I see many homemade tattoos that patients received as students in high school. These tattoos generally use poor quality ink and are often put in with dull needles and lousy techniques that frequently cause scarring. Scarred skin tends to reveal itself after the ink is removed. It can also hold onto ink harder than healthy…
Success! Today I was the first nurse in the entire Southwest to use the new PicoSure 532nm handpiece for red, yellow & orange tattoo inks! I was very impressed with the reaction created by the treatment. Both yellow and red ink “frosted” in response to the 532nm green laser beam. You will recall that red…
Could your next tat be applied by a robot? Answer: Yes! A company called Appropriate Audiences has developed a robotic tattoo machine that inks a tattoo in a manner similar to printing. Although the device is still being tweaked and developed, chances are it will be available everywhere before you know it due to rapid…
You may have noticed numerous tattoos over the years that were obviously homemade and wondered what the artist or their client was thinking at the time. Luckily, these unprofessional tattoos cannot stand up to the PicoSure laser when it comes time for laser tattoo removal. Many of these inks, though not professionally made, can be quite…
Once a patient has made the decision to have their tattoo removed with the PicoSure laser it can almost become an urgent situation. I have multiple patients who want their treatments spaced apart as closely as possible to ensure that the removal is as fast as possible. Rather than waiting 6-8 weeks between treatments they…
Can you imagine waking up the day after you got your new tattoo and already having tattoo regret? Or how about the very first time you saw your new ink in the mirror and experiencing regret before even leaving the tattoo shop? It’s a lot more common than you might think. Every day I hear stories like…
Have you ever wondered what gives tattoos their permanence? There are several factors that account for why tattoos essentially last a lifetime. Firstly, the pigments are not water-soluble which means your body cannot dissolve them. We can think of tattoo ink as microscopic multicolored balls made of clay, metal, minerals or any number of combinations…
You may be reading this right now and dreaming of finally removing that tattoo you can’t stand anymore. Perhaps you would like a cover up but your artist has told you that your choices are limited due to the size and color of your current ink? Well the PicoSure laser can fix all that by…
How black is black? Sometimes a very deep dark black tattoo initially appears as though it’s resistant to PicoSure laser tattoo removal. However, we know what’s taking place on a microscopic level; ink particles are being shattered by the photomechanical PressureWave and carried off by the body. So why does it look as though nothing…
Sometimes I see the scars that directly result from the tattooing process. The longer a tattoo takes to put on the duller the needles become. Dull needles not only make the tattoo placement more painful but they increase the risk of scar formation. Why? Because needles are just like tiny scalpels and the cuts they…
If you’ve ever wondered what “air-cooling” for comfort means it’s the use of a chiller to cool the skin and diminish the pain associated with PicoSure laser tattoo removal. If you recall, the laser energy passes painlessly through most skin types and concentrates its energy on the pigment. However, the reaction with the pigment can…
So what’s the deal with BLACK ink? You may have heard that it’s the easiest color to remove. In many respects that can be a true statement if you’re using a POS q-switched laser and don’t have access to a PicoSure instrument. Why? Well because q-switched lasers have a difficult, if not impossible, time trying…
Do you believe in miracles? Well for some patients the PicoSure laser represents just that; a miracle of modern medicine. For this featured case study patient his journey has been a long one. He started laser tattoo removal 10 years ago for a partial sleeve on his right arm. Back then all that was available…
More and more I hear that patients are removing tattoos for work. In some instances this is mandated by their employer. For example a corporation might adopt a “no visible tattoos” policy. Starbucks had banned all visible tattoos but lifted its ban last year as long as the tattoo was “inoffensive” and not located on…
Why is it that there are no magic creams to fade away tattoos? Why do products that purport to remove tattoos using a special brush and a proprietary ointment (think wrecking balm) not work? And if they did work, would laser companies still build medical lasers which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars? If we…
Let’s look at an example of a patient who I recently treated with the PicoSure laser. This particular tattoo was black in color and located on the upper left shoulder blade. The tattoo had been professionally inked and utilized a high quality pigment that had maintained its lightfastness despite the fact that this patient snorkeled…
I’ve been asked several times if removing a tattoo with the PicoSure laser can release any dangerous chemicals into the body. While many tattoo inks vary widely in their chemical makeup, the vast majority are inert and usually harmless. Generally speaking, if a patient was going to have a reaction to a particular ink, or…
I was treating a tattoo with PicoSure today that wrapped entirely around the patient’s right lower leg mid-calf. She’s having her existing tattoo faded in order to place a full lower leg piece. This was her first PicoSure treatment and she asked if it would hurt worse when I passed over the thinner skin in…
We sometimes hear the term “R-20 Method” in laser tattoo removal. R-20 refers to the practice of “repeating” the laser tattoo removal procedure after 20 minutes. The technique was developed by a physician who wanted to clear tattoos more rapidly. However, the study pointed out that although it appeared to be initially helpful in some…
Hello, Occasionally a person will receive a tattoo and their skin is permanently damaged. The tattooing process itself may cause scarring, raised areas, redness or other adverse reactions. This may be due to an allergic reaction to a particular ink or one of its ingredients. Visible scars may also be the result of the micro-scarring…
Hello again, Since I utilize the PicoSure Laser for tattoo removals, I thought it fitting that I post a video showing just what makes this laser so unique. Enjoy! Questions or comments? Post them below and I’ll get right back to you. Thanks! – brendan.leigh@austinpicosure.com I can be reached in Austin, TX at my new…
If you’ve ever wondered how a treatment is performed, you can watch me removing a tattoo from Val Santos, one of our local radio celebrities here in Austin. This was a selective removal; meaning she only wanted part of the tattoo gone. In the end, the unwanted portion of Val’s tattoo was completely erased. Her…