Outline: Tattoo removal blog (laser and TCA peel)

This blog will follow the, I'm sure, long and painful process of removing my tattoo. I have been reading a lot about TCA peels and that they may be used to significantly fade tattoos. Some sites even suggest using the TCA peel and laser together for maximum results and fewer laser sessions. This intrigues me because of the location of the tattoo. It is on my foot and ankle. Now, I don't know if anyone has a foot tattoo but if you do, you know this is one of the most painful things possible. It felt like the artist was drawing the design with a soldering iron -- so I can't imagine that repeatedly snapping it with a hot laser will feel much better.

I read much about tattoo fading and removal and 90% of it seems like pure bunk especially the fading creams. The reason that I slightly believe the TCA claims, is that the portion of the tattoo on my foot (especially where that bone protrudes just above the heel) is somewhat faded from the rest of it on my ankle. The ankle portion looks brand new but because of seven years of constant rubbing against socks and shoes the foot portion has faded. A peel, to me, would seem to be an accelerated way to facilitate this process.

OK, but how will I know it is working? Well, here it is, because of my heavy scientific background and natural curiosity, I will use myself as the guinea pig and only do the peels on half my tattoo since it is almost symmetrical. The laser will be applied to 100% of the surface.

My somewhat large tattoo is of an egyptian goddess and contains nearly every colour that is possible to get: black, blue, light blue, red, orange, purple, green, yellow and even a little white. I am a caucasion of mostly English, German and Finnish descent. My skin tone is slightly yellow though you can only tell in low light next to my husband who is slightly pinkish. In daylight I am a very, very white person. My skin is very delicate and fine grained and the skin on my foot is noticeably thinner than the leg skin. This means that I must be extremely careful not to burn myself. I will start the peels at half the recommended dosage on the foot portion. Here is my preliminary schedule.

1) TCA peel
2) Heal completely (3 - 5 weeks?)
3) Laser treatment
4) Heal completely (6 weeks?)

repeat steps 1 - 4 until tattoo is gone

The first step is the consultation with the laser doctor. I will discuss my plans about the TCA peel but I won't be deterred. It seems to me that all laser doctors, that sell laser treatments, say that the TCA peels cannot work. Coincidentally, the dermatologist clinics, that suspiciously sell TCA peels, all say quite differently.

The consultation is next Saturday at 2:00pm Sydney, Australia time. So check back in one week for the update from that meeting.

* Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor do I have any medical knowledge or training. This experiment is intended only as an anecdotal exercise, period. No matter what the results, it does not confer any scientific evidence. None. I do not, in any way, recommend that anyone attempt anything that I do in the course of this process. I am sure that if you do, it will result in something ghastly and disfiguring. So don't do it!

I am not going to go in to why I got the tattoo or why I want it gone since I assume anyone in the same predicament already knows exactly why. Instead, I intend to give a step by step documentation of the removal process.

Initial photos of the tattoo