Upper arm sleeve in blackwork - San Francisco, CA

I got my first tattoo on my upper left arm in May, 2010. After the initial excitement wore off, I began to see that the quality wasn't all that great. Still, I thought it was okay and was content enough not to want to get rid of it. However, after a few months, it began bugging me and I started disliking it more and more and decided to do something about it.

I was torn between getting a cover up in blackwork and getting it lasered off. In the end, I decided to get sleeve in blackwork because the artist is a real pro whose work I admire very much. And still do. Except that I now know that tattoos are not for me. I will only admire them in pictures ;-))

After getting my upper arm covered up in blackwork, (I didn't take any pics at the time) the artist then started on my lower arm before my heart screamed at me to STOP the process completely. Don't get me wrong. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the quality of the artist's work. It was top notch. And it did actually look good. But I finally realized that it just wasn't me and I was trying to become someone I am not. Needless to say, I beat myself up pretty mercilessly for getting a sleeve in blackwork before realizing that!!!

So within a month after that epiphany, I decided the entire tattoo had to go!!! That seemed crazy at the time. Even the tattoo removal specialist I had been seeing to get another tattoo removed was shocked at the amount of ink there was on my sleeve. He said he had never had a client with blackwork wanting it removed. ?

?Anyway, he said that even though it was such a huge area and it would take a long time, black was the easiest color to remove. He also told me that the red of the original tattoo under it wouldn't be difficult to remove and would hurt less than the black. So, I began the laser removal process in September, 2011. I just had my 11th treatment on May 9th this year. Just to give you an idea of how black the tattoo was before I began my first treatment, it was as dark as the shirt I'm wearing!!! At first, he had to had to split up the treatments into separate upper and lower arm sessions because to laser the whole arm in one session would cause too much trauma and swelling, given how much ink there was. He charged me $150 for each session and I alternated between the two halves of the arm for four sessions each. After that, there was considerably less ink and he was able to laser the whole arm in one sitting. He also took pity on me since I had been a patient since 2010 for another tattoo and decided to charge me $200 for the whole arm from then on. A considerable savings in the long run! So far, I have spent $2,200. Ouch!!

Based on how things have been going, my best guess is that I will require 5 - 8 more treatments (which could be 2 more years or so, at least, depending on how far apart I space my treatments). Fingers crossed!!! My tattoo removal specialist seems to agree.

What he's been telling me from the start is that because my area is so large, the longer I wait in between treatments, the more ink will be flushed out. And so, the fewer treatments I'll need. He's always told me to wait at least 3 - 4 months in between sessions. Even as long as 7 months because from his experience, tattoos continue to fade even after that amount of time. Up to a year. For me, the fading is most noticeable usually around 6 - 8 weeks.

He says that if I wanted to speed up the process of breaking down the ink, I should wait at least 3 months minimum in between sessions for my skin to heal. That's what I've been doing since I started because I want this tattoo gone ASAP.
I would consider my tattoo at least 50% faded and can see skin and the original tattoo now. But because the fading has been so uneven and patchy looking due to different areas having more ink than others, the tattoo looks really horrible. Like a painting gone seriously wrong : P

I've learned to have a sense of humor about this experience because if I don't, it will drive me crazy...and it has before.

Anyway, the only thing I can do is to stay the course and continue to be optimistic that one day, the whole tattoo will be gone. To be honest, I'm not really sure if all the ink will fade out completely, but as long as it's at least 90% faded out, I think I'll be satisfied. At least that's how I feel for now...
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I forgot to mention this in my previous review. In my last session, the specialist told me that there was very slight hypopigmentation in a few spots on my arm. But he assured me that over time, the skin would heal and normal pigmentation would return. Even if it doesn't, it won't bother me anymore at this stage and at my age ;-)