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  • How to Choose the Right Doctor for Tattoo Removal
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No matter what physician you go to, they're not going to be able to guarantee perfect results. I've seen results in people who haven't gone to a physician and have used a topical cream to remove their tattoo and I'm not sure of the complications of that type of procedure. The good news is that we do have tattoo removal now with a laser and that the technology has advanced so much that you're able to destroy the ink and leave the normal tissue as is, unharmed. And when you, after the treatment, look at the skin, it's hard to tell that anything was ever there previously, so the ink that was there disappears. The normal skin stays. It's the phenomenal treatment. So how do you choose? Well ,there are couple things. Number one, who’s got the best technology? Technology matters a lot and that is important and it's hard for the consumer to know which is the best machine. And it may be that one machine's really good for red or black pigment and another machine's really good for blue or green pigment.

So you're going to want to see how knowledgeable your provider is with that. And number two and probably more importantly, is the person that I'm going to for this treatment able to handle the complication of the treatment? If you get into problems, and anybody can get into problems, are they going to be able to handle the blistering or the scarring or the irritation that happens with the procedure that somehow didn't have the outcome that was desired? What we see commonly is redness in the area that was treated. Uncommonly, but still happens, we see blistering. It can be quite an aggressive procedure on the skin and it can happen where you get the blistering in people or places you didn't quite expect it to happen. I think one thing that's really important is that if somebody has something like a tribal armband tattoo, you make sure that you don't treat the full circle of that tribal armband or the ankle area. And the reason for that is there can be some swelling with tattoo removal.

Swelling half of the tattoo is not a big deal. Swelling around in a circle around a limb, you can lose a limb. So it's very important that you go to somebody who can take that knowledge of the anatomy and of the location of the tattoo and make it so that they're treating you in a way where you're not going to be harmed physically, even if it does go bad.

How to Choose the Right Doctor for Tattoo Removal

Doctor H. L. Greenberg discusses the side effects of tattoo removal and shares insights on what to look for when searching for a doctor to remove your tattoo and why that is so important.