HCMC – Tattooing on the skin is no longer strange to many people. When tattooing on the skin, it often leaves a permanent tattoo. If the tattoo is removed, many people struggle to endure pain and face many risks affecting the structure of the skin before and after the tattoo removal process.
Patient removes tattoo at Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital. Photo: Lan Anh
In 2015, Mr. Nguyen Van Nam (32 years old, Phu Yen province) saw his friends getting tattoos on their arms and felt cool and beautiful, so he also decided to get a tattoo of the pattern on his hand that he felt at that time. favourite. Before that, his family strongly opposed his intention to get a tattoo.
By the end of March 2024, due to the specifics of his new job requiring him not to have tattoos on his body that fully met the criteria set by the company, Mr. Nam decided to have his tattoos removed. At first, he thought simply deleting it a few times would go away. However, after about 3 times of removal, the redness and skin irritation gradually subsided, but the tattoo ink had penetrated deep under the skin, so the tattoo removal was only blurred, not completely gone and left ugly scars on the arm. This makes Mr. Nam miserable.
Master, Doctor Phan Ngoc Huy – Department of Skin Aesthetics, Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital – said that in most cases, proper tattoo removal is very safe. However, the effectiveness of tattoo removal depends on many factors such as the tattoo recipient’s skin condition, tattoo location, tattoo age, color, and tattoo ink particle composition. After tattoo removal, the skin may be hyperpigmented or hypopigmented; the contrast will be greater in people with darker skin. Avoid sunlight and use sunscreen to reduce pigmentation disorders.
Bright tattoo ink colors such as pink, white, bright red, light brown… can darken due to redox reactions of titanium dioxide and iron oxide. Possible side effects when removing tattoos are bleeding, blistering and infection; In some rare cases, there can even be allergies and anaphylactic shock in the case of red tattoos. In addition, improper tattoo removal treatment can make the skin area more unsightly than the current tattoo, for example causing ugly scars or keloid scars.
Also according to Dr. Ngoc Huy, if you want to remove tattoos, you need to keep in mind that different types of tattoos will respond to different treatments. If a professional tattoo is performed by a tattoo artist, tattoo ink is implanted deep into the dermis, making it difficult to remove. Amateur tattoos are mainly black, if mixed with many chemicals such as iron oxide, carbon, wood ash… it will affect the tattoo removal effect. Tattooing injuries caused by foreign substances such as gun powder, tar (dust, gravel) being tattooed into the skin during trauma, the treatment results will vary depending on the foreign object tattooed…
In the tattoo removal process, in addition to choosing the appropriate laser device, examination, evaluation and advice from a specialist is very important for optimal results.
