Half Sleeve Picosure Tattoo Removal - Allentown, PA

My half sleeve was my first large body modification and even though I went to a reputable shop, I was set up with a fairly new artist (I didn't know this at the time) and I should have been told what I wanted didn't translate well into a tattoo. I am friendly with quite a few artists in the area now and dated an artist for five years, and the consensus has been that a cover up at this point isn't possible! It's time to get it removed enough to start over. Shortly after I originally finished this piece I did go somewhere to try and make it look better, but there was only so much my artist could do.

I had my first picosure appointment yesterday at 11am in Allentown, PA. I was really pleased with the service and it was mentioned that maybe splitting treatments into half of the piece could be done. We ended up doing front, sides, back, all of it!!! When we were almost finished I burst into tears like a little kid.. With complete and utter abandon. And I thought I had a high pain threshold. All three different laser types were used, but the actual service did not take long at all.

I'd say the pain lasted for about 16 hours after the appointment. It was like a grease fire was constantly burning on my arm. Sleep was ridiculous, I woke up about once every hour but at least I had the wrap on me. When I took it off this morning to clean my arm with a mild soap and lukewarm water, the blisters were formed. Holy [RS bleep] they are big and only wrap around my arm where the blue ink was.

As I type this, two blisters have burst and I am letting them drain onto a pile of tissues underneath my elbow. I'm glad I took the day off work today but I wonder how I'll do tomorrow. I'm a hairstylist and I can't imagine these blisters popping in the middle of a client's service. I was told if I had blisters I shouldn't put the aquaphor on it anymore. I think they knew how big my blisters would get. There's no way I could put aquaphor on gently enough.

Well I got to sleep and wake up every two hours, which is better than the night before so I feel rested enough now. I've had to take today and tomorrow off work as well which is super inconvenient. If I don't work, I don't get paid, and it's thanksgiving next week. If I knew I was going to be unable to lift my arm or knew I would blister up this badly I would have planned my appointment better.

Anyway I'm getting used to the blisters now. It's a shame even when they burst they keep filling up with fluid. I wish I could burst them myself but it was strongly advised against. They don't hurt too much but are definitely sensitive, and my arm is still swollen and feels very heavy :(

Just felt a blister burst! Gtg..

Sleeping is so uncomfortable now, feeling my blisters leaking and not being able to properly rest my arm are wearing me down. I have to keep my forearm propped up to make sure my swollen, heavy, bruised and blistered upper arm don't rupture anything. So I'm still waking up every two hours and I have to force myself not to get up and stay awake. The blisters seem bigger today and I'm supposed to be back at work tomorrow.

I hope this is one of those cases where the technician was like "right, she can handle the pain, let's blast that stubborn blue out on the first try".. and the recovery is atrocious, but it's going to be wayyyyy above what I expected the removal to turn out like.

I can only hope.