Finally Started the Removal Process...

I’ll post a little more about my history later. But I’mm Finally starting this review because I’m panicking. Yesterday, 5/9/18, I finally went in for my first treatment after two years of careful consideration. I was elated after it was done — I was finally starting the process of getting rid of my unwanted tattoos.

Around 24 hours later, after a good deal of the swelling had gone down, I noticed that a very small portion of my tattoo was raised. As you can see in the pictures, it looks blister-like, but is not a blister. It isn’t irritated at all. The whole tattoo feels healed. I am so concerned that this is a raised keloid-like scar, because it is only this one portion of the tattoo, and redness, pain, and swelling are all but gone from the tattoo at this point — yet this little raised bit remains.

I contacted the technician, and they assured me that it was normal, that even though the tattoo appeared healed post-removal, it is still healing under the skin, and that it will go through all sorts of funky transitions before it is fully healed. Fair enough, but I’m still worried. It just doesn’t feel like something that will go down — it’s not irritated!

Has anyone else experience this, where they had raised little “bump”-like bits along the ink, after the tattoo had stopped being swollen and painful, that later went away or went down?

I’m very happy to report that my initial panicky post was and the raised bits have flattened, albeit more slowly than the rest of the tattoo. It’s a lesson for me that patience is required for the healing process as well as the actual fading process.

As promised, my story.

I have a few silly black outline tattoos that I hastily got because I at the time envisioned a sleeve made of small black pieces differing in style.

I quickly realized that the tattoos felt out of place without the full sleeve, but the shock and regret that came with getting these made me rethink it all, that maybe a full sleeve was not for me.

There are those of us who are very sensitive to the harsh opinions of others, who will struggle with the inevitable judgment that always comes with tattoos. Yes, tattoos are more acceptable and commonplace now, but there is still the inevitable negative reactions from certain folks we will encounter. And while I have come to accept that the ink is there, if it’s there for good I would like the existing tattoos covered with ones that were fully thought through, and that I can admire and love.

At this point so early in the process, I am waiting to see how things unfold and am open minded about how I will go forward — if it seems like a full removal with minimal scarring is possible, then I will go for that. But if it seems like the ink is here for good in some fashion, I will cover them with tasteful tattoos that make sense for me and for the context — small isolated tattoos that have a purpose, that are meaningful, and not hastily placed.

I will add photos soon.

PS: my tattoo technician is experience, heavily tattooed herself, and has had extensive lasering done on herself. She was able to show me on herself how her tats were healing, and even spots where there were formerly tattoos that now show no trace of them. I felt like I was in really good hands!

I was surprised that her advice was the keep them uncovered, ice the first night, but afterwards no aquaphor or scar sheets or anything, just coconut oil if they get dry or itchy. Five days post tx, the tattoos look and feel fully healed. They just get a bit itchy and I have to remind myself not to scratch!

She also told me that smaller tattoos actually take longer to get rid of, because the laser creates a smaller area of damage and thus doesn’t get as strong of a response from the immune system. My immune system tends to act quickly anyway, so I can see this being very much the case for me. As I said, on the surface it seems like the tattoos is done healing! So for that reason, I expect this to be a very long process for me. I don’t plan to go in for another treatment til after the summer. I am traveling and don’t want to have to worry so much about sun exposure.

I’ve seen very little change so far but there are some places where the ink has started to break up a bit. I hope to see more fading over the weeks and months before my next treatment!

Overall I’m so happy I started this process. It just feels so good to finally be chipping away at these unwanted tattoos! Any incremental change feels great, and I can start dreaming of coverups, or clear skin if that’s in the cards. Yay!

Posting photos of my tattoos 9 days post-tx 1.
As you can see, the black ink is thick and dark. But I’m really astounded at how much I see the octopus breaking up already. It’s hard to see in the photo, but the lines have gotten so wobbly and started breaking up in places.
The kitty on the other hand, seems thicker and darker than ever, with much less change than the octopus.
But even with the kitty I notice small differences, and it makes me feel like with time and enough treatments, these things could really be gone. Or if they won’t completely begone, I could get an awesome coverup that encompasses them both. (The octopus is above my elbow, and the cat is on my lower inner bicep, just around the corner from the octopus. I could get a coverup that wraps around my bicep above my elbow...could be cool)