Not Sure if Im Being Ripped off - New York, NY

Bounceoffclouds it is important to understand that laser tattoo removal is a medical procedure and anyone other htan a physicina or NP/PA working under a physician is parcticine illegal medicine. side from that to say your Dermatologist and this place both have a medlite is a kin to saying they both have a BMW but you dont know how they were driven and more importantly maintained. That medlite costs just under 100K and to maintain it another $800/mo is your spa doing that? I bet they didnt buy it from the manufacturer because to do so requires a medical license. More than likely its a used system. Now looking at your tattoo, the first time is got white means the ink reacted to the laser thats what we want. However the pics look very much as if the laser is under powered,, The beam is not hitting the ink in a strong uniform beam shattering the ink instead it looks bruised. I see tiny hemmorhages around the ink and even they are not unifirm. I think that either they lack competence or the laser is not functioning correctly. The best thing to so is stop waisting money and try out your doctor or another doctor in NY or NJ

I feel the same way, that I might be getting ripped off. I have gone every 6 weeks since last september (missed 1 session) to remove a RING FINGER heart I got ( I know, dumb) with my ex husband. Very hard to tell any difference at all. And its such a small tattoo but its on my ring finger I hate it so embarassing!!

I think making one or two consultations somewhere else and voicing your concerns to the doctors will help you to find out if you are getting ripped off or not.
Any good tattoo removal place will do this for free.

Thanks Tena, I asked them why doesnt it turn white (it turned white the first time) and the response was that with each treatment my body gets used to it and doesnt react as much as before. I live in NYC and there are alot of tattoo laser removal places but I dont know anyone who has been to any and reviews on yelp dont look promising... The place I go to has good reviews on yelp thats why I chose them.

Your tattoo does look like it's fading a bit. I am getting black, red, and green removed and the black is taking the longest. I've also had five sessions. I would get a consultation somewhere else. Every video i've seen and from my own experience the tattoo turns white for a few seconds then goes back to normal, but not everyone gets blisters.

I did tell them my concerns and they said its a long process and not to believe the places that say it will takes 3 or 4 or 5 sessions. They say it can take 20 treatments. My dermatologist who treats my acne does tattoo removal as well but charges triple a session and she said she cant tell me anything unless they do a treatment because everyone is different and she wont know how the ink is until they do a treatment, but she said she uses the medlite as well and the reason they cost more is because she is an MD. I live in NY prices seem to be higher here.

Thanks Megan, the tattoo is 10 years old and wasnt too faded so there has been some fading with the laser, I just see other peoples results and it seems like mine is taking longer. I also don't have too much pain or discomfort after the laser so I'm wondering if its just on an extremely low setting to get more sessions out of me.

That would be discouraging to not be seeing much result when you are spending your time & money to get it removed. From the picture you posted it does look a bit faded. Of course I don't know how dark & crisp it was to start with, so maybe that is how it always looked.

Jeskey & Tena G. seem to be seeing good results. Check out their reviews & find out what kind of laser is being used on them. Maybe you could find someone in your area that is skilled with that type of laser?

Did you ever have the Tattoo touched up? If so, you might want to check out donatsu's review. They talk about trying to remove a tattoo that was touched up & seems to be having extra difficulty with it.