NewSurg, Inc.

Tatt2Away

The New Procedure to Safely Remove Unwanted Tattoos

Tattoos have recently become commonplace. While once perceived as a social stigma, tattoos have recently become accepted. It is estimated that almost 20% of Americans have at least one tattoo and a significant number of these tattoos are now unwanted.

Despite the current popularity of having tattoos, their removal for some is equally desired. Whether it is a poor design, rash decision, change of partners, workplace requirement or stigmata or just boredom with the design, a safe, affordable and effective tattoo removal method is needed.

Older Methods of Tattoo Removal Include:

Excision - which involves surgically cutting out the pigmented tissue. With this procedure, a skin graft is sometimes taken from another part of the body.

Dermabrasion - involves "sanding" with a rotary abrasive instrument, causing the skin to peel.

Salabrasion - is the procedure where salt injections and an abrading apparatus scrape away skin.

Laser - Light energy is directed into the tattoo to break up the pigment. This ineffective and expensive method has become the current standard.

Laser treatments are the accepted method of tattoo removal currently. While better than any other treatment method in the past, laser tattoo removal has an interesting paradox. While it may cost just a few hundred dollars to have the tattoo applied, it will costs thousands to turn it into a faint smudge for many. When exposed to high-intensity laser light, the tattoo pigments are essentially hit with a hammer and broken into smaller pieces. These small pieces may then be cleared by the body. But this laser light creates tremendous heat which makes the treatment not only painful but may create skin damaging/scarring results. This is particularly relevant in patients with darker skin pigments. And laser light is expensive. Machine costs alone are often into six figures for the treating physician. In addition, laser light can only treat a limited range of colors and works best on black, blue and red pigments. Many other tertiary colors and pigment blends respond very poorly.

The new non-laser tattoo removal method is now available. Using a new concept, a proprietary fluid is injected into the tattoo pigment. This fluid releases these pigments from the deeper tissues and brings it to the surface. This creates a temporary scab, which sloughs off, and when healed, leaves the underlying skin free of color. Many have tried a similar approach using salt, glycolic acids and other solutions without success.

Tatt2Away offers numerous advantages and some similarities to that of laser tattoo removal. One of its biggest advantages is cost. Without using a laser, the cost of tattoo removal treatments drops by about 50% or even more. While more affordable treatments are appealing in and of itself, that would be meaningless if it was not at least as effective. Current clinical experience indicates that it may be just as effective, if not more, because Tatt2Away can treat all colors including the most exotic hues and pigment blends. It is truly a color blind treatment method because its effectiveness is not based on color absorption unlike laser light.

Like laser treatments, Tatt2Away, requires a series of treatments spaced out over time. They are usually about six weeks apart and, just like the laser, an average number of treatments is four to six for maximal clearing. The results after each one will determine if more or less treatments are needed. During each treatment, the tattooed skin is lightly abraded with a special handpiece similar to the one used in your original tattoo session. Unlike the laser, the procedure has minimal discomfort as heat is not being generated in the tissues. Each treatment session takes about 30 minutes in which small circle are created over the surface of your tattoo. The spaces between the circles are not filled in and are treated during the next session. This unique spacing strategy keeps the trauma to the skin minimized and lessens the chance for scarring. A scab will form after each treatment and will come off in about a week.

Despite the magic of laser light, it is interesting that a far simpler and less expensive strategy for tattoo removal can work just as well if not better. Essentially using a reverse approach to how the pigments got there in the first place, Tatt2Away helps rid tattoos with a biologically sound exit strategy that is more affordable for many patients.

Results