POSTED UNDER PicoSure REVIEWS
Getting Rid of my Tattoos, Long Journey Getting Started - Nürnberg, Germany
ORIGINAL POST
Hi everyone! This site has been a great resource...
RSMember2119June 11, 2014
$300
Hi everyone!
This site has been a great resource for support and after I decided to get rid of my tattoos (in total I have five - two small ones on my wrists and three larger ones: back/neck, right upper arm and chest). Most of them are quite old, the "newest" one on my chest was done 8 years ago.
Even though I always loved tattoos and I still like to see them on other people, when I look at mine I often feel embarrassed. I was young when I got them, 18 to 24 years old, and even though I tried to always go to professional studios, I am not satisfied at all with how they were done.
So on April 23rd this year I had my first picosure session on the little skull on my wrist. I went to Dr. Kramer in Nürnberg, Germany who is a very kind and supportive lady. She offered me pain reduction in the form of Pliaglis cream. It is apparently stronger than Emla and contains lidocaine. However, Dr. Kramer said, she would not be able to treat all my tattoos at once as too much Pliaglis on the skin could give me heart problmes! That was not something you would like to hear.
Also she said she does not know how well the Picosure would be able to treat my red, yellow and white color. We decided to start with the skull to see how my skin would react and go from there.
The process itself was fast, but even though I was using numbing cream, super painful. Much more painful than getting it done. To be honest, I'm so scared of the coming laser sessions, especially on the tattoo on my chest - it is large and the color is pretty dense. I can hardly sleep at night lately and I really start to hate myself and my body - what if it won't go away, what if I get nasty scars as Dr. Kramer said can happen on chests rather easily...
Anyway... session number 1 was done, Dr. Kramer gave me a cool pack to put on my skin. It looked like popcorn right afterwards, but there was no pain anymore.
The next couple of days I was blistered really bad and had to use a cream called Diprogenta which contains cortisone.
About two weeks later, the skin was still very sensitive, blisters and scabs gone, but the skin looked scarred. As I live 4 hourse away from Dr. Kramer, I can email her and she told me, it was just an immune reaction and it will fade.
Today it is six weeks and the skin is almost back to normal, it just got "orange" at some parts, I hope this goes away. I think the laser did nicely on the black, the white however, did not really change.
Next tx (probably on chest tattoo) is on July 18th. No summer for me this year :(
This site has been a great resource for support and after I decided to get rid of my tattoos (in total I have five - two small ones on my wrists and three larger ones: back/neck, right upper arm and chest). Most of them are quite old, the "newest" one on my chest was done 8 years ago.
Even though I always loved tattoos and I still like to see them on other people, when I look at mine I often feel embarrassed. I was young when I got them, 18 to 24 years old, and even though I tried to always go to professional studios, I am not satisfied at all with how they were done.
So on April 23rd this year I had my first picosure session on the little skull on my wrist. I went to Dr. Kramer in Nürnberg, Germany who is a very kind and supportive lady. She offered me pain reduction in the form of Pliaglis cream. It is apparently stronger than Emla and contains lidocaine. However, Dr. Kramer said, she would not be able to treat all my tattoos at once as too much Pliaglis on the skin could give me heart problmes! That was not something you would like to hear.
Also she said she does not know how well the Picosure would be able to treat my red, yellow and white color. We decided to start with the skull to see how my skin would react and go from there.
The process itself was fast, but even though I was using numbing cream, super painful. Much more painful than getting it done. To be honest, I'm so scared of the coming laser sessions, especially on the tattoo on my chest - it is large and the color is pretty dense. I can hardly sleep at night lately and I really start to hate myself and my body - what if it won't go away, what if I get nasty scars as Dr. Kramer said can happen on chests rather easily...
Anyway... session number 1 was done, Dr. Kramer gave me a cool pack to put on my skin. It looked like popcorn right afterwards, but there was no pain anymore.
The next couple of days I was blistered really bad and had to use a cream called Diprogenta which contains cortisone.
About two weeks later, the skin was still very sensitive, blisters and scabs gone, but the skin looked scarred. As I live 4 hourse away from Dr. Kramer, I can email her and she told me, it was just an immune reaction and it will fade.
