One of the most common questions asked about laser tattoo removal. People associate lasers with burning, and while there is heat involved and the after effects of laser tattoo removal mimic those of second degree burns, the laser is not burning off layers of skin.

Here is what really happens; The energy and associated heat is absorbed by the tattoo ink. Once the ink has absorbed enough heat and energy, it shatters into much smaller particles. Shattering tattoo ink is an extremely fast process. The laser’s energy is applied for a mere nanosecond. That’s less time that it takes to blink! Laser treatments do last much longer than a few nanoseconds, however, as the entire tattoo must be treated in order to shatter ink throughout the tattoo.

Once the ink is shattered, it is able to cool off even more rapidly. This allows for the surrounding tissue to be virtually undamaged. Some very slight bleeding, scabbing, and blistering is possible, but heal over a matter of a few weeks.

Laser tattoo removal sessions are generally performed about every 4-6 weeks to allow the body to completely heal and also for the immune system to remove a good portion of the shattered ink.

With each session, the energy of the laser will be turned up to enable the laser’s energy to be absorbed by deeper layers of ink. On average a tattoo takes between 5 and 10 sessions to remove. This is a very broad range as there are numerous factors that determine how easily a tattoo will be to remove through laser treatments.

North Houston Tattoo Removal offers free consultations so that any questions you may have can be answered by one of our certified laser specialists, and also so that an assessment of your tattoo can determine a more specific range of how many sessions will be needed for your specific tattoo. If you are considering laser tattoo removal, call North Houston Tattoo Removal.