Are there any anesthesia I can take prior to my tattoo removal?

Question

I have my first session coming up and I am very scared about the pain. I have EMLA cream right now and plan to take Tylenol. I was wondering if there is anything else I can take that would help ease the pain? They do not have injections at the place I am going to.

Sanusi Umar, MD · Answer

Options for pain control in laser tattoo removal include:Topicals. I find EMLA to be inadequate for this however. I use BLT (A combination of Buvivacaine, Lidocaine and Tetracaine). In patients with very low pain tolerance, local injection of lidocaine wich is super diluted in larger tattoos is an option.

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

It is possible to get a topical numbing agent or lidocaine injections before tattoo removal treatments. I recommend getting a formal evaluation with a laser tattoo removal expert. It will take a series of treatments. Best, Dr. Emer

Monika Soni, MD · Answer

Make sure that you are doing tattoo laser removal under supervision of board certified physician. They usually offer topical or local anesthesia. It all depends on the size of the tattoo. Good luck!

Kristin J. Tarbet, MD, FACS · Answer

Topical like BLT can help with pain, or if that is not enough, injections of lidocaine can be done as well. It depends on the size of the tattoo.

Hardik Soni, MD · Answer

Make sure that you are doing tattoo laser removal under supervision of board certified physician. They usually offer topical or local anesthesia. It all depends on the size of the tattoo. Good luck!

Mark Taylor, MD · Answer

We use topical or local anesthesia for small tattoos.  For larger tattoos we use tumescent anesthesia. Topical anesthesia makes the treatment more tolerable, but not painless.  Local and Tumescent anesthesia makes the laser tattoo removal painless.   Local and tumescent are both injected under the tattoo and make the tattoo completely numb.

Roy G. Geronemus, MD · Answer

Tattoo removal is only performed by board certified dermatologist with extensive experience using lasers.  Our patients do not experience pain with this procedure.  Oftentimes a topical anesthetic is applied in the office and some patients ask for injections of local anesthesia.  Tattoo removal is very popular at our center and our patients are extremely satisfied with the results.

Are there any anesthesia I can take prior to my tattoo removal?

Answers (7)

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