Laser tattoo removal is nothing new for our clinic. We have been treating patients for over 10 years to help remove unwanted tattoos. The question I get most often is “How many sessions will it take?” the answer is dependent on where the tattoo is located as well as the color chosen. Black ink has been the easiest to remove historically. And definitely get the tattoo on the trunk of your body. The further down the arms and legs the location is, the more sessions are needed. A new study published by the American Society of Laser Medicine & Surgery looked to see how much reduction in the tattoo they could achieve by completing 4 sessions in one day. they spaced the sessions 20 minutes apart. This is termed the R20 Method. I have conducted a few trial sessions to assess our own outcomes. If this proves to be advantageous for our patients then we will offer it.
The R20 Method
Authors Theodora Kossida, MD, PhD, Dimitrios Rigopoulos, MD, PhD, Andreas Katsambas, MD, PhD, R. Rox Anderson, MD, published their study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology on the new “R20” method in laser tattoo removal (Volume 66, Issue 2 , Pages 271-277, February 2012 http://www.eblue.org/article/S0190-9622%2811%2900815-2/abstract).
