Tattoo Removal 101: Understanding the Process
Before we dive into tattoo removal, let’s do a quick review of skin anatomy. The skin has three main layers:
- The Epidermis
This is the top layer, the one you see when you look at your hand. - The Dermis
The second layer is much thicker and serves multiple functions, including housing hair follicles, sweat glands, and blood vessels. - Subcutaneous Fat
This is the bottom layer, providing insulation and cushioning for the body.
Now, let’s talk about how tattoos are applied and removed.
When you get a tattoo, a tattoo gun penetrates the skin 50 to 150 times per second, inserting ink particles into the dermis, the second layer of the skin. Once the ink is in the dermis, it gets trapped.
Once completed, a tattoo will continue to fade over time. The body’s immune system removes small ink particles, and UV rays from the sun causes further fading. Laser tattoo removal just speeds up the process.
The PicoWay Laser uses photoacoustic energy to target tattoo ink. Once targeted, that energy shatters the ink into smaller particles, breaking up and fading the tattoo.
The immune system then recognizes these fragments as foreign intruders and sends macrophages (the clean up cells) to escort them out of the body. The small ink particles are processed through the liver and kidneys and are eventually expelled through various ways of excretion.
If you’d like to learn more about what tattoo removal looks and feels like, read this article here.
