Laser Hair Removal Treatment: What If You Have Tattoos?

Can I Have Laser Hair Removal Treatment If I Have Tattoos?

Do you have problem or unwanted hair on a specific area of your body on which you also have a tattoo?  Have you considered having using laser hair removal treatments to permanently eliminate that hair?  Laser hair removal is one of the most popular and effective treatments for unwanted body hair.  Also very popular these days are tattoos, which are often placed on areas of the body where laser hair removal is very popular, including the back, legs and arms.  Sadly, when hair begins to grow through a tattoo it can distort the image, prompting many women—and men—to search for an effective hair removal treatment.  In the following article we will discuss whether or not laser hair removal is recommended for people with tattoos, including some of the possible repercussions and your best options moving forward.

Laser Hair Removal:  Is Laser Hair Removal Recommended on Tattooed Areas of the Body?

Laser hair removal is a permanent solution to unwanted hair.  The procedure is performed with an intense beam of light, which when passed over the problem will destroy both the hair and the hair follicle, preventing another hair from sprouting through the follicle.

Unfortunately, there have yet to be any published studies regarding laser hair removal over tattoos, but according to a number of patients—patients who have undergone the procedure over their tattoos—the procedure is definitely NOT recommended.  When laser hair removal is performed over skin that is tattooed, generally the result is bleeding and blistering, often followed by a serious infection.  Nobody knows for certain why this happens, but it is clear from these reports that the procedure should always be avoided over tattooed areas.

Experts believe the problem with laser hair removal over tattoos lies with the dye or pigment that is placed under the second layer of skin, called the dermis, during the tattooing process.  Those tattooed patients who endured laser hair removal prior to these accounts, report to hearing a very audible crackling or popping sound as the laser makes its way over tattooed skin.  This is followed by an instant blister—the skin’s protective response to the trauma—which soon becomes full of pus.  In many cases, infection will soon set in that will require medical attention and/or medication.  To compound the problem, the laser will usually distort the images in the tattoo, making it abundantly clear that laser hair removal is just a bad all-around idea in tattooed areas.

Are There Alternatives to Laser Hair Removal in Tattooed Areas of the Skin?

Those with unwanted hair in tattooed areas do have other options, including electrolysis.  In electrolysis, a needle is inserted into each individual hair follicle, and thus the skin around the follicle is not disturbed or affected.  The downside to electrolysis is that the procedure is generally less effective than laser hair removal and can be extremely painful.

As you can see, those with tattoos are normally very poor candidates for laser hair removal, unless the laser is to be used on an area of the body that is free of tattoos.  However, there are no reported problems when laser hair removal treatments precede the application of a tattoo, so if you’re considering the possibility of getting a tattoo in an area in which you presently have unwanted hair, you should definitely undergo the laser hair removal treatment first