Laser Tattoo Removal - Small Black Ink Tattoo on Ankle - Harrison, NY

I started the removal process Jan. 29th and had my third treatment a week ago. So far I'm not too impressed. The photos are right before the first session, and right now (I know it looks a little slimy, I'm still slathering on the aquaphor twice a day).

The first two sessions were relatively painless (he iced the area beforehand, no topical creams or anything like that), then hurt a bit later in the day. No blistering at all. Just redness and swelling. I also didn't see any fading. When I went in for the third treatment, I said that I didn't think it was working, and my doctor assured me that it was. He used a different laser for the third treatment. It was more painful and actually bled during the treatment. It bled for about a day and a half, blistered a little bit, and is scabbed over now. At first I thought it was working this time, now I'm not too sure.

It looks to me like the ink has broken up a little bit, and there is one tiny spot that is almost completely gone, but otherwise it's barely faded at all. At this point I'm not positive if I want to continue. Initially I was told that it should be 50% gone following the third treatment, and that I should expect 8-10 treatments total, but more than likely not more than 8. It does not look 50% gone. I'm also considering having maybe one more treatment (at this place or possibly different one) and then waiting until the fall as I don't really want to deal with the healing process over the summer.

A few questions to those who have had more experience with this:
- My doctor ices the area for a few minutes before using the laser. I have read a few reviews on here, and I have seen people mentioned using injections and topical creams, but not once have I seen someone say their doctor used ice to numb the area. Is it possible that this is decreasing the effectiveness of the laser?
- Is it possible that the procedure is working even if I can't see any difference? It looks like most people have had at least some fading after one session.
- I know the extremities take longer to treat. I don't think I have great circulation (my hands and feet are almost always cold). Could this be an issue? I asked my doctor and he couldn't give me a straight answer. If that is the case, would it help if I exercised more?
- Given the results that I have seen, would it make sense at this point to keep at it, or look for another doctor?

I will try to keep this updated. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for your input! It's been about a week and a half since session 3. It actually looks like it's fading now. I'm not sure how much of that is the ink actually fading and how much of it is just dry, dead skin covering the ink and making it look lighter. I think you can kind of see in the photos what I mean. I picked it at a bit last week, otherwise I think it would have been healed by now. (By the way, the creases in my leg are from sitting on my foot a few minutes ago.)

If it's actually starting to work, how much fading should I expect to see over the course of the next month or so? Will it be consistent and gradual over that period or does it generally fade a lot in the first week or so of healing and then slow down?

If I'm happy with the result of this session after 6 weeks, I will probably go back in for a fourth one, then wait until after the summer to do a fifth.

Okay, 3rd session was two weeks ago today. The only spots that are still raised up are the places where I picked at the scab. I'm not going to post another photo until it's completely healed. I think some of the "fading" I saw was actually dry dead skin covering the black and making it look lighter. It looks less faded than I thought it did, but I'm not certain. Still not totally impressed but it's definitely lighter than it was before, if only a tad.

There is a weird brown/copper looking discoloration to the right of the tattoo. At first I thought it was just redness from the treatment but the skin in that spot is healed and the color is still there. I'm not too concerned but I want to know what's causing it. Maybe a tan from the laser?

I think if I choose to continue with the treatments, I'm going to find a different doctor. I'm just not all that comfortable that my guy knows what he's doing. I want to look into the Picosure laser. Does anyone know if it is good for black ink? I was looking through the Q&A on here, and all of the doctors seem to give conflicting answers.

Will post another photo in a few days. Thanks for the support :)