By Aurther Coyle
You know it's funny, 6 months ago a bunch of my friends decided to get tattoos all within the space of a few weeks. They didn't get the same ones, Mark got his date of birth around the calf, Daniel got his girlfriends name on his arm and Simon got some Chinese symbols, haven't a clue what they mean but they look quite cool. This present day 6 of them would like to have the tattoo removed, all for different reasons.
The point is the amount of people wishing to remove a tattoo is growing every year making this a growing industry.
This isn't just good news for the tattoo removal parlours waiting to take your hard earned cash but it also means that more research is being made into the industry, resulting in more effective methods.
The most popular form of tattoo removal is from a laser and this works by penetrating the outer layers of the skin to reach the tattoo, found in the dermis. The laser has been specially tuned by scientists to recognise only the pigments of the tattoo and so not to damage your skin. Quite a clever piece of machinery if you think about it! But does it work?
Laser tattoo removal is not guaranteed to work on every tattoo and unfortunately success is based on each case, however the majority will enjoy success.
For successful tattoo removal a few factors will come into play such as the quality of the ink used and the colours. A simple black tattoo will have a very good chance of being removed successfully because the laser will be able to recognise the dark colour. Colours such as yellow and green will be harder to remove as the laser will struggle to detect these lighter colours. If you don`t fancy being zapped by a laser there are other methods to removing a tattoo, for example there are many tattoo removal creams on the market. Tattoo removal using a cream takes time as many applications are required and it is far from guaranteed to work. In fact this method is definitely not without its critics, many dermatologists have made it quite clear that the creams will not work and could damage the skin. Many of the tattoo removal creams do not even give a list of ingredients, which kind of begs the obvious question. If you are considering removing your tattoo it is strongly advised to seek medical advice, visit a dermatologist to discuss the viable options, they will be able to direct you to a specialist.