5 Things you should ask when looking for a tattoo removal clinic

1) Who operates the machine ?

This should always be the first question to ask and is the determining factor in your safety. There are 2 reasons for this, 1 is legal and 1 medical. Legally, in most states in Australia, only a doctor or registered nurse is allowed to operate a laser. Having a business owner who is medically qualified is not sufficient enough to fulfil the legal requirements. Medically, of course you want to have someone who understands human anatomy and can alter the machine settings according to your needs rather than the instruction manual, also you need to trust them to be able to act instantly if treatment does not go to plan.

Once you are convinced that the business is working within the boundary of the law you next need to ascertain their business practices

2) How old is the machine?

This is important for you to know as it can help you to determine the success of your treatment. If the machine is more than 3 months old you can ask how many shots it has done.A machine working full time will do around 150,000 shots each month on average. and standard laser rods generally only last for 200,000 shots. The high quality rods last around a million shots but these were only introduced in the last 18 months and are not generally fitted to most equipment as standard practice. It is an optional upgrade.

3) How often does the machine get serviced ?

All equipment needs servicing on a regular basis, but the majority of clinics do not bother with this as it is time consuming and loses them money while the machine is down.( Actually most are just simply ignorant and have had no actual training from the overseas supplier on how to correctly use and maintain the equipment)

Medical quality lasers are water cooled and need the water tanks cleaning out and the water replacing regularly if being used full time. It does depend on the size of the tank, anything from weekly to monthly. But monthly would be the absolute minimum requirement to comply with safety & hygiene laws.

Equipment that is not properly maintained will run at a higher temperature, this will burn out the laser more quickly as well as cause misfires. Essentially the equipment may be firing but it will be firing blanks that will not work on the ink.

4) What type of laser is it ?

Below are some of the answers you are likely to be given. 3 indicate ignorance about the equipment as well as a lack of understanding of the process, only 2 are “ the right answer” so if you do not receive the answer you are looking for, its time to tick these people off your list and move on;

Q-Switch laser – This refers to the safety cut off switch that is built into all lasers Pico or Picosecond – This refers to the duration of the pulse length and has little to do with effectiveness.

Alexandrite – Colour specific crystal, good for tattoo removal but not often seen. ND-YAG – Colour specific crystal specially constructed for tattoo removal. CO2 – Ablative laser legal only in hospital settings as it vapourises everything it contacts.

5) How many sessions will I need and how long is a session?

Here is where you will truly discover the ethics of the business. And you will discover the motives behind the clinic.Generally you should not require more than 6 sessions to remove the ink. Green may require 8 sessions as it is notoriously difficult due to its ingredients. 4 is the most common number for black and blue ink .

The session length should be dependent on the tattoo size, but should not be longer than 1 hour. Your body will not tolerate more than this and you will start to suffer reactions such as severe nausea & dizziness A full hour may be booked for larger tattoos and includes the time taken to cool down the area to ensure no blistering occurs, but the actual treatment time will normally only be 40 to 45 mins max.If the sessions are to be 15 or 20 mins and the tattoo is larger than palm of hand size be very wary as some non medical operators have been using IPL machines for tattoo removal. The ignorant theory being that a larger head will cover more area in less time and be more profitable. These machines simply cause severe blistering and second and third degree burns as the light source is very hot (around 72 degrees C) and is not diffused through a crystal. so it is also a waste of money as it will not affect the ink.  This is not how you should look after.