Today it is six weeks and the skin is almost back to normal, it just got "orange" at some parts, I hope this goes away. I think the laser did nicely on the black, the white however, did not really change.
Next tx (probably on chest tattoo) is on July 18th. No summer for me this year :(
Replies (5)
June 13, 2014
Hi there :) do you plan on getting coverups or are you going for complete removal? I had an all black wrist tattoo (outline only) and I am finally at the point where it's fully removed (a few blips of ink remain- but for the most part it's like 98% gone). I wasn't treated w/ the Pico...but supposedly a Q-switched w/ a 523nm wavelength is great for red ink where the Pico fails w/ red. Yellows are supposedly hard all around :( and whites are too. Not sure what lasers you have available in yr area but some Q-switched lasers have both 532 and 1064 wavelengths (1064 treats black ink). Pico is killer on blues/purples and ok on some greens too. From what I see though, your ink is well done- yet I do understand ink regret. Would you ever consider trying to remove just the skull tatt to see how it fades b/f starting laser on your other tatts? I understand this will set your removal back, but removal is not guaranteed 100% and it is pretty taxing on the body, esp getting multiple ones treated at the same time if they are large. Also in regards to the orange you say your skin is turning- this is referred to as hyperpigmentation and will subside up to a year after yr last treatment. Just be careful not to get lasered b/f you skin completely heals, even if it takes a few months b/w sessions b/c lasering bf that can lead to scarring which will impede the next session's laser as the scar tissue affects the strength of the laser. Best of luck to you in your journey :)
June 13, 2014
Hi there :) Thanks a lot for your advice! I know I have to take it slowly and expect it to take around 3 years (?) until they are gone. I do not plan cover-ups right now, but of course if I end up with really bad results and no change after many, many treatments, I will see. I know my skin will never be as it was before. Also I was wondering, where the color goes after treatment. I heard a lot about drinking lots of water and detoxing, but I'm not sure if that really works or the color just gets stuck in the lymph nodes? Well, but as it is said, tattooed people have colorful lymph nodes anyway.
My plan is to get my tattoos treated one by one. Dr. Kramer said that Cynosure is developing a new lense for the Picosure laser so it responds better to reds - apparently, the lense will be available by the second half of this year. Anybody heard about it?
I do plan to take long breaks in between each session, so that my body has enough time to heal. Each tattoo will be treated every couple of months only (even though Dr. Kramer said I could have treatments every three weeks - no, I don't think so, I saw the most fading AFTER three weeks).
June 16, 2014
Yeah I really have no idea about where the ink goes and I don't think anyone has proven anything in that regard. Originally I was told it gets flushed out by the body but others say it remains in the lymph nodes. One Dr also told me that just getting a tatt in general causes ink to be in the lymph like you said about colored lymph nodes :) I suppose the only diff is that our treated ink is slightly diff from untreated ink...or so i would imagine. Either way I think you are pretty educated in regards to all of this going into removal and I commend you for that :) Supposedly fading occurs up to a year after a treatment b/c our bodies move slow at removing the broken up ink. I'm not too familiar w/ Picosure technology as I have never tried it, but I did hear they are also trying to get a 1064 wavelength on the Pico bc as of now, it only is a 755. One thing's for sure- technology is always upgrading and changing...I just wish the inks would!! Good luck to you :) I think you are going about this wisely
UPDATED FROM RSMember2119
2 months post
My other ones...
RSMember2119June 13, 2014
Hallo again, here are pictures of my other tattoos. The one on the chest is my biggest worry, very dense color, lots of orange, yellow and red. getting it done was already super painful. It was three sessions and with two I had to use Emla cream because the pain was almost unbearable. What was I thinking? :( Since 8 years I keep it covered up most of the time and if I don't, people stare at me when I walk down the street (somebody said once it is because the tattoo stares back). I haven't been swimming even though I used to love it and just in general it is embarrassing to me to have a large tattoo like this on my chest and boobs :(
The other ones are less of a worry for me, but the color really faded a lot and as I don't feel a connection to the motives anymore and wouldn't want to get them redone, they should go aswell.
