When tattoo ink is embedded in your skin, the needle puncture creates a small wound that immediately triggers your immune system to heal the tattoo site and remove the alien ink particles. Bacteria eating cells called macrophages are released and begin eating away at the ink particles. However, the pigment particles in tattoo ink are quite large, making it difficult for macrophages to completely remove a tattoo. Instead, the macrophages are only able to remove tiny pieces of pigment, which explains why tattoos are permanent but gradually fade over time.

Laser tattoo removal essentially speeds up your immune system’s natural fading process by shattering the pigment particles in a tattoo. During a laser treatment, our Duality laser sends ultra-quick pulses of light energy over the unwanted tattoo. The light energy travels through the epidermis and targets the tattoo ink particles while leaving the surrounding skin tissue unharmed. The tattoo ink particles selectively absorb the light energy, causing them to heat up and shatter into tiny fragmented particles that the macrophages can more easily engulf and remove.

Over the weeks following a laser treatment, your immune system will flush out the shattered ink particles, causing the tattoo to fade. Multiple laser sessions are needed to shatter the varying layers of ink that make a tattoo. Each session with the laser shatters more ink, speeding up the fading process until no ink is visible in the skin.