Factors That Influence Tattoo Removal Difficulty
Those who are interested in having a tattoo removed need to be aware of the fact that the success of tattoo removal can vary. The following five factors could make it challenging to successfully remove your tattoo:
Pigments used in the tattoo
If your tattoo is primarily green, black, or blue, you're more likely to enjoy success when having it removed. On the other hand, a tattoo with a lot of red, yellow, orange, or white pigment will be more difficult to removed.
Tattoos with red, yellow, orange, or white pigments may also require more sessions to remove than tattoos with other primary pigments.
Time duration since tattooing
The longer it's been since you've had your tattoo put on, the easier it will be to remove. Tattoos tend to naturally fade over time, so older tattoos are easier to remove than newer ones.
Location of the tattoo
It's easiest to remove tattoos that are placed in areas with a plentiful vascular supply. Areas of the skin with heavy blood flow- like the back or chest- will show greater success when it comes to tattoo removal than areas of the body with more limited circulation. Areas where tattoo removal may be particularly difficult include the hands, feet, and calves.
Skin color
Skin absorbs laser light more or less effectively depending on its tone. Those with darker skin may find that their tattoo removal sessions make less of a difference than those with lighter skin. This is because darker skin absorbs more laser light than lighter skin does, and laser light treatments are the most common means of tattoo removal nowadays.
Whether or not an individual smokes
Those who smoke have poorer circulation than those who don't smoke. Circulation is directly related to the body's ability to heal.
Those with better circulation have skin that heals more quickly, and those with skin that heals quickly will respond better to tattoo removal treatments. Therefore, non-smokers will typically notice more success than smokers.
The presence of multiple tattoos
Many individuals with tattoos have layered tattoos, or tattoos placed on top of other tattoos to hide the previous tattoos. It will be significantly more difficult to remove all of your tattoo markings if you have layered tattoos than if you have just one single tattoo.
The presence of scar tissue
Often, ink pigment will be found beneath scar tissues on the skin of those with tattoos. Ink pigment that is located beneath scar tissue is more difficult to remove than ink pigment on the upper layers of the skin.