Of course, I know there are no guaranteed results and as my skin is already very sensitive as it is (allergies, problems with sunlight, lots of moles), I'm worried, yes. But I'm only 32 and I don't want to walk around covered up for the rest of my life. At the moment it is really hot here in Germany and I hate it. I wish it would rain and get cold again. That's how far these tattoos influence my life and self esteem.
Because of my low pain treshold, Dr. Kramer offered me to have a full anesthesia while I get my chest lasered. It would be another 200 to 300 Euros (270 to 400 US-Dollars).
For the different session I will pay 120 Eur ($ 160) for each wrist tattoo; 250 Eur ($ 400) for the back tattoo, 220 Eur ($ 300) for the chest, upper arm I think it was 250 Eur ($ 400).
Unfortunatly there are no deals like "pay 10 session get one free".
The other ones are less of a worry for me, but the color really faded a lot and as I don't feel a connection to the motives anymore and wouldn't want to get them redone, they should go aswell.
Of course, I know there are no guaranteed results and as my skin is already very sensitive as it is (allergies, problems with sunlight, lots of moles), I'm worried, yes. But I'm only 32 and I don't want to walk around covered up for the rest of my life. At the moment it is really hot here in Germany and I hate it. I wish it would rain and get cold again. That's how far these tattoos influence my life and self esteem.
Because of my low pain treshold, Dr. Kramer offered me to have a full anesthesia while I get my chest lasered. It would be another 200 to 300 Euros (270 to 400 US-Dollars).
For the different session I will pay 120 Eur ($ 160) for each wrist tattoo; 250 Eur ($ 400) for the back tattoo, 220 Eur ($ 300) for the chest, upper arm I think it was 250 Eur ($ 400).
Unfortunatly there are no deals like "pay 10 session get one free".
Replies (4)
June 13, 2014
Welcome to the site. Don't lose hope, that skull with the stars is fading like mad! Colours like blue and green also respond very well to Picosure. You'll want to use a q-switched laser for the red, with a 532 wavelength which is thankfully also cheaper than Picosure. It will take time but people on here really surprise you how well they do. There's no reason why you can't either. At least you've finally got the ball rolling. :-)
June 13, 2014
Thanks a lot :) I was surprised too by the fading after just onse session. I'd wish however, all my others would be just black and shades... Back in the day when I had all of my tattoos done, somebody said that I shouldn't get colors as they will be hard to remove. Haha. Then again that was long before the newer lasers came up. I will talk to my doctor about a q-switched laser for the reds. If she doesn't have one, there is a clinic in the area that has. I think it will just take patience (and a lot of money - but I'd rather not think about that).
June 13, 2014
People are always shocked when I mention the cost, but to anyone going through removal the money just isn't important! Q-switched lasers are very easy to find so you shouldn't have any problems finding one. Well done again on your progress, I can't wait to try Picosure myself next month now. Been at this for so long now and your photos are very reassuring. Thanks!
UPDATED FROM RSMember2119
3 months post
Next TX on Wednesday
RSMember2119July 14, 2014
Hi everyone, my next TX is coming up on Wednesday (I had to rescedule). I decided to get it on the flaming heart on my back. Temperatures are rising again this week which is super annoying as I was hoping for it to stay cooler and rainy like it was the last couple of days. Anyway, please keep your fingers crossed for me (I'm thinking about bringing a stick that I can bite into... haha). I'll send pictures on Thursday :)
So glad you found us!!! It's great that you decided to share your journey with the community. I can totally understand your concerns but you will find your way through each treatment and we will be cheering you along the way! Do you have photos of your other tattoos that you will be treating?
Here are some videos and information you may find useful:
http://www.realself.com/video/tattoo-removal-succe...: <rs-video-player video='{"id":"3195","external_id":"3769904453001","uri":"video\/tattoo-removal-success-rates-misconceptions-and-new-treatment-options"}'></rs-video-player>
http://www.realself.com/video/chicago-2013-24-anol...: <rs-video-player video='{"id":"1136","external_id":"3582888941001","uri":"video\/chicago-2013-24-anolik-04-tattoo-v2"}'></rs-video-player>
10 Things you should know before getting tattoo removal
I wish you success and will be watching for updates :)
Eva