Large, Black, Dense Lizard on Upper Arm Removal with Picosure - Melbourne, AU

Hi all. I'm Katie, I'm 38 and have a 10 year old professionally done lizard on my left upper arm. I used to love my gecko but as I became a mother I just thought, wow, you idiot! I am in a completely different place in life and what I once loved is now covered up whenever I'm in public, even during the Australian summer.

So I've been travelling toward removal for around 2 years, and I have put it off a couple of times wanting to enjoy the sun and other lame excuses. Then I heard about Picosure and was so glad I waited, I'm sure it's meant to be.

I had my first treatment on Tuesday 28/01/14 at Laser Dermatology in Box Hill in Melbourne. I had local injections all over the site on the recommendation of the technician and RN, Jude. Thank God cos it bloody we'll hurt even with the lidocaine! There were bits it really hurt around the back of my arm and the top of my shoulder, around the bone OUCH!!

So Tuesday arvo and evening were painful, I'd describe the feeling like someone had taken a blowtorch to it. I slept ok, but I'd taken some codeine/ibuprofen before bed. I took the dressing off on Wednesday morning and was greeted by swelling, big blisters and some bruising. But I also saw some lovely bits of shattered lines!! On the points of the gecko feet and around the tail there were sharp lines and sharp points, these are gone!!

Two days post I have a few more blisters, still swollen and bruised but something exciting when I went to change dressing. I peeled off the bandage and it was stained with greenie coloured ink, not heaps but enough to make me feel happy and positive.

My next treatment is on March 25th, two months between as they recommend. Will keep you all posted as to my healing progress. I am very positive that I will be ink free in the not TOO distant future. Thank-you all for your posts and progress reports, it is lovely to read of all of your journeys.

So it's been 9 days since my first removal with the picosure laser. It took around 4 days for the swelling and blisters to subside. I think the swelling is the worst part, it makes your arm feel like it's going to drop off. Well it's now completely calmed down, the swelling is gone and the blisters have drained. When the blisters dry out a really charming scab forms on the tattoo which makes it look really dark, that is now flaking and peeling off. Now the exciting part is that I can see the ink showing through and it is faded!! Yahoo!!! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the scab flaking off so I can see just how much it's faded. It's still a little bit sore, just to touch and obviously very itchy. Trying not to scratch can be an exercise in mind over matter, I just keep slathering on the cream. Anyway I'll attach some photos and you can see for yourselves how it's coming along.

Just a quick one. It's 10 days post first picosure treatment and I'm peeling as I posted yesterday. Just wanted to say that heaps more skin has flaked off lastnight and I'm seeing amazing fading!!! Here's a photo. I hope you're all going well with your treatments and healing. Stay positive :) K

Hi everyone, I've been quiet lately as life goes on and there's not always anything to write. I have continued to see some nice fading but only in spots. My husband thinks it's coming along a treat, although I am sceptical.

Anyway, yesterday the 25th of March was my scheduled 2nd treatment. I was of course nervous about it because now I know the drill and the healing time and the blisters!! I was interested to hear that the Picosure is already having an upgrade, due in April sometime. Apparently it's going to make it even more effective on black, blue and green ink. Jude my nurse says they are seeing amazing results on green tatts, so maybe worth considering if you have one. Another interesting thing- they have started trialling a different approach. Basically they hit black tattoos with the Yag and then hit it with the Pico. The plastic surgeon who owns the clinic came in for a consult and said that I was a good candidate as my ink is so dense. Apparently the Yag breaks it up into big pieces and the pico then shatters that into tiny pieces? I don't know but I thought why not? They chose the left hand bottom leg of the lizard to trial, she blasted it which took about 3 seconds then she began with the pico at the top of the tail. By the time she got to the yag treated area it was ready to be blasted again. Basically they're saying that if we see some great fading on the left lizard foot, better fading than the rest of the tatt, that's the approach they'll use all over- Yag then Pico.

Well that little leg was very red and raised yesterday evening and very sore today. I have the usual bruising, raising and redness all over but interestingly no blistering. Now when I was speaking to the Doc he said that they're not really sure whether the blistering is a blessing or a curse. I was quick to point out that the areas of my tatt that had blistered were a lot more faded than the areas that hadn't. They seem to be of the view that the blistering can be the difference between scarring or not...hmmm...I'm wondering why I blistered the first time and not now? Maybe Jude is getting better at it? She increased the spot size but also amped up the wattage by .25%. I'm just unsure.

Anyway, I'll add some photos later when I change the dressing. I hope you're all going along ok and remaining positive on your journeys.

Katie

Hi guys, I'm 4 days post second Pico now and this time no blisters or scabs. It's still bloody sore and tender although it didn't swell anything like the first time. I've just started feeling a bit itchy this arvo. I haven't had to dress it past day 2 as there seems to be no reason to. I have continued with the lanolin based ointment mostly because it feels so soothing just to gently smooth it on! I'll put up some photos now too as promised but the quality isn't great as I can't figure out the right light to show the fading. I hope you're all doing well :) Katie