Picosecond laser aka Picosure - the future of tattoo removal?

[seasam]

Anybody out there had any treatment with a picosecond laser? I think the only one out right now is Picosure from Cynosure.... the marketing would have you believe this is the best thing in 20 years, will remove tattoos 2-3x faster, cure gout, etc. I believe the first units shipped within the past month or so.

I personally visited a physician in my area that recently took delivery in hopes of speeding up a lightening of my arm for a cover-up. I have a very dark black and grey section about 4x7" that is being worked on. I am already 3 sessions in with a Nd:YAG (I think that's right), and had my fourth session with a Picosure machine last week. Only negative was that I didn't have the option of a cold air machine with the Picosure - but the pain was manageable and seemed less than the standard laser treatment. Can't really tell much so far - other than I think the doctor had it turned up pretty good as I blistered a bit. I'm hoping for good things, we'll see.

Oh, as for price... I was quoted the same price as I was paying for a standard treatment (different facilities), so kind of a no brainer for me to try the Picosure out.

Would love to hear anybody else going this route.

PS I probably sound like a shill - but I am sort of excited if this will work faster. I wasn't too pleased with how my treatment was going after 3 sessions with the Nd:YAG ....

PPS Here's a list of doctors that have the Picosure in the US:

PicoSure Physicians

[Mike Panic]

The technology is shorter bursts of light mean less heat, in turn means less damage to the surrounding skin tissue and yield faster healing with more efficient fading. 2-3x faster removal? That I'm not so sure of. I can't see a tattoo that would normally take 12 treatments being cut back to 6, but maybe down to 9-10, that seems reasonable to me.

Pico- - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nd:YAG laser you're currently being treated with is a nano-second laser, or a billionth of a second burst of light at a time. The Pico will be firing at a trillionth of a second, but from what I've read they both still operate at 10hz

[seasam]

and that's why Mike's the expert :D sorry I might have been exaggerating about the 3x faster (and the gout!) - but they do seem to make you think it could work 2x faster. thanks for a dose of realism. guess we'll find out more as time goes by.

[aleksksks]

Interesting, looking forward to some before and after photos after your session with the pico laser.

[seasam]

I might have to ask the office for the before pics. I am too lazy to take pics. sorry :/

[bulldog]

So in layman terms you can blast the ink harder with out damaging the skin?

[Mike Panic]

So in layman terms you can blast the ink harder with out damaging the skin?

Not at all. This may help answer everyone's questions as to "how" it works in kind of simple terminology, PicoSure - How it Works Laser Tattoo Removal.

Basically, shorter pulses of light allow the pigments to become "more" efficiently fractured into smaller pieces, thus allowing your immune system to carry them away more rapidly.

Looking at the photos they provide, I wouldn't exactly call them stellar, and that's my consumer point of view, not one who operates a laser. The cross removal shows hypo-pigmentation pretty bad (where the tattoo was is now lighter), and some of the comparisons w/ the Q-Switched laser are meh - the one shows 20 treatments w/ a Q-Switched laser, that's excessive.

The interesting part to me is that it operates at 755nm, where Q-Switched Nd:YAG lasers operate at 1064 / 532nm, and have the flexibility of also operating at 585 and 650 with a few changes to the hand piece. This allows far more versatility.

I'm hoping to head to a seminar this fall in Vegas where I can get my hands on one of these at a convention and really see what the big hub-bub is about.

[Wraith]

i got lasered with a picosure laser 5 days ago.. and all i can say... im still amazed by the reactions on green, bright blue and purple... im stoked how more it will fade in the next weeks :)

[Mike Panic]

i got lasered with a picosure laser 5 days ago.. and all i can say... im still amazed by the reactions on green, bright blue and purple... im stoked how more it will fade in the next weeks :)

That's awesome!! For comparison, have you had Nd:YAG treatments? I'm glad this is working so well for you!

[Wraith]

yea, i had 2 Sessions with a ND YAG on the color tattoos (on the medusa only the green) but i couldn't see a big change...

but with this Picosure it worked really good. still can't believe it :)

[CampB]

I'm getting treatment with Picosure and my least dense, shading of my black and grey piece literally got erased right before my eyes during my first session.

[Joe Shit]

I'm getting treatment with Picosure and my least dense, shading of my black and grey piece literally got erased right before my eyes during my first session.

Where you going for the treatment.

[CampB]

Celebrity Laser Spa with Dr. Kaplan in Los Angeles, CA

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Where you going for the treatment.

I gotta say, though. It's pricey. $1,000.00 / 30 minute. Although he's giving me a grand for 45 minutes.

[Joe Shit]

That's crazy...I would rather get half my arm blacked out than pay that much for a laser session

[CampB]

That's crazy...I would rather get half my arm blacked out than pay that much for a laser session

if I had it my way, I would never remove any of my tattoos.

