LASER TREATMENTS
TATTOO REDUCTION IN GLENDALE ARIZONA
Your laser session is only half the job. The laser shatters the ink into fragments small enough for your immune system to finally do what it has been trying to do since the day you got the tattoo: carry it away. That clearing happens over the six to eight weeks after your appointment, quietly, while you go about your life. It is the reason we space your sessions the way we do, and it is the reason the tattoo keeps fading between visits even though you are not in our chair.
Some pigments, especially those used in permanent makeup, contain titanium dioxide or iron oxide. When a laser hits these compounds they can chemically change and turn darker instead of lighter. This is a known reaction, not a mistake, and it is why we test a small area first and wait before we treat the rest. If you have microbladed brows, permanent eyeliner, or lip blush you want removed, we will walk you through exactly what to expect before we turn the laser on. We would rather have that conversation than surprise you.
We will not book you sooner than six weeks. Not because of our schedule, but because of yours: your immune system is still clearing the last session, and the tattoo is still fading right now, today, without you doing anything. Treating skin that has not finished healing is how people end up with scars instead of results. The wait is the treatment.
PRE-TREATMENT PROTOCOL
Four weeks before
- No sun exposure to the area. No tanning beds. Non-negotiable in Arizona. A tan is a laser contraindication, and a tanned patient treated at normal settings is how burns and hypopigmentation happen.
- No self-tanner (stop at least two weeks out).
One week before
- Stop topical retinoids on the treatment area (5 to 7 days).
- Review photosensitizing medications with the prescriber: tetracyclines including doxycycline, sulfonamides, some diuretics, some NSAIDs, St. John’s wort.
- Antiviral prophylaxis if the tattoo is perioral or facial and there is a cold sore history.
Day of Treatment
- Shave the area.
- No lotion, oil, makeup, or self-tanner on the skin.
- Arrive early if numbing cream is being used.
AFTER CARE
First 72 hours
- Ice packs, wrapped, 10 to 15 minutes at a time, as needed for swelling.
- Apply a plain petrolatum ointment (Aquaphor) and cover with a nonstick sterile dressing. Change daily.
- Keep it covered for about three days, or until the skin has closed.
- Expect redness, swelling, tenderness, and possibly pinpoint bleeding. All normal.
Blisters
- Blisters are normal, especially after the first few sessions. They are not a complication and they are not a sign something went wrong.
- Do not pop them. If one opens on its own, keep it clean, apply ointment, cover it.
- Blistering is often a sign of an effective treatment.
Weeks 1 to 4
- No picking, scratching, or scrubbing scabs. Picking is the primary cause of scarring in tattoo removal. Say this bluntly.
- No pools, hot tubs, lakes, or saunas until fully healed, roughly two weeks.
- No strenuous exercise for 48 hours. Heat and friction on a fresh treatment site cause problems.
- Showering is fine. Pat dry, do not rub, no direct water pressure on the site.
Between sessions, every single day
- Mineral SPF 30 or higher on the treated area, always. In Glendale this is the whole ballgame. Sun exposure on a healing treatment site is the number one driver of both hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation, and it is the number one reason a tattoo removal course goes badly.
- No tanning beds and no self-tanner for the entire duration of treatment, not just between individual sessions.
Call us if
Spreading redness, drainage or pus, fever, or pain that increases after day three.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The body needs the time to clear the fragments. Treating sooner does not speed it up. It just adds trauma to skin that has not finished healing, which is how people end up scarred.
Each pass fractures the particles the laser can reach. The next layer becomes reachable only after the top layer clears.
Lymphatic drainage is poorer the further you get from the trunk and the lymph nodes.
Immune function, smoking status, hydration, and general health all affect clearance rate.
Black, dark blue, dark brown. Black is the easiest ink on earth to remove because it absorbs every wavelength.
Green, teal, light blue, purple, yellow, and any neon or fluorescent ink. Modern fluorescent inks are polymer-based and can be nearly unresponsive.
White, pink, flesh-tone, tan, and light brown ink colors can undergo paradoxical darkening. The white pigment in most inks is titanium dioxide, and many flesh tones use ferric oxide. When the laser hits them, a chemical reduction occurs and the pigment turns blue-black or grey, instantly and visibly. This is not an error and it is not a burn. It is a predictable chemical reaction.
This matters enormously for cosmetic tattoos: microbladed brows, permanent eyeliner, lip blush. Those pigments are almost always flesh-toned or contain white. Someone comes in with a faded brow and leaves with a grey-black one.
Most people describe it as hot grease splatter, or a rubber band snapped hard against sunburn. It is more intense than getting the tattoo, but it is dramatically shorter. A palm-sized tattoo is often under five minutes of actual laser time.
Comfort options:
- Topical lidocaine applied 30 to 60 minutes before, under occlusion
- Forced cold air (Zimmer) during treatment
- Ice before and after
- Injectable lidocaine for larger or more sensitive areas, if their provider offers it
Expected and temporary:
- Redness, swelling, tenderness for 24 to 72 hours
- Frosting for 10 to 20 minutes post-treatment
- Blistering and crusting
- Pinpoint bleeding
- Temporary hair loss in the treated area
Possible:
- Hypopigmentation (lightening). Most common with the 532, 694, and 755 nm wavelengths and in Fitzpatrick IV to VI. Usually resolves over 6 to 12 months. Can be permanent.
- Hyperpigmentation (darkening of surrounding skin). More common in Fitzpatrick IV to VI, typically resolves over months, worsened by sun exposure.
- Textural change in the treated skin.
- Paradoxical darkening of white, pink, flesh-tone, and cosmetic inks.
- Ghosting. A faint shadow of the design that remains visible in certain lighting even after treatment is complete.
- Incomplete clearance. Some tattoos never reach zero. Certain inks, certain colors, certain skin.
Uncommon:
- Scarring. Low with correct fluence and correct spacing. Historically cited around 4 to 5 percent. Risk rises with aggressive stacking, sessions booked too close together, and picking at scabs.
- Infection.
- Allergic reaction to released ink. Rare but documented, most often with red pigment.
Good candidate
- In reasonable general health with a functioning immune system
- Realistic about the timeline and the number of sessions
- Willing to protect the area from the sun for the entire course
- Not currently tanned
- Understands that “removal” may mean “faded to near-invisible” rather than “gone”
We will not treat, or we will defer
- Active infection or open wound at the site
- A suspicious mole or pigmented lesion inside the tattoo (refer to dermatology first)
- Active tan or recent significant sun exposure
- Gold salt therapy history (risk of chrysiasis, a permanent grey-blue discoloration)
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding. There is no safety data. Standard practice is to defer.
- Isotretinoin within the past six months (medical director sets the policy)
- History of keloid scarring
- Vitiligo or psoriasis (risk of Koebner phenomenon)
- Uncontrolled diabetes, immunocompromise, or poor wound healing
- Active herpes lesion at the site
- Cosmetic tattoo applied recently (wait for full healing, 8+ weeks)
- Photosensitizing medication currently in use
- Unrealistic expectations
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