Getting Lasered Tomorrow - Kelkheim, DE

Well, I am going tomorrow to get lasered using the Picosure. Am not nervous about the actual pain but more about the aftercare and the possibility that it will not be totally removed (which would mean a waste of time and money). Tat is on right side of calf, entirely black and about 10 yrs old. I want it gone now! Anyway, I will keep you all updated!

Hi, got lasered with Picosure yesterday in Kelkheim, Germany. Took about 2 mins. Place is very clean and people were nice. I found it to be quite painful actually and have a high tolerance for pain but since it was so short, it didn't matter. A funny taste came to my mouth though. I recommend chewing gum or eating a piece of candy b/c the doctor said that was normal. They iced it for 20 mins afterwards & I had no cold air or pain killers during it. Setting was 2.9mm spot size at 3,03 jules and 5Hz.

They also did not cover it and said to leave it open as much as possible. The problem with this is, I wore the wrong trousers and had to walk 15 mins to the train station so they rubbed...not good. Also at night I covered it up loosely so my pj's didn't stick to it b/c I had put Bepanthene (an anti-biotic ointment) all over it.

Last night I had smeared the Bapanthene cream all over and covered it with just a kleenex (this is what the doctor said would breathe the most) and slept fine. Just put the covers so it wouldn't weigh on the tatt area.

Removed the kleenex this morning. It stuck a bit but not really a problem and the tattoo was not dried out so that is good. I washed it with some light Dr. Bronners soap and then resmeared the creme all over. There is some blistering and redness. Since about 2 hours after the treatment, I don't have any pain whatsoever so am wondering if she should have turned the laser to a higher setting. She did say that I won't see fading for a week or two afterwards.

I have read online all over in the German websites that it is good to drink one glass of pineapple juice in the morning and one at night b/c it has the specific enzyme combination for supporting the recovery of the skin in this type of treatment so I intend to go buy pineapple juice today. Also have read that taking lots of vitamins is good to support the immune system so I am doing that too. Doctor told me 4-6 treatments. I would be super happy if I were finished in 5 so will take all precautions. Just one note> there are blisters on it (day after 1st treatment) but nothing hurts really. Just feels dry like the skin is pulled but I have cream all over it. If this is how it is for the entire recovery process... no problem.

It doesn't hurt but dries out quickly so I put a thick coating of the cream 3-4x day. Doesn't itch or anything. Still has small blisters. Is just annoying b/c have to be careful to not hit it. Is not lighter at all as far as I can tell...if it isn't lighter at all after 2 weeks, I will be disappointed but I am still here at the beginning.

Here are my updates. Blistering is pretty much gone or so minimal that I don't notice it. Some red pigmentation visible. It is lighter in some areas. Looks like someone sprinkled a bit of white powder on it because the lighter areas look like dots. Still putting the anti-biotic creme on 2-3 x day to keep it moist. Anybody know when you can stop putting creme on?

It has been 20 days since my first treatment. You can see fading. It still looks like white powder sprinkles but is more prevalent and visible. There are no blisters but I continue putting the anti-biotic creme on it because it can get really dry otherwise and I assume this isn't good. There is also some discoloration (brown/red color). Hoping that goes away. My next appointment is in another 14 days so I expect a lot more fading by then.

Well, went 3 days ago for my 2nd treatment. It was about 4.5 weeks after the 1st treatment and my tattoo had healed. Perhaps had I waited longer, there would have been additional fading so I will wait 6 wks after the 2nd treatment but I couldn't wait longer due to travel plans.

Anyway, the 2nd treatment felt the same as the first one but because neither I nor the laser specialist was satisfied with the fading, we decided to crank up the laser to 2.5. I had minor blistering after the 1st treatment so we assumed it would be fine but my specialist said I might have massive blistering afterwards and gave me a sterile needle with instructions to disinfect then prick a small hole if the blisters got too large because I will be flying only 4 days later for 8 hrs... if the blisters get too large, this would make the flight highly uncomfortable.

After lasering, I cooled for 20 minutes as always before leaving the office. This time it hurt. The first time, I felt no pain afterwards, only during. For 2 days after the treatment, I suffered extreme swelling in my ankles and calf (around the tattoo) so tried to keep it raised while in my office (did work) and at home iced. I am now on my 3rd day after treatment. There are blisters but they are not massive like we were nervous about but it is extremely sensitive to the touch and I must raise the foot/ leg to keep the swelling down. The flight tomorrow will not be fun...

My picture quality is never very good. The white in the picture is from the anti biotic ointment that I put on 3x day. You can see the blistering but the swelling is difficult to photograph. I hope that my leg is ok tomorrow so that sitting in the plane for 8hrs doesn't cause any troubles since I cannot raise the leg really (in economy class unfortunately).

This time I waited about 6wks before the 3rd treatment. I have attached a pic of just before the treatment. It is difficult to tell from the pic but there was a lot of fading. Not as much as I had hoped but a lot.

She put the level setting on 2.0 for the third treatment which is supposed to be pretty high. I scheduled the 4th treatment 5 weeks after b/c I didn't see any further fading in the 6th week after the 2nd treatment. Today it is pretty painful. Just hoping that all of this is worth it. Lots of pain and money so hope it disappears entirely or I will have a lot of disappointment.

After my 3rd treatment and have a lot of blistering, puss and redness. Hope it won't scar. Haven't had this severe of a reaction from the other 2 treatments. We will see what happens in 2wks after it is relatively healed a bit.

Yesterday I got my 4th treatment. Settings were 2.4mm at 4.42 J. My leg is quite swollen and sore today. The tattoo is blistering of course. All in all I see fading but not as much as I had hoped for. I had hoped for max 6 sessions but I think I will probably need more like 7 or 8. You can see my attached photo.

So it has been about 21 days after my 4th txt. I can see a lot of fading and am trying to manage my expectations but am a bit disappointed since they said 4-6 treatments for the removal and now after the 4th, I expect I will need at least 3 more... that said, I am going to take the summer off b/c I want to be able to wear shorts and not deal with it.

I also have a white outline around the tattoo. I hope that this discoloration will also go away with time. Most people say this goes away but it is still a bit disconcerting. Again, I must manage my expectations and have patience.

Here is another pic. You can see the white rim around the tattoo but the fading is quite obvious in this pic.