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Sometimes a tattoo just has to go. However, the costs are high and removal is not always successful. What matters.
“Be proud of what you are,” Jozefina Majic had 18 tattooed in Croatian on the inside of her upper arm – surrounded by two angel wings. The 30-year-old Croatian explains that her parents gave her this attitude from an early age.
The tattoo was accordingly important to her. Only: “Unfortunately, the angel wings looked like ‘chicken wings’. I just wanted them gone.”
So Jozefina Majic decides to have the wings removed by a tattoo artist. After the first treatment, the skin cracks, there are scars. Jozefina Majic cancels the laser treatment and has a new tattoo made over the old one.
Maple leaves now adorn the lettering. But Majic can never really get used to the cover-up either. Three years ago she decided to laser away the tattoo. Only the lettering should remain.
Tip 1: pay attention to the training when choosing a studio
Jozefina Majic doesn’t want to take any risks this time. She finds out exactly where she could do the surgery. This finally leads her to the dermatologist Bettina Rümmelein. she is President of the Swiss Society for Medical Laser Applications.
For the expert, the most important prerequisites for successful laser treatment are good training and experience. “Lasers are often set far too aggressively,” she knows. “The skin is then literally torn open during the laser treatment. Blisters and scars form. And then you often can’t get the color out of the scar tissue completely.”
Bettina Rümmelein is therefore committed to good training in the use of tattoo lasers. From June 1, 2024, only doctors or people with a certificate of expertise will be allowed to laser in Switzerland.
Tip 2: Get clarification – also about the costs
A successful tattoo removal also includes an explanation of the risks and timing.
Be careful with cheap package deals that promise quick success. Because how well a tattoo can be lasered away also depends on the color used and how professionally the tattoo was engraved. Both of these often only become apparent during the course of treatment.
A flat rate price also tempts you to set the laser too high – with the consequences already mentioned.
There is no quick result: five to ten treatments are required for complete removal, spread over one to two years. And removal is not cheap either: in Switzerland, between 200 and 400 francs are due for each treatment.
Tip 3: Only laser away smaller tattoos
During laser treatment, the color in the skin is shattered and transported away through the lymphatic system. The color pigments remain in the body. “We don’t know exactly what happens in the body when large amounts of paint are circulated,” explains Bettina Rümmelein. Therefore, she advises against the removal of large tattoos.
For Jozefina Majic, the treatment is now complete. The maple leaves are practically gone, only the lettering has remained. “My arm is now worth the value of a small car,” she says, laughing. But the investment was worth it: she is now just happy that the tattoo is gone.