3 Week Old Tattoo - Removing Through Q-Switched NDYag Laser - Doha, Qatar

So after vigorously researching and inquiring with several doctors, I have decided to start the removal process of my 3 week old tattoo. This website has been extremely helpful, thanks to the doctors who have responded to my questions. I was initially torn in between the Picosure and Q Switched NDYag Lasers, but after a series of inquiries, most doctors have recommended the Q Laser for me, mainly because of my darker skintone - Type IV.

Today's 1st treatment, went really well- the doctor applied some anaesthetic cream to numb the area 30 minutes prior to treatment, and so I really didn't feel anything during the process. The treated area was slightly inflamed after, slightly throbbing and reddish, but right now ( about 3 hours later) - I really don't feel anything anymore, as if nothing happened. It's too early to tell, but I have a strong positive feeling, this will give me pleasing results :)

As I really want to achieve the best result out of this treatment, these are a few extra things I thought of doing which might help to make this happen;

1. I have been taking collagen tablets the past weeks, I thought this will reduce the risk of scarring, and also would like my skin to recuperate quickly after the treatments. In addition, I am also taking Vitamin E, my usual daily multivitamin and a Glutathione tablet to keep my liver healthy (Milk Thistle is also a good supplement for the liver). The ink will be flushed out from my body and this will ultimately end up in the liver, so might as well make sure it's able to do its job well.

2. Exercise - I always do on a regular basis anyway, and this is definitely not the best time to miss a workout - cardios will help a lot, to keep the blood circulating.

3. I also bought a Pure Vitamin E Oil to apply on the skin - but this is after it's healed. Right now I don't know yet if I'll get blisters, but the doctor did give me an ointment to apply while it's healing.

I know this will take time, and that's okay. I can be patient on that - the doctor said I can come back in 3 weeks time, but I would rather wait 5 to 6 weeks to allow my body do what it's capable of doing. Anyways, my tattoo is just in black ink and just outlines - and summer is still a few months away, so I will just take my easy time for now. I will keep you all posted with the progress of this.

Very happy with how my laser treatment is progressing. As early as now (it's only been 5 days after treatment 1), it's greatly faded, the lines have broken and the thinner lines have almost disappeared. Looking forward to more fading - I think I will be done after 2 or 3 more treatments. It's still a lot of time and money - but I'll take that. I am hoping to do the 2nd treatment some time in March - no need to rush, in the long term, being patient will prove more beneficial to the outcome. I don't want to do so many laser treatments, as the more you do, the more likely you'll get that ghost scar, I heard.

Hello Everyone. So it's been a while since my last post. Just want to share an update on how it's been on my laser treatments. First of all, I am quite happy with how it's progressing - you can see in the pictures how promising the fading is. It's only 3 months, I need to keep up the patience some more. Summer already started in the MiddleEast, so I have not been wearing sleeveless tops since I got this tattoo, the good thing is, this won't be for long from now :)

So far, I've completed 3 treatments, each with 4-5 weeks intervals. As you can see, it's faded quite a lot, the thing I've noticed, it does not fade equally in all parts. Some of the small lines have disappeared already, some areas I feel the ink is a little more stubborn. I have to say, it's much better in actual that these pictures.

The 2nd treatment was okay, pretty much like the 1st time. The 3rd one - boy, some areas were bleeding. I asked the doctor, and she said, it's because the ink is already going away. My skin is pretty cooperative, thank God - it's usually healed after the 4th day or so - or also maybe because it's just outlines. I didn't use anaesthetic cream with the last 2 treatments, it's tolerable, but still painful.

I should be doing my 4th most likely next week, I would wait because I can really see that weeks after treatment, the tattoo continuously fades but I'd like to get over this as soon as possible.

Depending on the results of next treatment, I am actually considering doing the 5th one with a Picosure, but still researching on that as I heard it may scar on Olive Skin.

I'll keep you all posted, I think, based on how it's progressing, I probably am halfway through it. Fingers crossed - I don't want to spend so much money more and also can't wait to be showing off my arms again. I miss wearing my sleeveless dresses :(