Drawing your body at 20 or 30, for love or fashion, and then thinking about it decades later. It happens often and not just to VIPs. The army of “tattoo regretters” is growing in the world. According to data from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, around 7 million Italians have drawings on their skin. At least one Italian in two regrets getting a tattoo, especially women.
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THE DENSITY
This, for the experts, is the time to make the decision. Before the heat arrives and it becomes more complicated to protect the area from which you want to remove the drawing. With the latest generation lasers, eliminating a tattoo is possible but, sometimes, it may not be easy to erase it completely. The color, density and type of pigment used as well as your personal phototype have an impact. In all cases, laser removal treatments are long, expensive and quite painful. «The ideal season for laser removal is winter. In the summer months, the tan we achieve with exposure to the sun could “distract” the laser beam and make the treatment less effective and more risky” explains Professor Steven Paul Nisticò, full professor in Dermatology Sapienza University of Rome and head of the clinic of Dermatological Laser Therapy.
The main characteristic of the laser is to emit extremely powerful pulses in a very short time which have the power to explode and shatter the ink particles. Even in the case of small tattoos, a single session may not be enough: the treatment is usually completed in 4-6 treatments of 25 minutes each, with an interval of five-six weeks between each other.
THE SWELLING
The minimum number for a small tattoo is three sessions, at intervals of approximately four/five weeks between each other. The situation is different for larger tattoos, the minimum number of operations required for which is seven. After treatment, the treated area may be red and slightly swollen, and itchy scabs may appear. However, these reactions subside within a few days without leaving scars. The tattoo pigments begin to fade, becoming weaker with each session, until they disappear completely. Apparently, the trend of painting the body with tribal designs, hearts and dates to remember is experiencing a rapid trend reversal. In Hollywood there are quite a few stars who regret using ink to celebrate their love. The trend was started by Angelina Jolie who, in unsuspecting times, had her ex-husband’s name erased from her skin. Followed by Johnny Depp removing Amber Heard’s name from his arm.
THE TECHNOLOGIES
The main reason why celebrities and ordinary mortals resort to the removal of a tattoo is the end of a love affair. «The laser uses short pulses of concentrated light which serve to fragment the color pigments of the tattoo. These fragments are subsequently eliminated naturally by the body’s immune system – explains Steven Paul Nisticò – The number of sessions necessary may vary depending on the size, color and depth of the tattoo”. Black and dark blue tattoos usually respond best to treatment, although new technologies also allow multicolored designs to be treated adequately. Contrary to what you might think, erasing a tattoo is not a simple and immediate thing. The advice of experts is to think carefully before doing so. A tattoo, especially a love one, is not forever.
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