Starting the Process of Tattoo Removal with Picosure - Sacramento, CA

Heading off to get my 7th treatment in a few minutes. As you can see, there is still plenty of ink, but there has also been some dramatic fading. When I went in for my initial consultation I was quoted 8-10 treatments. Yeah right! Even then I knew that was total BS. At this point I'm mentally preparing for 15-20 treatments to get as much ink out as possible. Expensive? Very. But I cannot tell you the weight that has been lifted from my chest since I started laser treatments a year and a half ago. There is no easy answer -- but there is hope!

I'm going to wait until the end of October get another treatment after this one. I have been totally diligent about keeping the tattoo covered, and as a result I have a white stripe around my upper arm where the skin is really pale. After I heal up this time I'm going to get some sun and relax a bit. It's hot!

I'm feeling very optimistic and hoping that everyone else out there dealing with this issue is making it through as well.

Hello everyone,

Well, when I went to update my profile I saw that it has been a year since my last update. I have had poor follow through with updating to say the least, but I have been getting treatments and the fading is pretty apparent in the pictures. I've been waiting 3 months between treatments and will continue to do so to achieve maximum fading and skin healing. I have felt much less anxious about my tattoo since starting the laser treatments. I'm not sure if it's because the tattoo is lighter, or if it's that I feel empowered knowing that I am doing all that I can to get rid of it. The tattoo is a faded mess, but I feel no worse about it because I never liked it anyway!

I have been keeping up with your posts sporadically and just wanted to give a little update. Sending good thoughts and cheer to everyone on this site who is going through the same process.

To be continued......

I went today for my second laser treatment. I have had some fading in the green / vine areas of the tattoo, but not much in the red or yellow of the flower. I asked the laser nurse Heidi if she could treat the red and yellow ink with the nd Yag laser and do Picosure on the vine, since it seems to be working well. She told me that she isn't supposed to start with the nd yag laser until minimum of the 3rd treatment. She lasered the tattoo with the Picosure, and it was much less painful this time. Maybe it was just that I knew what to expect. Once she went over it she noticed that the flower part of the tattoo wasn't frosted or swollen, so she decided to use the nd yag laser over that part after all. She bandaged me up, I went to work out, and now I'm home. I've had a peek under the dressing and there is a tiny amount of blistering. Mostly the skin looks inflamed around the vine. In any event, I'm not worried about it. I've decided to take the advice which I keep seeing pop up on this forum, which is to take your time in between treatments . . . so I scheduled my 3rd treatment 3 months from today. I did notice the the tattoo was slowly fading all along, so it seems I might as well take advantage of that, as well as allow the skin to heal up nicely in between treatments. I've had the tattoo for so long that, although I can't wait for the day that it is gone, I'm not in a mad rush to get it off (though I can completely relate to that mindset).

I will post pictures in 2-3 weeks once I'm all healed up. Hopefully there will be some nice fading going on! I wish you all well out there, happy weekend, and happy fading. :)