I went for my first picosure laser treatment today. I had one previous laser treatment about 4 years ago that barely faded it so I am hoping to see vast improvement. It's hard to rate the pain from this laser from the last because I had numbing stuff injected into my foot last time. They assured me this time it is a lot less painful. So they used a cooling machine and did the laser and it wasn't too bad. It was about as painful as getting the tattoo. They charged me $1000 for total removal no matter the number of times. Otherwise it is $300 per session. Updated on 15 Aug 2014: Wow! No blistering and the blue looks almost gone. It itches like made but really happy with the results so far. Updated on 30 Sep 2014: It's pretty faded and the blue is almost gone but I am curious to see how much difference the second treatment will make Updated on 1 Oct 2014: The second treatment hurt worse that the first. He went over the tattoo in more detail and over it twice. By the second time he went over it didn't hurt because it was so numb. Updated on 13 Oct 2014: The second treatment, I blistered a little and my tattoo looked super dark. It's been two weeks since that treatment and the blister went down and then started to flake offf. Man, Ira really looks lighter!! Updated on 13 Oct 2014: See previous Updated on 20 Jan 2015: Significant fading. Posting prior to the results of the 3rd treatment. Updated on 24 Jan 2015: This is 3 days after my 3rd treatment. The blistering is definitely better than last time. It itches like crazy. Updated on 4 Mar 2015: Hard to tell but it's fading fast. This one didn't blister as much as the second treatment. I have another treatment in April Updated on 4 Apr 2015: Fading nicely Updated on 4 Apr 2015: Fading Updated on 5 Apr 2015: I was a little nervous because the dr said he was going to "turbo" the process and asked how much I've been blistering. But, the session was even quicker and I spent awhile after the session with an ice pack on my foot - like two hours. It hurt really bad without ice after. During the night, it itched like crazy and I put some eucerin cream on it and more ice. Today it feels a lot better and I just keep cream on it and it doesn't really hurt at all and no blisters from what I can tell. Updated on 18 Apr 2015: Looking good. No blisters and fading nicely. Updated on 14 Jun 2015: Looking really faded. Hoping I only have two more of these treatments Updated on 10 Jul 2015: Fading really well. I was able to put a touch of makeup and it was completely covered! Updated on 10 Jul 2015: Updated on 10 Jul 2015: Updated on 6 Sep 2015: Not much ink left. Dr said maybe 2-3 more treatments left. Updated on 12 Feb 2016: 5 months since my last treatment Updated on 28 Feb 2016: Probably one more or two and all gone!!! Updated on 10 Mar 2016: Healing well Updated on 10 Mar 2016: You can see that the ink is a really faded and there is some redness still but that should fade. Updated on 17 Mar 2016: I looked down at my foot while I was sitting and was shocked at how faded it seemed. I wanted to share. I hope I only need one more treatment. Updated on 16 Apr 2016: No filter. 2 months since 7th treatment. Updated on 10 May 2016: Am I crazy or does it look darker? Updated on 16 May 2016: Looking really faded Updated on 6 Jun 2016: Updated on 15 Jul 2016: Updated on 25 Feb 2018: I don’t remember when I had my last treatment but it’s probably been a year. Aside from a couple tiny spots, you can barely tell there was a tattoo there!
After getting the tattoos in the college and being at a different point in my life now, decided it was finally a time for a change after reading after up on the success of the Picosure laser. Not a big fan of the tattoos anymore so decided to remove the middle part of the sun tattoo and remove the tribal tattoo. Still deciding if I am going to am to tattoo over it...just depends on if I have scarring after the removal process. I would love to get feedback from others as to your opinion on whether on or not I have hypertrophic scarring and/or hypopigmentation. I'm also dealing with redness weeks after treatments. I have sent the pictures to my doctor and he is telling me everything is looking normal so just looking for 100% confirmation. Updated on 13 Dec 2014: I also forgot to include in my original post that my first treatment was actually the R20 method by the same doctor. Also, I am using Aquaphor daily and doing daily scar massage although I was not as good about it early on as I am with it with the most recent treatment. I am also using silicone gel sheets and/or silicone gel in an effort to reduce redness and scarring. Updated on 14 Dec 2014: I only included one other picture I took of the sun tattoo along the way. Probably because it was progressing so well along the way I never really felt the need to document it. I also didn't take too many additional pictures of my tribal fully healed, only immediately after to document blistering. This is the only picture I have after my first Picosure treatment back in January. Clearly see that Picosure works and breaks up the ink. Updated on 8 Jan 2015: Went in for a follow up with my doctor and we decided to hold off another few weeks before doing another treatment. It has been 10 weeks since my last treatment. When I go back in on Feb 12, it will be about 15 weeks at that point. For some reason, I am having lasting redness. He thinks I am having a slight allergic reaction to the ink expelling from my body. Some days are worse than others but my doctor instructed me to try hydrocortisone cream for one week and report back on how it looks. He stated everything else looks good otherwise and just continue to be patient. Updated on 8 Jan 2015: Updated on 10 Jan 2015: Included a couple close up pics to show how progress is coming along. Updated on 17 Jan 2015: No doubt Picosure is working and the ink is being removed but I'm definitely going to be stuck with hypopigmentation and scarring. Regretting the decision more and more everyday. Would much rather have the tattoo than unsightly damaged skin. Pretty sure getting the R20 the first time may have a lot to do with it. Debating just holding off for months to see how my arm heals up and waiting 6 months total after my last treatment before making a decision to schedule the next treatment. Updated on 20 Jan 2015: I went back to my doctor today for a follow up and he said everything looks ok. There is scar tissue but that I'm doing a good job with scar massage. The thing that has bothered me the most with the whole thing right now is the redness. According to the doctor, it will eventually resolve but that it will take time. It's up to me if I want to hold off on treatments for another few months or continue with my next scheduled treatment in another few weeks. Ultimately, its up to me if I want to push this thing out for for another year and a half. I've already been at it for a year. It is still recommended that I wait 3 months in between treatments either way. Recommendation is to continue with scar massage daily. I guess I need to figure out what I want to do in the next 2 weeks. I'm trying to get a second opinion in that time frame. Updated on 20 Feb 2015: I decided to go in for another treatment last Thursday but it may potentially be my last one. I have followed up with another dermatologist (who does removal with another laser) a facility in another site of which I have sent pictures, and another dermatologist out of the state who has seen pictures. All of them have staged I will not receive "full" removal because of the scarring and hypopigmentation. The redness has reduced, primarily driven by not using aquaphor/Vaseline and switching to Aveeno lotion and another product called Invicible Scars, which I highly recommend. I met with a tattoo artist 3 weeks ago and he stated he could do a coverup at the current state, but wanted to wait at least 9 months to let the redness and scarring to subside. I'm 90% sold on the coverup as I research more and more, I will never get full removal. Updated on 21 Feb 2015: Attaching pictures of my attempt to see what the tattoo looks like with Dermablend coverup and then ideas of what I may attempt for a coverup. Ultimately, this whole experience has been a big fail. Tattoo was definitely lightened but at what expense.
