Once a taboo, and something that was stigmatized by the society, today, tattoos have become more than a normal thing. As a matter of fact, research shows that nearly 40% of the global population has at least one tattoo. Of course, this percentage depends on many factors such as cultural differences, the mentality of people in each country, current trends and so on. We all know that there are plenty of reasons one can get a tattoo. Other than simply making their appearance more interesting, tattoos are often used as a form of self-expression, or even as a form of rebellion against certain phenomena. In the past, tattoos have been connected to spiritual traditions and while today this is also the case in certain areas, people commonly get tattoos because they want to acknowledge something significant and important only to them.
Although the majority of people decide to get a tattoo after a long time of planning, it is not unusual for people to get tattoos spontaneously – even when they’re out partying or they’re even drunk. Getting tattooed for boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands and significant others is also a common thing. Considering the fact that there are so many things one can tattoo on their skin, one thing is sure: mistakes could happen.
What do we mean by mistakes? You can tattoo something and stop feeling like it shortly after. You can have a tattoo for years and then stop liking it. You can break up with your loved one and decide to move on without having a mark on your skin to remind you of your past relationships. In this case you have two options: you can either get another tattoo on top of the old one, or you can remove your tattoo with laser removal.
Of course, these options are not the only ones but it seems like they’re most common. Other than that, you can have surgery and surgically remove that tattoo, you can even use certain home remedies in order to bleach your tattoo (although this is not something that is highly recommendable).
Some tattoos are simply out of style or they are outdated, they could also change over the years, and not even remind of what they looked like in the beginning. In this case the best thing you can do is choose laser removal. But is there any information you need to know about laser removals? Is it as simple as it seems? Let’s dive into it:
First of all, you need to know that laser removals are extremely painful when done without local anesthesia. When we say extreme, this can vary from person to person as people react to pain differently and something that’s very painful to one person could be fine to another. However, according to research, laser removals are painful and there are certain factors that affect how painful it will be other than your personal pain threshold.
The complexity of your tattoo is the number one factor when it comes to pain. The more complicated and detailed your tattoo is, and the more of your skin it covers, it will be harder for the laser to remove it. If your tattoo is simple, linear or small, logically, it will be easier to remove and most likely – less painful.
The other factor is where your tattoo is placed on your body. Lasers remove tattoos by using the energy through light which breaks down the ink into particles, which then get absorbed by your bloodstream and kicked out of your system. Visit this website to find out more about the science behind tattoo removals.
However, if you have a tattoo on your legs, arms or anywhere far away from the centre of your body, there is some research that says it might be harder for you to remove it. Of course, we all know that the most painful tattoos are the ones on your ribs, on your neck and in sensitive zones. It is the same for a laser removal: the more sensitive area of your body the more painful it will be.
Luckily, tattoos are never removed without some anesthetics, so you can expect to feel a little to no pain during the session depending on the area of your skin and your individual pain threshold. Numbing creams are usually used, and this can even lead to feeling no pain at all, which is great news for people who are afraid of this part of the procedure. Of course, you can always discuss this with your doctor beforehand and he can adjust the anaesthetic to your needs, when it comes to the strength of the numbing cream and the amount of it. Other than that, there are some other tools that can help make this experience pain free such as coolers etc.
Finally, the faster the removal lasts, it will hurt less. As we have previously mentioned, the speed of removing your tattoo depends on the size of your tattoo as well as its density and complexity. There are also other factors such as the brightness or the darkness of your skin which can also affect the amount of pain you feel.
Next thing you should know is that it will take a long time for you to remove your tattoo. By this we mean several sessions and a lot of time in between. You can expect to get your tattoo removed in a couple of months or even a whole year. At the same time, although tattoo removals are not really cheap, people say they are worth every dollar.
If you want to remove your tattoo, the best thing you can do is do a thorough research and discuss everything you’re concerned about with your doctor and laser removal professionals. Also, make sure to do it before you exchange experiences with people who have already had tattoo removals, because everyone’s experiences differ as well as their tattoos. With a clear communication with a professional who’s in charge of the removal of your tattoo, you can find the perfect dynamic of removing the ink from your skin so that you don’t have to experience pain at all. Good luck!
