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Saturday, June 9, 2012

The Old Way of Tattoo Removal

With the boom of technology today, there are so many up-to-date tattoo removal techniques or procedures that are out in the market. With these newer tattoo removal technologies, it made tattoo removal easier and less painful as compared to the old way to remove tattoos. Some examples of new tattoo removal techniques are the laser tattoo removal procedure, the intense pulse light therapy (IPL), TCA (trichloroacetic Acid) tattoo removal and many more. But during the late 90s, these tattoo removal techniques are not really evident. The old ways to tattoo removal are the trend during those times. This article would show you the different old tattoo removal procedures that once been effective in the past.

There are few tattoo removal techniques that can be considered old already. The most popular tattoo removal methods about ten to twenty years ago are dermabrasion, cryosurgery and excision. They are once popular but are now considered as an old way for tattoo removal. If you want to learn more about these old tattoo removal techniques, you better keep reading.

Dermabrasion is a surgical procedure that involves the controlled wearing away of the upper layer of the skin with mechanical means such as the use of sandpaper. Since the procedure requires sanding off of the upper layer of the skin, it usually entails pain. It is for this reason why local anesthetics are required before undergoing such procedures. Redness of the skin might follow after the procedure. The process of dermabrasion works as a smoothing procedure to remove your ink pigments of your tattoo. It usually requires the skin of the patient who underwent on this procedure to be healed after several months. Usual side effects of dermabrasion are increase in sun sensitivity, dryness of the skin and temporary bruising in the area of skin treated. However, during the past, it was preferred because of its affordability and quality output.

Cryosurgery is another old tattoo removal procedure that doctors used in the past. This is somehow similar to dermabrasion except that freezing of the tattoo skin is required first before attempting to use dermabrasion on it. The effect of freezing the skin makes the procedure relatively painless during removal but as soon as the skin freeze melts, the pain will soon set in. In cryosurgery, liquid nitrogen is used as the cooling solution. The cooled solution may be sprayed on the skin which is often circulated through a tube or just through the use of cotton.  With the advancement of technology today, newer solutions are developed such as the use of argon gas to drive ice formation. This method of tattoo removal is often preferred because of its minimal pain, scarring and cost. Common side effects of cryosurgery are damage to nerve tissue and damage to nearby skin portions without tattoo ink pigments.

Excision is another type of an old tattoo removal procedure. The procedure is like cutting out and removing the tattoo with a scalpel, after which, the remaining skin is stitched together with sutures leaving behind a scar. Large tattoos often require skin grafts in order to close area where the tattoo once existed and now remains a wound. This must be the oldest tattoo removal procedure known. Apart from the oldest, it can be considered as the most painful tattoo removal procedure of all. Because of a painful procedure, it requires local anesthetics.

These are three of the most common old school tattoo removal procedures. Dermabrasion, Cryosurgery and Excision have really left a mark in the history of tattoo removal measures. Tattoo removal has most surely made noteworthy improvement making it much easier and less painful to remove tattoos today. However, it does not always mean that old school ways of tattoo removals are now gone. In fact, there are still some countries which employ these old ways of tattoo removal. But soon, they will all transcend to a much higher state of tattoo removal procedure that is a better fit for our generation today.