20 Dec

Are Non-Laser Tattoo Removals Safe?

Getting inked is a profoundly personal form of art. If you’re brave enough to have it immortalized onto your skin, then it must symbolize something very special to you. 

While body art adds unquestionable uniqueness to your overall aesthetic, not everyone wants to keep their tattoos forever. Whether it’s due to a breakup, career purposes, or simply a change of mind, wanting to have a tattoo removed is just as much of a big decision as having a tattoo done. 

The good news is that there are multiple types of tattoo removal procedures that you can turn to in order to get de-inked. 

We’re assuming that you are leaning towards non-laser tattoo removals, which is why you’re here reading this blog. The answer to this question is plain and simple: non-laser tattoo removals are not as safe as you may think. 

Let’s find out why! 

The Types of Tattoo Removal Procedures

Surgical Excision Tattoo Removal

Let’s discuss the most daunting one right off the bat. 

Be warned, however, that this procedure isn’t for the faint of heart, as it entails eliminating ink by means of a scalpel and closing the wound with stitches. 

To go into further detail, your surgeon will perform excision by cutting the tattoo out of your skin under local anaesthesia. 

Some may claim that surgical tattoo removal provides precision, but oftentimes, the cut does not go deep enough to remove the pigment as a whole. Plus, you guessed it—the downtime is long and painful. 

Dermabrasion Tattoo Removal

This next type of tattoo removal is slightly less terrifying than the previous one, but pain is still a factor. 

Dermabrasion tattoo removal is a technique that involves the scraping or sanding down of the dermis using a wire brush, sterilized sandpaper, salt crystals, or a diamond wheel, and an abrasive device. This method traditionally involves a local anaesthetic.  

Similar to surgical excision, dermabrasion tattoo removal also delivers subpar results including discolouration, bleeding, scarring, and the risk of developing infections.

In terms of recovery, it usually takes several months before the skin heals entirely. 

Salabrasion Tattoo Removal

Salabrasion tattoo removal is quite akin to dermabrasion, but they differ in the fact that the former is driven by water and granular salt in addition to an abrasive device. The goal is to rub the granular salt onto the specified region to stimulate the separation of dead skin cells from the healthy skin cells. The tattoo pigment gets pulled off along the way. 

After vigorously rubbing the treatment site, your specialist will apply an antibiotic ointment and sterile gauze dressing. The biggest downside of this procedure is that you’ll have to go through it more than once in order to achieve the desired results. 

Just like its relative (dermabrasion tattoo removal), salabrasion tends to leave your skin with a visible scar and puts patients at risk of developing scabs, discolouration, infection, bleeding, burning, and weeping sores.  

Acid Tattoo Removal

Non-laser methods are all extremely dangerous, but this is one of the most damaging types of tattoo removal procedures.  

As a disclaimer, there is no good reason to apply dangerous chemicals onto your skin. Exposing your skin to hazardous acids puts you at risk for intense amounts of pain, weeping sores, bruising, swelling, scabbing, skin discolouration, itching, infection, cicatrization, and permanent scarring. 

The most common acid tattoo removal include the following: 

• TCA Peel
• Glycolic Acid Peel 
• Acid Injections  

Cryosurgery Tattoo Removal    

Cryosurgery (also commonly referred to as cryotherapy) works by freezing off unwanted layers of skin, such as warts and skin tags. 

Nowadays, specialists use this nitrogen liquid-based solution to induce frostbite onto the skin to eliminate unwanted tattoos. 

Cryosurgery might sound like a great alternative to going under the knife or dousing your skin with acid, but it isn’t free of drawbacks including scarring, tissue damage, blistering, scabbing, swelling, discolouration, and infection. 

Tattoo Removal Creams

Would you believe that a pain-free cream has the ability to remove your tattoos? 

If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. 

Of all the types of tattoo removal techniques on the market, creams are the most unrealistic of them all. Typically, these products contain kojic acid, hydroquinone, TCA, and alpha-arbutin, which are all chemicals aimed at dissolving your tattoo. 

Depending on the specific cream, the pigments may fade ever so slightly, but they aren’t able to penetrate into the layer where the ink is stored. 

The Safest Type of Tattoo Removal Procedures: PicoSure

If you want to get rid of a tattoo, but don’t want to suffer the dire health consequences, then you’ll find comfort in knowing that laser tattoo removal exists.  

PicoSure is the world’s first picosecond laser technology that effectively eliminates unwanted ink. The laser wavelength that it emits specifically targets the tattoo pigments and shatters the ink particles without harming the surrounding tissue. 

Laser tattoo removal is suitable for the following: 

• Hard-to-remove black ink tattoos 
• Multi-coloured tattoos (including blue and green pigments) 
• Stubborn, previously treated tattoos 
• Amateur tattoos 

One PicoSure session lasts a minimum of 10 minutes, depending on the size of your tattoo. 

In terms of pain or discomfort, the process has been described as feeling similar to a tattoo process. Unlike its non-laser counterparts, laser tattoo removal is safe, effective, and reliable.

Get Laser Tattoo Removal at Harmony MedSpa

If one thing is crystal clear now, it’s the fact that laser tattoo removal is the safest way to go among all types of tattoo removal procedures! 

At Harmony MedSpa, you can trust our medical professionals and state-of-the-art facilities to treat your skin with care. No need to live with the regret of a tattoo forever—book your laser tattoo removal appointment today. If you’ve already had a consultation with one of our in-house specialists, you can pay for your procedure ahead of time through our secure online booking system.

We look forward to seeing you!