The History of Laser Tattoo Removal.

Tattoo removal dates back to ancient Egypt; however in modern society, up until the last decade, tattoo removal was often painful and left unsightly scarring. This changed with the development of laser tattoo removal.

Laser tattoo removal began in earnest in the late 80s, when the development of “pulsed” lasers made it plausible to perform medical procedures using lasers. The first procedures were performed using the Q-switched ruby laser. The ruby laser is more difficult to use on individuals with darker skin types, but it is still used today.

The introduction of the Q-switched neodymium: yttrium-aluminium-garnet laser (Nd: YAG) in 1991 helped the procedure become more common, due to the versatility and effectiveness of this particular laser. The Q-switched alexandrite and Candela pigmented lesion lasers made laser tattoo removal more versatile.

The history of laser tattoo removal is the history of how one form of technology can be applied to many different uses. Laser itself is not a term but an abbreviation for Light Amplified by Stimulated Emission of Radiation - a process discovered at the labs at Bell Gardens in 1958. But it wasn’t until recently that the laser was starting to be used as an instrument for medical procedures, and the early 90’s when the advent of the “Q-Switched Laser” projected the history of laser tattoo removal into the future.

Before laser tattoo removal became readily available, techniques for tattoo removal were limited to areas of the epidermis, or primary skin layer. By dealing strictly with this layer of the skin, procedures like excision or dermabrasion were limited in their effectiveness. Dermabrasion, which literally “sands” the epidermal layer down, and excision, which surgically removes the tattooed skin, was also prone to infections and scarring.

But laser tattoo removal is different because it uses laser pulses to break up the ink molecules on the dermis layer, or secondary skin layer, and allow the ink to be carried away by the bloodstream. Tattoos are permanent because the ink on this dermis layer is larger than the blood cells surrounding it and therefore it stays in place. When these molecules are reduced in size - the tattoo begins to disappear.

Modern laser technology and healthcare professionals with decades of experience make laser tattoo removal an effective way to remove unwanted tattoos. It is now much easier to significantly fade or completely remove a tattoo.