Minneapolis Tattoo Removal doctors

Generally, black outline tattoos are the easiest to remove.  The more the tattoos are filled in and the more colors that are used, the harder it is to remove them completely.

Regardless of whether or not the tattoo is professional or self-applied, TCA (trichloro acetic acid) is a mild acid (used mainly for superficial facial peels) that will not go deep enough (at this 20% strength) to remove all or even most of the tattoo ink. TCA removes only the epidermis and very upper dermis. Healing takes about a week or so, and unless the patient develops an infection or damages the tissues while healing, there is usually very low risk of scarring or pigmentation change (skin color change). Unfortunately, the tattoo ink will in almost all cases be deeper than TCA can effectively treat.

Q-switched Nd-YAG lasers (1064nm) generally work the best for most tattoo ink colors, though blues and greens are more difficult to remove and will take more treatment sessions. Most Q-switched YAG lasers also have a frequency-doubling capability (532nm, or half the wavelength) which allows efficient treatment of reds, oranges, and yellow tattoo inks. THe Q-switched alexandrite laser (755nm) is somewhat more effective for treatment of green and blue tattoo inks, but this laser is expensive, finicky, and prone to breakdowns, and is rarely seen in regular use for tattoo removal.

Don't waste your time with TCA; although low, as noted above, there is a risk of skin infection, scarring, or color change, particularly if you try too hard or increase the concentration of the TCA. Laser treatments are still the best, though multiple treatment sessions are necessary, they are somewhat costly, and there is about a 10% overall risk of scar, skin color change, or residual ink even with the best laser treatment.

Lasers used for tattoo removal are single-wavelength, very high energy, very short pulse duration machines that deliver enough energy to cause the tattoo ink granules in the skin to vaporize, causing a bit of epidermal damage in the process. That is why there is healing involved after treatment, and why multiple treatments are needed. The minimal damage to skin allows maximum ink removal with minimal skin damage and scar risk.

IPL machines are essentially full-spectrum, moderate high energy flashlamps (some with filters that block a portion of the light spectrum for somewhat more selective treatment) that are used to treat fine skin vessels, mild skin discolorations (like sunspots), or rosacea. IPL will not remove tattoos. If an IPL machine is used at very high energies, it could induce a burn, but will have little to no effect on tattoos except to cause a blister and a waste of money!

Infrared coagulators (IRC) are used by some doctors for tattoo removal, but this is more likely to leave a scar or pigmentation changes, but may require fewer treatment sessions (if you are willing to accept scarring or skin color changes).