer holds significance for them, while women want to be completely rid of it.

There are of course the expected differences. Women more often get tattoos of flowers, butterflies, cute animals. They more often get ankle and lower back tattoos. Unsurprisingly, these tattoos present for removal more often in women. Likewise, men often get upper arm or neck tattoos and more often get these tattoos removed.

These observed differences are not absolute. They do reflect underlying societal values, differences in the way that men and women think, and the interrelationships between men and women. These forces express themselves in tattooing and in choices made to remove a tattoo.

Hyperpigmentation is a the darkening of the skin in or around a treatment site, (in this case a laser-treated site).  Increased melanin production by the melanocytes of the skin in response to thermal changes and inflammation.   Any kind of laser treatment, whether it is the kind that causes deep injury to the skin, such as a carbon dioxide laser, or a q-switched laser that sends much less energy into the skin, can cause hyperpigmentation.  By minimizing thermal damage to the normal skin, one can minimize the risk of hyperpigmenation.   It is generally temporary but recovery time can vary widely, lasting a few weeks to months.  Hyperpigmentation is not the same as scarring, although both scarring and hyperpigmentation can occur in the same location.

In a review of 3143 laser hair removal procedures on 480 patients, Lanigan showed that darker patients were more likely to be affected by hyperpigmentation.  There was a risk of 1% in the lightest skin types vs. 9.9% in the darkest.  The type of laser used affects the risk of hyperpigmentation.  In another study of 800 laser hair removal procedures, the risk of hyperpigmentation with a long-pulsed diode laser was only .25%.  Ruby lasers, on the other hand, are now no longer widely used for laser hair removal due to the higher risks of hyperpigmentation in darker-skinned patients.

Hydroquinone has been a mainstay of treatment for hyperpigmentation.   It comes in different topical concentrations (most commonly a 4% prescription-strength).  Hydroquinone is a blocker of an enzyme used in chemical reactions to create melanin from the amino acid tyrosine.  Hydroquinone is FDA-approved but does carry some precautions.  It should not be used chronically (more than 6 months) because it can lead to a different kind of skin darkening, called ochronosis.  This is not the same as hyperpigmentation.  Following prescribed instructions would keep this from being a problem.

On Wednesday, May 7, 4-8 pm, Tattoo MD Laser Clinic and Medi-Spa will be open for appointments and walk-ins.  All of our services including tattoo removal and hair removal will be available and on display.  There will be price specials on Botox, Juvederm, and Radiesse.  Jennifer, our esthetician, will be performing introductory mini-facials.  Food and refreshments will be served, courtesy of Allergan, the makers of Botox.  Stay tuned for more news as we get closer. 

There is no question that the Nd:YAG laser is the overall workhorse and reigning champ when it comes to laser tattoo removal. Its reliability, speed and color range make it the overall best laser to use, if one has only one laser at hand. Some tattoos, however, such as sky blue and green, are difficult to remove with just the YAG laser alone. This is in part due to the wavelength at which light is absorbed by the pigments in green and blue ink. Blue ink absorbs much less light from a 1064 nanometer YAG laser beam than from a 694 nanometer Ruby laser. This makes the ruby laser a more effective laser for certain colors, such as green and blue.
Although the popular Medlite C6 comes with additional filters that are aimed at the removal of green and blue inks, such filters are really limited in what they can do over and above the basic YAG system. The YAG does have a frequency-doubling function that allows 532 nanometer light to emerge from the same laser which treats red and brown inks very well.
Thus, a combination of ruby and YAG lasers would be expected to effectively target nearly all inks used in tattooing today, except for yellow, fluorescent, and bright pink.
Tattoo MD Laser Clinic has been using the Rubystar laser in addition to the Medlite Nd:YAG laser to make our laser tattoo removal that much more effective. Although not every tattoo can be removed with any laser, we feel that we are at the limit of currently available technology for tattoo removal. This combination of laser therapy is uncommon and hard to find!

Summary: Until now, inks used for tattooing have been permanent. Although tattoos can be removed with a laser, the process is not instantaneous and can get costly. This year, new inks are scheduled to come to the market that could be instantly removed with a single laser treatment.  This new type of tattoo ink may shift the paradigm on viewing tattoos as strictly permanent body art.

Part of the attraction of getting a tattoo for some people has been the permanence of the body art that one chooses to place on their skin. If one tattoos a name on their body, it means that that name has permanent meaning for them. Likewise, the designs they choose would be something they would never want to change.

New tattoo ink technologies are threatening to change the whole concept of permanency of tattooing. Although there currently exist many methods of tattoo removal, their difficulty and cost make tattoos effectively permanent for most people. Likewise, older methods of removal, such as surgery may be painful and leave significant scarring. Laser tattoo removal, while usually effective, often requires multiple treatments and can be costly.

One company, Freedom-2, is bringing products to market that will change the paradigm of tattooing.  Their ink is based on encapsulating bio-absorbable dyes in polymethylamethacrylate microspheres. The dyes in the ink are already FDA-approved for use in food, cosmetics, and medical devices.  The ink is injected into the skin by standard tattooing techniques.  At any time when removal of the pigment is desired, a single laser treatment disrupts the encapsulation, allowing the ink to flow out into the tissues and be absorbed. The tattoo then quickly fades without the need for further laser treatments. This ink is not yet available for general use, but has been tested in human subjects, according to the company’s website. They indicate that it will be commercially available in early 2007.

They are also developing tattoo inks that will fade away on a predetermined schedule without the need for any laser treatments at all.� The technology behind this is not elucidated, and there is no date of availability listed yet for this type of product.

The main difference between these two products is that the former is a permanent ink that can be removed anytime, while the latter will last a long time but then fade away, even if the owner prefers it to stay.

Tattoo artists may not instantly take to the new inks. The ability to remove a tattoo is not necessarily the foremost consideration when choosing tattoo inks. Some artists believe that tattoos should be permanent, or one is better off not getting a tattoo if he or she is unsure about them. However, some tattoo shops may choose to cater to the less-decisive. Also, it may encourage more experimentation and fanciful designs, if the recipient knows that they can get the tattoo quickly lasered off if they don’t like it.� The new ink will likely be significantly more expensive that standard ink, so cost will also be a consideration for artists.

Although a tattoo’s ink may be temporary, there is often scarring left behind from the tattoo needle’s penetration of the skin. Thus a textural image of the tattoo may remain permanently. Even so, the concept of tattoos as purely permanent body art may be replaced by tattoos as fashion. If a tattoo could be instantly removed, some people may choose to periodically change their tattoos as they would their style of clothing.

Keywords: tattoo removal, fading tattoo, removable ink, disappearing ink, instant laser removal los angeles tattoo removal, tattoo removal los angeles, mirosphere ink

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