"Why don't you post before and after photos?"
People are always asking to see before and after pictures on my Youtube channel, happymmm. I post the video of the treatment, people want to see what it looks like afterwards and they complain that I don't post. But getting good before/after photos is hard to do. That's why most of the websites you go to post what's called "stock photos," photos purchased from someone else for commercial use, or photos provided by the laser company. You can tell a photo is a stock photo because of the quality of the photo. It's usually small and/or grainy, and oftentimes the ones I see have a yellowish tinge. Many of them use plain light in one photo and flash in the after photo, drowning out the actual result.
I want good before and afters, and I do it right. I use the same lighting, no flash, and a macro lens. Still it's not easy to get good befores and afters, mainly because the process is so long (about 1 -2 years ) and because of patient compliance. It's not sufficient for me to post the "after photo" because I know you guys don't want the immediate after photo - you want the photo of that shows the result at the end of the entire treatment package. So the REAL photo you want to see the one that usually comes from a SERIES of SEVERAL treatment sessions. Why is this hard to get? Getting a good after photo depends a lot on patient compliance. He/she has to be compliant and has to finish the series of treatments. The reality is that people don't often commit to full removal. Most of my patients do it until it fades a enough so they can go cover it up with another tattoo. The fact that the entire series can take a 6 months to 2 years to fully complete means that people fall by the wayside due to that thing called life that often gets in the way. If people want to finish the treatment, they need to keep coming every month until it's gone. But oftentimes several months will go by before someone comes back to retreat. This has nothing to do with the efficacy of the procedure, and everything to do with the fact that people have other priorities in life. I had a girl come to me every month for 3 months up until her wedding. After her wedding, it was another year before she returned. That is the reality my friends: people have other priorities so they just come whevever they want or whenever they get the chance. I suppose I could post some in-progress photos (and I have) but then people don't get the "in progress" bit and gripe that it's not working. It's a catch 22.
So I hope this little diatribe clears up the reasons why I don't always post the before and after pics - it's because I'm still doing treatment!!!
Nonetheless, as a reward for reading my little rant, I will post you a couple good sets of before and after photos of Laser Tattoo Removal of the Eyebrow. This is laser tattoo removal of what's considered "cosmetic permanent makeup."
Figure 1.
Case 1. Here is a 10+ year old permanent makeup eyebrow tattoo.
The tattoo ink is a plain black tattoo that has already started to fade on its own.
This picture was taken before treatment on 4/21/07
Figure 2.
Case 1. Below is the "immediate" after photo. This picture was taken immediately after the procedure was performed. The skin is red and angry, and the tattoo ink is white in some areas and blotchy. If you don't understand the procedure you may think that the skin is "burned" when in fact this is not true. The "whitening" is some temporary heat bubbles that are given off when the laser light is absorbed by the ink - it goes away within minutes.
Figure 3.
Case 1. After photo, 1 month after first procedure. The ink has faded more than 50% but she will need another 2-3 treatments for complete removal. The skin is intact, there is no burning or scarring.
Figure 4.
Case 2. Before photo. this is also a 10+ year old permanent makeup eyebrow tattoo.
Figure 5.
Case 2. This is taken immediately after i completed the procedure. Again you see the whitening, blotchiness, which is temporary.
Figure 6.
Case 2. After photo, 1 month after first treatment. 80% of the ink is gone.
Figure 7.
Case 2. Before Treatment
Figure 8.
Case 2. Immediately After Treatment - whitening of ink and red irritation
Figure 9.
Case 2. One Month After Treatment
Figure 10.
Case 1. Before Treatment
Figure 11.
Case 1. Immediately After Treatment
Figure 12.
Case 1. After Photo, 1 Month Post-Treatment
Discussion
The sets of pictures shown above show significant fading after 1 treatment. These results are not typical. Sometimes, you won't see any fading after the first treatment at all. The reason these tattoos responded so well have to do with 1) the age of the tattoo (these are very old 10++ years); 2) the type of ink (there are more than 300 types of inks - permanent makeup ink tends to bind less tightly to the skin) 3) The depth of ink placement & amount of ink. If you look at Figure 12, you'll see that some areas faded completely while some areas did not. This has to do with the the tattoo artist placing the more ink deeper in some areas. Usually this happens at corners and edges of the tattoo - tattoo artists tend to go over the out edges a bit more.
Video!
I hope these pictures help you understand the laser tattoo removal process better.If not, then here is a video of me performing laser tattoo removal of the eyebrow to better illustrate. Note, we applied topical numbing cream for 30+ minutes, and I used
ice immediately before shooting the laser to minimize pain. Entire procedure is
over in less than 1 minute. Enjoy.
ice immediately before shooting the laser to minimize pain. Entire procedure is
over in less than 1 minute. Enjoy.
For more laser tattoo removal videos, please visit my Youtube channel, Happymmm (click on link below)
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