My Laser Chronicles....

[jade1955]

Coming along nicely. :)

How long after the last session do you have to wait before getting the area tattooed?

[ian]

Coming along nicely. :)

How long after the last session do you have to wait before getting the area tattooed?

I had my last session on August 21 and met with Grime September 1.

He said 4 months to heal should be good, I'm supposed to call in mid October to schedule my first appointment for January :D

[YOMONEY]

seriously.. your last pics made me cringe a bit.. i think talking to the laser dude, he could tell that i was a little worried lol.. my arms have been through hell and back.. i got a bad(?) degree burn on the inside of my forearm, thanks to some rad. tech dick hillbilly.. ive never felt pain from a tattoo.. i can sit in the chair for hours, and be swollen up like a football, and still be cool.. ive completely sober taken steel wooland pipe cleaners to a spot to try and lighten it (with SOME results).. i was at it for hours, didnt bother me the least.. i guess this will hurt though, even though all of the other articles and some of the discussions out there say that it will not be much worse than getting the tattoo.. boy i hope this is true.. but no matter what, its just one of those things that id be willing to sacrifice a crapload of pain for, just because i know id be happier with the results.. thanks for fucking with my head though, about "when the laser goes on".. my mind is gonna be fucked now asking myself "do i really want to do this".. haha..

[ian]

don't sweat it too hard, it's well worth the outcome. Just think forward to the end result...

[Scott R]

@YOMONEY whoever says its similar pain to a tattoo either has never had laser or gets tattooed by king kong

[YOMONEY]

ahh haha.. im going for it.. i just wish you guys would lie to me at this point..

[YOMONEY]

also, im aware of what the research says.. but in your guys' experience, do you feel like health and nutrtion helped this process along? did you guys do anything different, or switch up your lifestyles at all? i just heard on wnpr, some studies that indicated that removing tattoos from smokers is hard and sometimes not even possible (for full removal).. they were throwing out a bunch of wack percentage points..

[Napalm Pancakes]

I'm currently in the process of having five tattoos removed. I had three sessions before I started using numbing cream and now wished I had used it from the beginning. The difference is night and day. The thing that most people don't warn you about is the itching. It wakes me up in the middle of the night sometimes. As far as nutrition, I just make sure to drink plenty of water and take a multivitamin. I'm a nonsmoker btw.

[YOMONEY]

cool, thanks.. thats probably what ill be doing.. ive also heard that *gasp*.. creams, in conjuction, helps the fading..

napalm, if you dont mind me asking, how much are you paying for 5?

i have two, mostly black.. they say they offer specials on multiple tattoos.. its a "laser specialist" in el paso, who also says that their prices are competitive..

i wouldnt mind going for three if i could afford it, or just get these two on the arm im most focused on, then wait for the other..

also, what CANT you do before a session? if i could get a couple of drinks in me, thatd be amazing.. or even a chill pill.. like a benzo.. nothing for the pain.. its not the actual pain that im worried about.. more so just the worry of it being painful, and rather be relaxed going into this..

[Napalm Pancakes]

Four of my tattoos are about the size of my hand laid flat from wrist to finger tips, and one is about double that size across my shoulders. They are all black and I break them down into two separate sessions. I go one month for three ($350) and the next month for two ($250). My treatments on each tattoo are eight weeks apart. I was quoted $150 a piece for each tattoo, but get a discount for multiples at once. I definitely wouldn't drink any alcohol before because of the bleeding.

[YOMONEY]

not a bad price..

[ian]

Here's some new pix to look at. The first one shows a month after session 4 (L) and now, a month after session 5 ®

This is after the first session healed (L) and now, a month after session 5 ®

[YOMONEY]

man, thats crazy how the background is all gone at 5.. was it darker before the first treatment? or is post-first treatment pic pretty accurate of how it originally was?

[ksp2001]

Thanks for taking the photos for comparison. I was on the fence about laser removal and the dedication to multiple sessions over months, but I truly is a world of difference. And looks to be well worth the patience.

[Scott R]

@ksp2001 for sure @ian did work and now will have a stunning backpiece.

[Kainat2k]

amazing photo documentary about a laser removal treatment, thank you

[jayessebee]

EMLA worked for me to a degree- I put it on and wrapped it 2 hours in advance and it took the edge off but still hurt more than a tattoo- Ive been zapped with and without but hoo boy when it wears off you get all the pain at once and it sucks..

[ian]

A new pic, the left is from Dec. 9 after one treatment, 2011 and the right is from Dec 13, 2012 after 5 treatments.

When I started this journey the start to the cover up seemed so far away and to think it's a little more than a month away is nuts!

Totally worth it...

[Other]

Great documentation of the process. You got some awesome results for just 5 treatments.

I'm compiling my tattoo laser removal process as well and will possibly make a thread on this forum after a few more sessions/more progress.

I sympathize with you getting laser on your full back though. Not fun at all.

[spawn2828]

Curious approx. how many sessions did they say it would take before it is light enough. If you dont mind me asking, what are the charging? Per session? or package deal?

[YOMONEY]

dude, if you live in tx look up fadefast in dallas. youll get the best deal there, easily..

[Tight-Lines]

Every time I see @YOMONEY 's username I yell "YOMONEY" in my head.

[YOMONEY]

hah. it was made on a whim. my old aim name..

[ian]

Last pic before I head up to San Francisco on Tuesday to start the cover up Wednesday.

Left pic was Dec. 9, 2012 and the one on the right was tonight, Jan. 10, 2013

[tatB]

@ian

What do you have planned for a cover up? Grime is doing it right? I hope he gives you the okay to post progress pictures of the tattoo.