* But it doesn't have to.
It's on everyone's mind. The pain. People have described it as "a rubber band snapping on your skin," and "a spatter of hot bacon grease." If that sounds harmless enough, imagine it happening ten times per second. Even though the average tattoo we see here at TattooMedics takes less than one minute to treat, the pain would get old fast if it weren't for the prescription-strength numbing we provide. It's called EMLA cream, a mixture of two local anesthetics absorbed extremely well into the skin. EMLA is very safe and is tolerated well by just about everyone.
Does it work? To answer that question, let's back up a bit to how laser tattoo removal works. In tattooing, colored mineral crystals are injected 1 to 2 millimeters into the skin's live layer, or dermis. Most of the crystals are too large for the body to deal with, so there they stay, permanently embedded. Laser tattoo removal shatters these crystals into fragments small enough to be cleared safely and naturally by the body. Our PicoSure laser accomplishes this very efficiently and without an excess of heat. No skin is ever broken in the process, and there's never a burn.
So, if there's no breaking of skin and no burning, why does it hurt?
It's the explosion of ink crystals. Even though it happens on an extremely tiny scale, there's a lot of it happening at once. The brisk snap! heard when a tattoo is lasered is literally this summation of minuscule explosions. That sound--and the sensation associated with it--is proof positive that ink is being destroyed and the tattoo is not long for this world.
The good news is that we can greatly reduce the pain. With proper application of EMLA and the addition of ice-pack cooling, most patients report anything from trivial to moderate pain. That's a lot better than "ten times worse than getting a tattoo," and having to stop and take frequent breaks. With EMLA on board, patients only rarely ask for a break, and the procedure is over before they know it. They leave smiling every time.
Score another point for EMLA!
Dr. Richard Rosol owns TattooMedics and personally performs all procedures.
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