[seasam]

Celebrity Laser Spa with Dr. Kaplan in Los Angeles, CA

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I gotta say, though. It's pricey. $1,000.00 / 30 minute. Although he's giving me a grand for 45 minutes.

wow - how big is the piece? I have about 6 sessions in so far on two arm sections. 3 with traditional and 3 with pico on very recent and very dark black and grey work. it's definitely working, but a little slower than hoped. I think I am going to do 9 sessions total. paying $350 for about 20 minutes of laser time. trying to do a cover-up.

[SStu]

I gotta say, though. It's pricey. $1,000.00 / 30 minute. Although he's giving me a grand for 45 minutes.

I paid $1200 for 4 sessions with the regular laser. I'll be very curious to see how much lightening you end up with after just 1 session (even though I don't have anything else I want lasered). Are you going to post before and after pictures, please?

[CampB]

wow - how big is the piece? I have about 6 sessions in so far on two arm sections. 3 with traditional and 3 with pico on very recent and very dark black and grey work. it's definitely working, but a little slower than hoped. I think I am going to do 9 sessions total. paying $350 for about 20 minutes of laser time. trying to do a cover-up.

not very big. just a shoulder to elbow half sleeve. all black and grey. no color. I need it removed to qualify as a navy officer. then I have a small black tattoo on each wrist, then the sailor jerry Poison flash on the back of my neck. if it wasn't for that navy goal, I never woulda even thought about getting anything besides my sleeve lasered off.

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I paid $1200 for 4 sessions with the regular laser. I'll be very curious to see how much lightening you end up with after just 1 session (even though I don't have anything else I want lasered). Are you going to post before and after pictures, please?

sure, i'll post a pic of after my first session. right now, it's blistered to high hell and still swollen and bruised (my first treatment was last saturday). if i post a pic of what it looks now, i can guarantee people will vomit up what they've eaten for the past week. and actually, believe it or not, i dont have a full picture of what it looked like before i started treatment. so i'll put it in words what's improved.

[SStu]

sure, i'll post a pic of after my first session. right now, it's blistered to high hell and still swollen and bruised (my first treatment was last saturday). if i post a pic of what it looks now, i can guarantee people will vomit up what they've eaten for the past week. and actually, believe it or not, i dont have a full picture of what it looked like before i started treatment. so i'll put it in words what's improved.

With conventional laser, the full effect of the ink dispersal only is realized after 8+ weeks. Is that the same with this method?

[CampB]

With conventional laser, the full effect of the ink dispersal only is realized after 8+ weeks. Is that the same with this method?

I was told I should see some difference at six weeks which is why my sessions are scheduled six weeks apart. But as I mentioned earlier, the least dense areas, i.e. shading, disappeared right as soon as the laser went over it, before my first full session was over. After six days I'm still heavily swollen, red, and bruised so I'll post pictures at about the fifth or six week before I go in for my second session.

[lasereast]

Yes..it is a good future option because PicoSure’s ultra-short pulse duration goes beyond photothermal action creating an intense photomechanical impact, patented PressureWave™, resulting in greater disruption of the target for better clearance with fewer treatments, less fluence and without injury to the surrounding skin. Even dark, stubborn blue and green inks, as well as recalcitrant tattoos can be removed.

[Mike Panic]

For you guys that are paying for 20-30 minutes of "laser time" - is that actual time of the machine firing? The longest I've ever actually run the laser at a virtually non-stop basis is 19 minutes, and it was a huge section of a back piece.

I'm curious because the machine should be firing at 10Hz, that is the 'speed' of the machine. When each time it hits your skin should be like XXXXXXX, if it's more like X__X__X__X__X that means they are probably running at a slower speed, which ultimately gives more control over where the laser is firing on your skin, but can double or triple the time it takes to achieve any kind of coverage.

For something the size of an iPhone for example, if it's solid,that shouldn't take more than 2 minutes, tops. So I'm curious how long you guys are sitting for treatments / how big the areas are and what speed the machine is running. 30 minutes sounds like a very long, painful time for something that should be done much, much faster.

[CampB]

my second session is tomorrow.

my sessions are 6 weeks apart.

sorry i don't have a clear picture of what it looked like before the first laser session but it doesn't look much different except most of the shading has either disappeared or lightened (turned brown) and some of the thinner outlines of the lyrics (Korean) and thinner lines of the flowers have disappeared.

i will be asking the Dr. how fast the machine's going and time the session from the first zap to the last.

besides my sleeve, im also lasering a 2"x2.5" colored SJ Poison flash on the back of neck

and

a 1"x1.5" black chinese character on my wrist

and

a quarter sized outline of a chick on my other wrist.

really not looking forward to all the blistering again.

@SStu @Mike Panic

[SStu]

@CampB without 'before' pictures, it might be hard to notice the difference between sessions. The lightening is gradual over the weeks - and I've noticed that the lightening continues well past 8-10 weeks.

[Mike Panic]

@SStu hit the nail on the head @CampB - it's crucial to have those before photos.

Blistering isn't typical - that's not to say it doesn't ever happen but make sure you let your tech / Dr. know about it.