What's the fastest way to remove a tattoo?

I've tattooed the wedding date on my right wrist and, now that I'm getting a divorce, I'd want it removed as soon as possible. I heard there's different lasers which remove tattoos effectively. Is this the quickest way to do it?


F, 38, Hawaii

Tags:woman age 35-44 wrist unwanted tattoo laser tattoo removal quick

I wouldn’t call this the fastest way there is but laser removal has become very common lately in getting rid of any tattoo. It really depends on the size and area where the tattoo is. I remember my cousin did a laser removal of his chest tattoo last year. It was this dragon that covered his entire right breast from his collarbone to somewhere along his ribs. It was so cool but his newborn didn’t like it so he decided it had to go. The surgeon worked over a period of six sessions to remove the red ink first. He complained of chest pain when he came home after each session, I felt so bad for him. When it came to removing the green ink, they told him that would take more time between each session so that his skin wouldn’t be damaged by the laser. He gave up and said it wasn’t that much anyway; she’d get used to his green freckled chest!

Hello! Yes, there are different types of laser technology. One kind is a Q-switched laser, but also known as a nanosecond laser while the other kind, a newer type, is called the picosecond laser. I know you want your wedding date tattoo removed as soon as possible, but using laser treatments still take quite awhile. The picosecond laser type treatment has shown faster results, but please remember that tattoo removals take multiple treatments with a waiting period of eight weeks in between treatments.

I will tell you, though, laser treatments worked well on mine. I had a similar issue with a permanent tattoo that I wanted to be removed as fast as possible. I'm not completely finished, as the dark ink was over a scar, which makes it harder for the ink to dissipate. But, even after one laser treatment, I had started to notice a difference in the tattoo.

I'm sorry to tell you but removing tattoo ink is never easy. It is incredibly expensive and it takes a lot of different visits to have a tattoo removed. It sounds like your piece is smaller but it can sometimes still take eight to ten visits just to get rid of something that's no bigger than an inch and a half.

Not only does it take a lot of appointments you need to wait six to eight weeks between each appointment to make sure that your skin is healing properly. Also, if it's in color you'll need a different laser wavelength to remove the ink particles. However, laser is the way to go if you want a tattoo removed. Dermabrasion and creams take even longer and don't always give you the results that you're hoping for.

If at all possible, I highly encourage you to get a cover-up tattoo done instead. It will be way quicker, way cheaper, and you have the benefit of a new tattoo. Just make sure that you go to a good tattoo artist who has experience with covering up tattoos. Good luck!

I know you want to remove that tattoo as soon as possible, but even with using laser tattoo removal procedures, it will take more than one treatment. It sounds like you have a rather simple tattoo, so, it should not take that many sessions, but you must wait eight weeks in between each time you go to the doctor for another treatment to make sure the treatments work as well as they are supposed to.

I was able to get a treatment that uses the newer kind of laser called a picosecond laser. Does it hurt? Yes, but it really isn't that bad. It did hurt more than it did getting the tattoo on my upper arm. I noticed a change right away as my skin started to heal. It has taken a bit longer, though, than I expected because of the scar I had the tattoo cover in the first place. This might have made the tattoo removal process a little more painful as well.

There’s really no “fast” way to remove a tattoo, but laser procedures are the fastest way to do it. As for the different lasers, there are a few different types and each type works better on different ink colors. I know that black ink is usually the easiest to get removed. I had an old tattoo that I wanted to get rid of. They told me that the older the ink is, the easier it is to remove! There were usually 2 or 3 months between treatments and it took around a year for it to be completely gone. Some people will tell you to do sessions every 2 to 3 weeks, but I wouldn’t. The tattoo area needs to go through the proper healing process between treatments or it can scar pretty badly.

I was in a similar situation, and my doctor told me that the absolute fastest way to get rid of it was excision. This involves cutting away the tattoo, so it would be instantaneous. Another fairly fast method is dermabrasion, which can remove it in about a week. However, I was a bit worried about scarring, since my tattoo was a little bigger. I ended up going with a laser removal using Picosure which is currently the quickest and most effective method of laser removal. I went in for a session every six weeks because I was in a hurry, but I was told that stacking treatments too close together can cause damage to the skin. It only took a single session for the tattoo to start fading, but it took five sessions before the tattoo was completely removed.