Tattoos & laser removal: how does it work?

Many people now consider laser treatment to get rid of tattoos. In this post I briefly describe the ‘science’ behind the laser removal of tattoos.

The skin is made up of a number of layers, the epidermis (the outermost layer), dermis and hypodermis (the innermost layer). Very simply, when the tattoo is created, a needle penetrates the epidermis and places ink in the dermis layer. As healing occurs, the damaged epidermis layer flakes away and the ink becomes trapped in the dermis layer.

The ink in the dermis is quite stable, but with time – usually several decades, the ink sinks deeper in the skin and the tattoo fades. Laser treatment for tattoo removal involves using laser light to break up the stable ink particles.

A laser device delivers short pulses of intense, concentrated light that pass through the outer layers of your skin. The wavelengths of light used are those that only target ink particles, without affecting the surrounding skin. Laser light causes the ink to break into smaller particles. Then the body’s natural immune system removes the fragmented particles.

The success of the laser treatment then not only depends on the laser light used but also the specific placement on the body of the tattoo. The varying wavelengths of laser light effect the different colours differently. Black inks responds better to laser treatment because they absorbs the full range of wavelengths. And, in parts of the body where there is less circulation, the hands and feet, the removal of the broken particles is not effective.