Fade to Black

Injuries and Tattoo Removal

Last week I managed to burn myself cooking not once, not twice but thrice! Worse still they were all separate incidents on different dishes. This weekend, while up a tree sawing branches, I have managed to cut my hand on the saw. Not badly, just enough to be noticeable and annoying. I probably shouldn't be up a tree with a saw. I believe the people that do that for a living are trained and not careless... I'm also currently defrosting the freezer, I wonder how I can injure myself or damage that. As you can see, life in my mid-30s is pretty rock and roll.

It's now two weeks since my last (and third) picosure session. I'm pretty sure I'm fully healed and now we wait for fading. I really think I'm already seeing a difference in the last two weeks. I'm thinking that perhaps the pace of fading is starting to accelerate. I could be massively wrong about that. I remember being told that smokers take longer to fade, as the body is always trying to cleanse the tar and other chemicals. I'm wondering if my (slight) injuries could also be delaying the healing. Also curious if having colds etc. makes it take longer / does it fade faster in warmer temperatures.

28 January 2017

It's hard to notice but I genuinely think the more faded parts are getting clearer, I think there more skin tone coming through. I think some of the bigger dark patches are beginning to break down. There's the spot on the right hand side of the body which is the bit I'm keenest to see fade, that's when it will look really obvious. The hat is getting clear, still some dark patches but they're lightening. When I stretch my skin around the darker parts it does seem like the ink is beginning to separate.

I'm still going to leave it a few months before my next session but I think this is the first one, since I started that I've felt this positive about the removal process. We'll see how I feel in 2 months... 

There is a Crack in Everything

It's been quite a week. A new president in the US! Apparently he wants to bring the country together while getting to power through a highly divisive campaign. It's impossible to know what the future holds there. Maybe he'll be an amazing president that unifies or maybe he'll be the opposite. Only time will tell. I take some solace that the other half of the electorate were probably genuinely terrified when Obama got in.

I think it's fair to say that the most important thing that happened over the last week was the healing of my arm from my laser tattoo removal session. Obviously a US presidential inauguration is a significant event in history but as yet, this has not had a direct impact on neither my arm nor my tattoo. As such, I can't say it has much relevance to this blog.

The healing is coming along well. There was very little swelling or pain from the last session so this is to be expected. I have had 4 q-switched sessions and 3 picosure sessions. The pain from the q-switched was so much greater and the healing time much longer. I would definitely recommend picosure over q-switched. So far there was only one picosure session that even comparable to the q-switched sessions.

I think I'm beginning to see some additional fading since last week. One week on is too early to tell, it's normally a few before there's any notable change. I had begun to notice it thinning last week so likely it's a continuation from that. At this moment, I'm feeling positive about the removal again. I'm still planning on leaving it until May / June before I get another session.

21 January 2017

The Next Day

Picosure Tattoo Removal Healing Time

It's now one day after my third Picosure session. Healing is going well. Still a little swollen, but just the ink. You can't see the swelling any more but can feel it if you touch the tattoo. All my bravado yesterday was misplaced, it reddened up after a while. It wasn't bad but the tattoo turned a kind of purple colour with red behind. It was still quite sensitive but I wouldn't describe as sore. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture!

15 January 2017

The picture above shows now. It pretty much looks fine. The colour is a little off and a little swollen. It's still a bit sensitive but nothing to worry about. I'd nearly forget I had been shot with a laser yesterday. It does feel warmer than the rest of my skin to the touch. I think in a day or two it will feel normal again. So far, I'm still recommending Picosure for tattoo removal.

Session 7, picosure 3: Return of the Lasers

Third Picosure Laser Tattoo Removal Session

Just back from my third picosure session. Really not too bad this time. He said he was going to use a lower intensity but wider spot this time. Apparently this will break down the darker ink faster and should help with removing the outlines. There was very little pain this time. It's a little swollen, I have been shot with a laser, but very little reddening. I recall my last session there was a lot of redness and some spot bleeding. This has none of those painful factors

The fading had been beginning to pick up. Two weeks ago when I made the collage I had become a little disillusioned with the whole process, again. There was obvious fading but it wasn't as fast as I'd like. Since making said collage, I had noticed an increase in the fading. My wife thinks it obviously fading, I think as I'm looking at it every day it makes it less apparent.

14 January 2017

The above was taken this morning, about an hour before the session. Caveat, the light is good here so it looks more faded than it really is. It seems in good light looks quite faded, in bad looks quite dark. I judge more the bad light as my reference is the likelihood of someone noticing that I have a tattoo. In case you missed the picture, it's quite noticeable still. I'm genuinely not sure if I imagined it or if it faded quite a bit in those 10 days. To me it seems it did.

14 January 2017

The above was taken just after I got home, around 90 minutes after the first. You can see there is some swelling. It's definitely sensitive, has been shot with a laser, but not sore. I've put some aloe vera on it and will continue to do so. After last session it was so painful I felt I had to keep applying it, I think this will be easier. I expect the swelling will have gone by tomorrow and then the waiting begins.

I think I'm going to take more time for the next session. I've noticed and it's widely documented that more time leads to more fading and better results. I'm thinking of waiting until June for the next session. The problem with this is that I've already paid and am keen to get what I paid for. I have another 3 sessions paid upfront. Waiting 6 months will mean another 18 months before finishing this pack of sessions, only then will I know if I need more. I'll see how I feel closer to the time. If I'm seeing noticeable results by May / June it will be easier to wait. If the tattoo is still quite obvious, I'll want to laser that ink again.

1 Year, 4 q-switched and 2 picosure

One Year of Tattoo Removal:

Three Q-swtiched and 2 Picosure later

It's now sort of one year since my first q-switched session. I say sort of as the 6th was the first session, but it was a leap year, but it was a Wednesday. I decided 364 days constitutes a year. It's close enough. Don't take time advice from me. If you came here to find out how long a year is, you've come to the wrong place.

I really thought that the tattoo would be long gone by now. It has definitely faded a lot and continues to do so. I have my next session scheduled for 14 January. That will be just 3 months since my last, I know that waiting longer is better for fading but this whole process is quite stressful. People keep telling me that I should just get it covered. For me it was never that I didn't like that tattoo, it's that I don't like tattoos. Getting it covered just makes the problem worse.

4 Jan 2017

Here's a small collage showing what I have from the last year. The first picture is 22 March, that was after 2 Q-switched sessions.

1 Year Collage

The dates are 22 March, 26 June & 4 January. A pretty good indication of the progress over the year. After making the collage I realised that the dates show the middle was also after my last q-switched. The image shows 2 q-switched, 4 q-switched and 2 picosure.

I'm still of the opinion that picosure is worth it, the lower pain and faster healing alone makes me think that. I also think there's a bigger difference between June to January than there is between March to June. Though that is subjective and January is a total of 6 sessions where as June is 4.