laser hair removal and tattoo's?

Question

i have done quite a bit of research on this and have found a lot of conflicting information. does anyone here know from personal experience whether or not it laser hair removal, or pulsed light with rf energy will do damage to tattoos. i am fair skinned with light brown to dark brown hair.

i have asked in a few professionals in this field and found i have not been able to get a direct answer that is sufficient. some say it will, others are unsure, and still others say it won't. my research online has also yielded the same results.

oh yea, what if any adverse reactions have you or someone you have known had due to hair removal. in doing research many have said they developed painful blisters where the laser or light came in contact with the tattoo

Answer 1

First off, Laser hair removal works best with fair skin and very dark hair. I had my chest hair removed via laser hair removal. The doctor did tell me that she would like to stay away from my tatoo. After seeing great result I asked her if she could try to remove the hair on my tatoo. She really was against it, and tryed lasering it on the lowest setting. This was a terrible idea. I am permanatley scarred in that area. My tatoo is covered with a burn! Avoid at all costs

Answer 2

I have had laser hair removal "IPL" treatment (under my arms- very effective) and the way it works is the light that is pulsed into the skin (like a flash zap) is attracted to dark pigment in your skin (like a black t-shirt in the sun) the heat of the light gets trapped inside the dark pigment, heats up and kinda explodes into smaller particles which your body can then clean away. The pigment in tatoo ink is quite big, and the skin can't 'digest' it, that's why it stays in your skin and doesnt fade and disappear. When you want to remove a tatoo, this is the treatment they use to destroy the pigment and make it smaller so your body can process it an eliminate it. I have a friend who is getting hers removed at the moment.

This is why IPL is mostly really effective on people who have contrasting skin and hair (i.e. light/fair skin and medium/dark hair)

After all that which probably doesn't make sense my answer is: yes. If you had laser hair removal on an area which also had a tatoo, you would lose both the hair and the tatoo. The light is simply attracted to dark pigment, of all kinds, whether its hair or tatoo ink. This treatment is only local meaning it is only effective on the specific area it is put, it wont affect any other part of your body. So for example if you lasered under your arms, it would not affect the tatoo on your back. Also you would need a number of treatments to completely remove the hair/tatoo. hope this helps?

Answer 3

I really have no idea, but I'd say your best bet is to go to a laser hair clinic and ask a professional, they'd know for sure.

Answer 4

call either as dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon and ask them, they would be able to give you a better answer than I can