How Long Should You Wait Between Laser Treatments

 we are living in the age of instant gratification, but unfortunately there are some things that still cannot, and should not be rushed and tattoo removal is one of them.

so how long should you wait between laser tattoo removal treatments

Once you have made the decision to find a laser tattoo removal professional and you are emotionally invested in getting your tattoo removed, and you often want it done yesterday. 

We frequently get emails from people with a photo of their tattoo and asking for a financial quote and how many treatments it will take to remove it. Those not motivated by money tend to be the ones who have made the decision to get their tattoo removed and the sooner the better. When you tell them it could be 4-10 treatments, and ideally they will wait 3 months between treatments, depending on the tattoo and many other factors, they are disappointed, and often unbelieving, and will often try other tattoo removal clinics to see if anyone else can offer quicker time frames.

Obviously in a professional tattoo removal practice no treatment can begin before a in-depth health assessment and a detailed discussion about the laser process is done.  Those discussions also include how long to wait between laser tattoo removal treatments. Which brings us to the BIG question… how long between treatments is both optimal and safe? How long should I wait between laser treatments?

The general consensus is around 8 weeks between treatments although there are now many professional laser operators that are convinced that waiting for even longer can be beneficial, so 12 weeks is now becoming the norm. Both in terms of pain and money, waiting 12 weeks is in your best interests. Some tattoo removal professionals wait up to twelve weeks which is our preferred option. There is some anecdotal evidence that shows that treatments only 6 weeks apart can lead to unnecessary scaring and dyschromia.

“Best results are always achieved by long treatment intervals giving the Immune System time to do it’s work”. ( ref Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology William Kirby et al ) Kirby Scale and how it relates to laser tattoo removal

I recently had a client come in after having only one treatment more than 8 months ago. She reported that her tattoo was continuing to fade even 8 months later. This suggests that if the client is not in a hurry, then possibly times between treatments could be even greater than 8 weeks. This will reduce the number of treatments required to remove the tattoo. Laser tattoo removal is painful, less treatments has got to be a good thing!

The reason for this is at each treatment session the tattoo particles are fragmented or exploded to allow the body to absorb the ink particles into the lymph glands over a period of time. The longer time between treatments mean that this natural healing process can continue to dissipate the ink for months if not years. The result is that the tattoo continues to lighten over time. Continuing treatments destroy the remaining larger particles which in turn will be absorbed over time.

A tattoo removal professional will know that no matter how keen you are to see the end of your tattoo that it is inadvisable to do tattoo removal treatments less than 8 weeks apart. If someone is willing to do treatments closer together then you need to ask yourself if they are;

• Either badly trained
• Just interested in getting more money from you!

If you are interested in finding out more about other peoples experiences with laser tattoo removal then join our Facebook group or just make a booking for a consultation and let’s get your laser tattoo removal journey going