How Soon Can You Get Tattoo Removed?

I’ve seen one of my tattoo-obssessed friends to regret a couple of days after getting a new tattoo. Why? Because it was the name of her boyfriend who’s her ex for now. Crazy, right?

Whatever your reason to want to remove a tattoo as soon as possible, how soon can you get the tattoo removed? Does removing a tattoo too soon ruin your skin?

You should wait at least six weeks before getting the tattoo removed. Although it’s possible to remove a fresh tattoo using laser treatments, it’s better to take the therapy with a completely healed tattoo. Otherwise, there’s a risk of having scarring, irritation, and even severe infection because your tattooed skin is still delicate.

Let’s read the full article to get the full picture about removing a new tattoo including the right time and right treatment to remove a tattoo, things you can do with your new & unwanted tattoos, and every question you might ask about the topic.

Let’s dive right in.

How Soon Can You Get Tattoo Removed?

You can easily get a tattoo removed once it’s fully healed. Give attention to the term ‘fully healed’ because you may feel like the ink has settled in your skin early, but the fact is it doesn’t.

In most cases, tattoos take around 6-8 weeks to completely heal whereas some large tattoos even take 6 months to one year. If you don’t wait for enough, you increase the chances of scarring or infection.

So, if you ask- Can a fresh tattoo be removed?

The answer is, ‘you can but it’s better to wait a few months’. Treating fresh ink can lead you to discoloration of the new skin. Why? Because the laser your artist uses to shatter ink particles can embed in your healing skin’s new collagen strands. It may alter the natural color of your skin permanently.

Moreover, it prolongs the healing process and creates further scar tissue and fibrosis on the skin.

Once your tattooed skin is fully healed, get laser therapy to remove your tattoo, as this is the safest way to do so.

And, for your information- laser tattoo removal takes at least two and a half years on average (according to a tattoo removal specialist named Bethany Cirlin). After just getting a new tattoo, you might not want to be in the tattoo sessions one by one for such a long time of your life.

Is It Bad to Start a Tattoo Removal Too Soon?

Not completely. Laser removal can be easy if you start the session too soon. Let me explain.

• Your tattoo artist targets the ink in the dermis while removing your tattoo. The ink requires enough time to settle down into your skin. If it’s soon enough, the ink only gets into the epidermis, not deeper than this. Laser removal of a tattoo at this stage targets only the ink in your epidermis. For this, the tattoo will be gone on its own after a few days.
  
  Therefore, it’s not a life-ending decision to start tattoo removal too soon. But there’s a compelling reason why you should wait at least 4-6 weeks before you begin the sessions.

• Laser tattoo removal creates a burn to your skin’s outer layer. Taking such a sensitive session right after the trauma of getting a tattoo might create further skin conditions like scarring or infection.

Worth mentioning YOU CAN’T REVERSE THE EFFECTS OF LASER.

Once the tattoo is removed by the laser, it’s not reversible; you can’t get the ink back (if you want it for nostalgia’s sake). For this, you must be 100% confident in your decision about getting the tattoo removed.

How Long Does Laser Tattoo Removal Process Take?

The complete tattoo removal process requires several sessions spaced 6-8 weeks apart. Each session has its value, and the results are accumulated with each one.

However, how long the removal does take depends on what kind of ink you’ve used and how your body’s response to the treatment is. Also, the timeline varies from person to person. Some tattoo owners even need around 12 months to completely get rid of the tattoo.

What If You Don’t Like Your Tattoo?

Okay, that’s a situation. It’s hard to live every day with a tattoo on your skin with regret. If you think it’s your ‘less than ideal’ tattoo, it doesn’t go with your personality, or your artist couldn’t make it as perfect as you wanted, there are ways to escape this situation.

Tattoo Cover Up

A tattoo cover-up is one of the best ways to fix or correct an unwanted tattoo. So, how does it work?

Well, a tattoo cover-up is just a process of replacing an old tattoo with a new one. Your artist will deposit the new tattoo in the same area of your skin where you have the old ink. Thus, the two colors combine and create a new color.

In most cases, black ink is used to cover up a messed-up tattoo, but other darker hues are also used for the task. And, if you cover up a relatively older tattoo, it’s even easier to disguise because the older tattoo fades with time.

Laser Removal

The most effective and expensive way to get rid of the tattoo you’re unhappy with is the laser removal process. Although laser removal is more painful compared to other methods, the results will give you satisfaction.

Although how many laser sessions you’ll need depends on the color, size, and amount of pigment in your tattoo, a few to 12 treatments might be required for desired results.

Most Important Things to Know When You Want to Get a New Tattoo Removed Right Away

Even though lasering the tattoo soon will remove the tattoo with only a few sessions, it’s best to let the tattoo fully heal first. It’s because you should not leave the risk of infection and other complications whatever you feel about the tattoo.

The wisest decision is to treat your unwanted tattoo the same way you would treat your desired tattoo. You should follow the prescribed aftercare regime carefully. The faster and better your tattoo heals, the sooner and safer it will be to remove it.

Also, remember that what type of tattoo removal solution you’re getting from which artist is EVERYTHING.

It’s a must to ensure that you get the therapy from a skilled and experienced tattoo artist. We highly discourage to get the treatment from someone you people don’t know well.

And, the overall effectiveness of a tattoo removal process, including timeliness and safety depends on the type of tattoo removal session you opt for. Here are the most common ways to get your tattoo removed:

• Chemical peels: Trichloroacetic acid, or TCA, breaks down the ink. It’s a mild acid that’s used in the form of a chemical peel, and it removes the tattoo from the top layer of your skin.
• Dermabrasion: This method includes the genuine removal of your inked area. The top layer of your skin with the ink particles is taken off using a special tool. You’ll see the tattoo completely vanish when all inked layers of your skin are removed.

• Removal via excision: If you want to remove the tattoo quickly, this method can quickly remove any trace of ink from your skin. However, this process doesn’t work as effectively for larger tattoos as it does for smaller tattoos.

• Laser removal: In this process, a laser breaks your ink particles down and allows them to remove naturally by your body. After the sessions, your immune system will naturally flush out the ink particles from your body.

And the laser is the most effective and least intrusive method to remove a tattoo. Other methods can be more complex, and there might be a question of hygiene as well.

Is Tattoo Removal Costly?

The price range of tattoo removal sessions depends on different factors. Among all the methods of tattoo removal, laser treatment is the only FDA-approved method.

The average cost of laser tattoo removal is $423 (without counting related expenditures). But if you remove a detailed, large tattoo using a laser, it may cost more than $4,000 depending on the size and placement of your tattoo.

The common payment policy of most providers is a flat fee for the removal process up to a particular size whereas some charge by the square inch.

Can I Remove a Tattoo at Home Fast?

No, there’s no way to completely remove a tattoo using homemade solutions, sorry. We’ve tried skin-bleaching creams and homemade remedies but they don’t work. Instead, they can even lead you to have scarring, burning, and several irritation if you can’t use them correctly.

According to Dr. Lal, DIY tattoo-removal options that are made with lemon juice or vinegar can over-exfoliate and dry out your skin. The burns and scars can make it even harder to remove your tattoo using lasers later on.

Conclusion

So, wait at least six weeks to get your new tattoo removed or replace it with a new one. Give the tattoo enough time to heal so there’s zero chance of getting irritation or infection. Try to take a laser treatment because other cheaper tattoo-removal options may be very painful, take longer time to heal, and leave scar on the skin.