Lasting Redness After Laser Tattoo Removal

Question

I fear that I have become severly burned by laser Tattoo removal. Where there was a giant blister there is now a lot of redness. When I press on it, it turns white but will become red again moments later. If I place my arm straight up a lot of the redness subsides. I'm assuming less blood is being circulated. I had my first laser tattoo removal session on may 13th with a medlite laser. It is now june 23rd. And there is still redness around the eye of the tattoo. I'm afraid that there is permament damage to the skin tissue.

Ron Shelton, MD · Answer

blistering can occur after laser tattoo removal. The redness is temporary usually, although some people are born with a tendency to overheal and produce more collagen in the dermis as a response to healing. If that occurs, a hypertrophic raised tender scar can develop. If your physician says that the skin has healed without any opening now, you can ask them if they think a scar dressing that can be purchased from the drug store without a prescription (a silastic sheet) can be used. This often reduces scars that had already become raised and red, but the use of it as a preventative might be worthwhile.

Michael H. Gold, MD · Answer

People respond differently to laser tattoo removal, and your redness is one example of perhaps an exuberant reaction. It is not possible to know if too much energy was used or if something else caused this – or if this is a normal response for you. In any case, these procedures should be performed by a board-certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon who understand laser-tissue interactions better than anyone else and can determine if this is normal or not. If there is any concern on your part, you should call your provider and have an evaluation. Sometimes therewill be nothing that is needed, and sometimes you might need some treatment to reduce the incidence of potential scarring – and silicone gel sheeting, which I first described in the dermatologic literature in the early 1990s, might beperfect here. So consult your provider and work with them on an appropriatetreatment plan to reduce the redness, the potential for scarring, and make sure the tattoo is ready for the next laser treatment.

Yoash R. Enzer, MD, FACS - Account Suspended · Answer

Like anything else in medicine, experience and expertise are important with laser tattoo removal.  All too often I see these procedures performed by non-physicians.  In our area they even passed laws that ANYONE, and I mean anyone, can do these procedures.

	You have a great deal of dark pigment in that area, and for your first and second treatments the laser spots can not be close together, otherwise blistering and skin damage occurs.  Silicone gel sheeting may help.  Treatment with a vascular laser may help.

	I have also seen patients where RED comes out after a laser treatment for a tattoo, because the artist mixed colors.  When the top color went away, another color came out.  The wavelength used for blue-black will not touch the red dye, so this is also a possibility.

	Bottom line: go to the DOCTOR who did the treatment, or, if not a doctor, the DOCTOR who is the medical director of the clinic where you had the treatment performed.

	Good Luck.

Lasting Redness After Laser Tattoo Removal

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Lasting Redness After Laser Tattoo Removal

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