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Thursday, April 30, 2015

Tattoo Removal 4

Today i went for my 7th session of tattoo laser removal. I started back in Feb 2013, and till today have only went for 7 sessions as i was pregnant in 2014 and it is not recommended to laser tattoos during pregnancy.

I do my laser tattoo removal at 2 places, National Skin Centre and Trinity Medical Centre (Marine Parade).

1st - 5th session were done at National Skin Centre. Est. $300-400/session.
6th - 7th session were done at Trinity Medical Centre (Marine Parade) Est. $300-400/session

Bear in mind that my tattoo area is big, but if yours is like say, less than palm size, it should cost $100-200/session.

So at my 6th session, i switched from NSC to Trinity as i didn't see much difference in the colors of my tattoos, it was lightening very very slowly. Not much difference from the 4th and 5th session. The initial plan was to go to Trinity for aesthetic procedures but i spoke to the doctor about tattoo laser removal and he told me he could do it too.

My most recent Tattoo Removal Process seems to be really effective after Dr Lim switched to another Laser Machine. According to him, this one is MUCH stronger.  I guess so too since it was EVEN MORE PAINFUL. Still, i think if i started on this machine from Day 1, i would require even lesser sessions to remove my tattoo.

I wasn't too impressed at my previous session because it was more or less the same as NSC so i never blogged about it...until THIS RECENT SESSION. OMG. I really think this one will make a BIG DIFFERENCE.

Oh wait, don't get me wrong, not saying the tattoo removal doesn't work at NSC but it just seems to be slow so I just wanted to try another clinic and see if I can see a bigger difference. I will still have to go back to NSC to remove certain colors (my tattoo is pretty darn colorful) if Trinity's machine can't do it.

Previous sessions, the "piak" (when laser hits your skin) sounds were much softer, and not so frequent at but after switching to this stronger machine, the sound was much louder and just keeps happening all over, so i really felt like it could remove even more pigments than ever.

It was damn painful though. Much more painful than all the 6 sessions i've done. NOT LIKE THOSE WERE NOT PAINFUL ENOUGH. Haha. But seriously, if it's going to make this process faster, I'LL GO THROUGH THE PAIN, GET IT OVER AND DONE WITH!!!

You can read my previous posts here if you are keen...


Here's my Progress update...



It's much easier to cover with a tattoo concealer now!
But i need another 5 more sessions i think....but i think after switching to this new machine, it should be even faster...we'll see!

So well, here's a picture taken right after my 7th Session...


I'll keep the pic small because it's SUPER GROSS. Never has my tattoo right after lasering looked THAT YUCKY. And it kept bleeding...and IT WAS REALLY SWOLLEN.

BUT...

Certain spots didn't form a white frosting previously!! Like the past 3-6 sessions, not much frosting formed leh...like only super duper red right after laser session. But this time after switching to this new machine, white frosting formed on almost the whole tattoo!!! Which is a damn good thing because i found this information online...

What is White Frosting?

The rapid local heating of skin pigment, which leads to gas or plasma forming, causes the white frosting you sometimes see during and after laser treatment. Carbon dioxide is released as a result of laser penetration and surfaces on the upper layer of the skin, which resembles a white frosting.

In the vast majority of cases, this only lasts for 15-30 minutes after treatment. It is a temporary side effect, which is perfectly normal. White frosting is always evident during the first treatment, but once more ink gets remove from further sessions it won’t appear as much.

Is white frosting a good or bad thing?

It might not look very nice, but the white frosting you see during laser tattoo removal is very much a good thing. This reaction indicates the laser is penetrating the ink effectively. On top of that, it also shows that your body is reacting and healing quickly.

As soon as the laser hits your skin, it can go in various different directions. Some paths of light will reflect off the skin, while others will penetrate into the epidermis and dermis. However, we are interested in the ones that reach the ink particles, are absorbed into the skin and cause white frosting to occur.

Cr: x

Looking forward to it healing so i can see how much it has lightened! But seriously, i think this recent treatment has to be one of the most effective one lah...it better be after going through even more pain. Haha.

I need to wait about a month for it to fully recover then i can show ya'll the results so look forward to the next update alrighty! :)

Details of the clinics i go to...

National Skin Centre
Address: 1 Mandalay Road Singapore 308205
Phone: 6253 4455

Trinity Medical Centre
Address: 87, Marine Parade Central
#02-500A, Singapore 440087
Email: marineparade@trinitymedical.com.sg

p.s i'm not paid to write this post. i am a paying customer at NSC however at Trinity MC i get a huge discount but still, i don't have to write about the clinic if it doesn't work for me (which I didn't do for session 6, but am doing so now because I think this time it will work). Just here to share my tattoo removal experience.