How does laser erase tattoos from our skin?

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If tattoos are located at the dermis, what kind of process takes place here? My best guess would be something like “burning and evaporating” the ink, but I don’t really know.

In: Physics

2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Basically, the high heat of a laser causes the first ink particles the light reaches to shatter. Once the ink is shattered, white blood cells take care of the rest. More ink requires more treatment.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The ink used in tattoos is permanent and not broken down by the bodies natural defences. But when its temperature is raised, it changes its chemical structure, shatters into tiny fragments and then it becomes vulnerable.

So the laser just uses pulses of energy to raise the temperature of the ink so that it shatters. Then, over the weeks following treatment, the body’s immune system naturally flushes the tattoo ink particles away from the location, lightening the appearance of the tattoo. Each laser treatment breaks down more and more of the tattoo ink until the body has flushed all of it away.