Tattoo Removal with Picoway
Tattoo Removal with Picoway
I'm currently in the process of getting a cover-up tattoo removed. My current clinic uses the PicoWay laser, which until today I was pretty happy with, but now I've got a few questions about other lasers and procedures. I'll outline my journey first.
May 2019: I got the first tattoo. It's a black tattoo on my forearm. I really thought it was something I wanted, but after a few weeks realized it wasn't for me. I wanted to get it covered up with something and decided to get a few removal sessions first.
June 2019: Had my first removal session with a Q-Switched laser. I was told I'd need approximately 3-5 sessions to clear enough ink to cover it up successfully. The clinic spaced out the treatment 8 weeks apart, and I had four there. I wasn't super happy with the fading so far and that's when I discovered the PicoWay laser. I decided to switch to a clinic that used that laser. I had a treatment there in January 2020.
March 2020: Spoke with the artist who I wanted to do the cover-up and she thought it was faded enough to cover-up. So I got it covered-up. She actually did a really great job in covering it up, and I feel like most people would not have been able to tell or see the original tattoo. However, for multiple reasons I was again not happy with that.
I do know that I should have been more patient and had a few more removal session, and also put more thought into what I was getting it covered up with. I really wish I had just continued and gone for a full removal. However, I had begun to absolutely hate the original tattoo and I just wanted it gone. I truly thought I wouldn't care what it was covered up with, as long as it was not what I had. Obviously, I was wrong!
I decided pretty quickly that I wanted to remove that one too. However, due to COVID, I couldn't book my first appointment until July. I was living with my parents during the summer, and they live in a small town with only two clinics, one that uses the PicoSure and the other the Q-Switch. I was originally going to go with the PicoSure, thinking it was comparable to the PicoWay, but after doing research on that, I realized it didn't hit the same wavelengths as either the PicoWay or the Q-Switch, and that the Q-Switch would be a better option for now, knowing that once I got back into the city, I would continue with the PicoWay. So, I had my first session with the Q-Switch in July, and I've had three with the PicoWay.
I'm relatively happy with my results, knowing that this will be a long process. However, I do wish things were clearing faster. After doing a bit more digging, I came across a clinic that offers multiple treatments in one session. At first I thought that sounds wrong, seeing how everything I've read says you have to wait minimum 6 weeks in between sessions. Then I discovered this is a procedure called the R20 method. I'm hoping someone can provide a little bit more insight into this method. Mainly, is it safe, and does it really remove tattoos that much faster? How it is in comparison to the PicoWay?
Any help or insight would be very appreciated!
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