Some more on the evolution of tattoo removal...
One form of tattoo removal is dermabrasion - a more aggressive form of today's micro-dermabrasion used to adjust small imperfections on the skin. Dermabrasion would use chemical agents (caustic acids), salt (called salabrasion - http://www.cosmeticsurgery.com/research/cosmetic-surgery/Tattoo-Removal/), or sandpaper to remove the outer and lower layers of skin. This method often causes unattractive and permanent scarring, making the procedure questionable when done for cosmetic reasons. Tattoo removal is intended to enhance the look of the skin rather than degrade it, so dermabrasion has only been done in the most severe cases and is no longer a common procedure.
Another form of tattoo removal is tissue expansion or staged excision. This procedure uses a balloon, which is inflated to stretch the skin in a controlled manner. The balloon is placed under the patient's skin and the physician cuts away ("excision") sections of the skin one at a time ("staged") until the tattoo is removed. This procedure is effective when the tattoo is near the surface of the skin, but leaves significant scars.
A third form of tattoo removal is cryosurgery. The skin that holds the tattoo pigment is frozen with liquid nitrogen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogen) or other means. Then, layers of skin are exfoliated in a peeling process. This procedure leaves scars and is impractical for large tattoos, or those that are deeply placed in the skin.
Laser tattoo removal is the most recent, most common, and most effective form of tattoo removal practiced today. In my next post, I'll go into detail on the use of lasers for tattoo removal.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
First Post for Houston Tattoo Removal!
Hi!
This is my first blog post....ever. I'm excited to be part of this new form of communication, and look forward to meeting a lot of new people and discussing my new favorite topic - laser tattoo removal.
Tattoo removal has come a long way - until the last few decades, the only way to remove a tattoo was to attempt to burn it off or cut away the skin colored with the tattoo (a procedure called "excision"). Then, a variety of other procedures developed - including microdermabrasion (http://health.howstuffworks.com/microdermabrasion.htm), chemical peels (http://www.webmd.com/skin-beauty/guide/cosmetic-procedures-chemical-peel-treatments), and lasers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser)
Laser technology has advances from early C02 laser (http://www.theskininstituteofny.com/co2.html) that would basically burn off the out layer of skin, resulting in great pain to the patient and a costly procedure that only was used in the most serious cases. Over the past two decades, laser tattoo removal has become much more sophisticated. Different laser frequencies target different pigment in the tattoo, enhancing the ability of medical practitioners to remove tattoos of many colors.
My next blog posting will dive a bit deeper into the evolution of laser technology.
This is my first blog post....ever. I'm excited to be part of this new form of communication, and look forward to meeting a lot of new people and discussing my new favorite topic - laser tattoo removal.
Tattoo removal has come a long way - until the last few decades, the only way to remove a tattoo was to attempt to burn it off or cut away the skin colored with the tattoo (a procedure called "excision"). Then, a variety of other procedures developed - including microdermabrasion (http://health.howstuffworks.com/microdermabrasion.htm), chemical peels (http://www.webmd.com/skin-beauty/guide/cosmetic-procedures-chemical-peel-treatments), and lasers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser)
Laser technology has advances from early C02 laser (http://www.theskininstituteofny.com/co2.html) that would basically burn off the out layer of skin, resulting in great pain to the patient and a costly procedure that only was used in the most serious cases. Over the past two decades, laser tattoo removal has become much more sophisticated. Different laser frequencies target different pigment in the tattoo, enhancing the ability of medical practitioners to remove tattoos of many colors.
My next blog posting will dive a bit deeper into the evolution of laser technology.
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