Tattoo Removal with Alma Laser- Alpharetta, GA
I have a butterfly tattoo on my abdomen that I got...
I have a butterfly tattoo on my abdomen that I got when I turned 18, it was kind of impulse and now I hate it, so I'm having it lasered off and I'm just hoping that I don't get any scaring. I would hate to have a huge scar instead of a tattoo! I purchased a Groupon since I could not afford to pay full price. I am posting this about a month after my first session.
Although they gave me an after care sheet to take home and it explained a lot, there are still a lot of things that I had questions on that were not on the sheet, but I called an the laser technician answered all my questions. Like I said before, I am afraid of scarring so I wanted to take good care of the area. The area sure does itch! And pardon the pics, I took them myself : )
I have been applying Neosporin to the area about twice daily, the laser technician told me to "keep the area moist", I think I was doing too good of a job though because it took a long time to heel. I kept it covered for the first two weeks or so because of the area it is in, my jeans would rub against it and the skin could just scab off. You should let it "breath" a little at nights when you are at home, not when you are sleeping because I sleep on my stomach and that would not be good.
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And yes, I arrived an hour early to get numbing cream applied and I let it sit for a whole hour before the laser treatment, but I do not think their numbing cream worked for me. I could feel everything, including her cold fingers!!! For the next treatment I will try to buy my own and apply at home because the pain is pretty bad. If someone could recommend a good numbing cream that would be great!!
The laser tech told me I could ask my physician for a prescription numbing cream and they should be able to give me one. I will see though.
How long do you keep yours bandaged for after your session? I kept mine like a whole 14 days covered, even at night!
After my first session I kept it covered for about 6 days, but now I don't really cover it for more than 3-5 unless there's blistering. I can't stand having it covered, but with yours being so close to your pants, it's probably a good idea to do it. I personally think 14 days is a little long though and as long as it isn't blistered i think a week would be plenty. Once is scabs there isn't much of a chance of anything getting to it. Just my opinion though!
And yeah, my first session blistered pretty bad, but I kept it covered and moist until it scabbed (which was 14 days!). And its because of the location of the tattoo that I keep it covered.
I looked at some numbing creams online but they had mixed reviews and I don't know how well they will work. If I try one, I will let you know, but my next session will be about late August.
I just wanted to add some new information to my...
I also wrote the doctor's office name wrong, they are called "GA Aesthetic Med Spa".
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Thank you so much for letting us know what type of laser is being used - that is very helpful info!! How funny that it's like your name, guess its the right one for you! ;)
From the pictures it looks like some of the ink is already breaking up after just the 1st treatment. That must be encouraging to you. It seems a lot of people don't do the removal through the summer, because it makes their skin sensitive to the sun. Do you plan to keep doing it right through the summer, or are you going to take a break?
And yes I can already notice noticeable fading especially on the lower part of the butterfly, so I'm excited!!
But according to some research I have been doing, I think I will try to spread my sessions out about 2-3 months. This is because I read that the longer you wait, the less treatments you will need since your body is still attacking the ink.