I am so excited to write this! This post is so incredibly empowering for me. I, like so many of us have been through some experiences and I have not always known how to deal with things, getting tattoos to mark my painful experiences was definitely my go to from about the age of 18 onwards, only slowing down in my mid 20s.
When I lost one of my sisters in a very tragic way I was hurt, I wanted to communicate that, I was in a very bad place, and so getting a tattoo to mark that pain made so much sense, at the time, I should add.
But nothing is ever that simple is it?
I very quickly started to regret my choice to mark my pain so visibly on my body, strangers often asked questions, on nights out I would feel terrible the moment the conversation ‘what do your tattoos say?’ started.
This feeling lingered for years, I would start to change the way I dressed, often purposely covering all of my tattoos so no one would ask about them.
But then I had a *ching* moment, I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw a friend of mine posting about ta treatment at Pulse Light Clinic, I headed over to their profile and noticed they also do Tattoo laser removal! ‘Omgod! This is meant to be’ I thought to myself.
I booked a consultation, when I got there a lovely lady greeted me and asked me to fill out a form, I started and half way down there was a question about Roaccutane, (another story for another day) and I couldn’t go any further.
To summarise you cannot have any type of skin treatment whilst taking this medication as it makes your skin incredibly sensitive so I had to just leave it.
Fast forward to 2018, I had finished my Roaccutane treatment and had loads of time to plan my Tattoo Removal Journey. It was so worth the wait.
I had my patch test when I got to the Clinic and all went really well, I wasn’t sure what to expect, if I am being honest I was nervous.
But the practitioner was so sweet and kind, she explained everything to me and I felt really excited to start my treatments, I had no issues with the patch test, so my appointment was booked in for my first session.
So first session, I popped on the safety glasses, and took a deep breath. Maybe its key to mention here I was removing 4 small tattoos and one huge one across my chest.
I am gonna be honest, it wasn’t comfortable, but obviously you don’t expect to get laser and feel comfortable lol even getting a tattoo is not pleasant in any way, I do agree the feeling a lot of people describe ‘being flicked with rubber bands’ is very accurate.
I was blown away at the white frosting effect the laser had, and naively thought ‘wow it disappears before your eyes’ but obviously it’s a process where the laser attacks the ink which then broken down and flushes through your system.
The day after my first session, the areas were red and sore, a bit like a sun burn. I had very slight uncomfortableness, but to be expected. I started feeling the itching sensation very quickly. I had heard it can happen but not everyone gets it, I struggled with their and my anxiety made me worry it’s something else, I started panic researching and made it worse for myself.
I called the clinic quite a few times in a panic state, but they were very nice and kept reassuring me that this was not to worry about.
I used quite a few things over the counter, Vaseline and Bepanthen and even Sudocream. I finally found something which cured the itch. Antihestamins! Who would have thought it lol.
I have to say I think this period was so stressful for me because I was really making a big deal out of it in my head, I was sending pictures to the clinic and constantly asking if things were normal, and bless them they were always so helpful, never made me feel like I was overreacting, because I was lol!
The healing was fine, I had to just keep the areas moisturised and not scratch, which was fairly easy, I noticed within a few weeks the skin fully healed and I could genuinely see a difference in just one session.
The second session was straightforward, now that I had become familiar with the laser and I knew what to do to care afterwards, I was genuinely excited to keep going.
I went through this session and the next pretty chilled, feeling happy and confident this was going really well.
I think by the healing stage of the third session I was genuinely shocked and pleasantly surprised at the progress, I was ecstatic! I was just so happy to be taking control of my life, for so long this had really weighed on me and effected my day to day life.
Session 4 I felt my skin was more sensitive to the laser and that the pain was slightly more than the previous times, this was because there was now less ink to attack, so I started using a numbing cream, this was a life saver!
This was just getting better and better! No pain, quicker healing, less inconvenience and also my actual skin was resurfacing, this may sound strange but the idea that I would look in the mirror and see my skin, just my skin with no ink felt really empowering and I felt like I was connecting with myself again.
The images above are from my first session to now. As you can see my collar bones are completely clear :D
I cannot put into words how happy I am about my tattoo removal journey, I am still on the journey but I feel confident I am nearing the end and I am so happy!
I was not able to get any sessions during lockdown (obvs) but I genuinely cannot wait to finish my sessions! I might even be finished with this by the end of the year! How exciting!
If you are reading this and thinking about tattoo removal, PLEASE do it! It will really be the best decision you make, life is too short to live with regrets or things you no longer connect with, set yourself free!
Pulse Light Clinic have leading technology to remove tattoos, the PicoWay and PicoSure lasers which are safe and effective for all skin types and almost all ink colours. I have a treat for you! You can save up to 20% off your treatment if you enter my discount code PAYZEEUPTO20 when you book a free phone or in-clinic consultation here.