by Alyson Rimsha
Daily Lobo
Tattoos Erased uses the energy of light to remove unwanted tattoos, said Lauren Chavez, the owner of the business.
Chavez said she is the only doctor in New Mexico with a Medlite laser. Tattoos Erased removes tattoos by using wavelengths of light through laser treatment.
Chavez said the light is absorbed by the tattoo's ink, causing it to break down into small particles. She said the body's natural filtering system removes the particles on its own, erasing the tattoo.
The Medlite laser can remove all types of ink and tattoos.
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Chavez said the procedure is safe and effective.
She said in most cases, the tattoo will totally disappear.
"Greater than 95 percent of the tattoo will be completely erased," Chavez said.
She said the laser-light treatment does not cause any damage to the skin.
"There is less than a 5 percent chance of scarring," she said.
Chavez said professional tattoos require four to eight laser treatments.
"Each tattoo is different," she said.
Chavez said many factors affect the number of treatments needed to remove a tattoo.
"Each time it gets rid of more and more pigment," Chavez said.
She said the tattoo's age and the color, type and depth of the ink are all taken into consideration.
Amateur tattoos can be erased within two to six treatments.
Chavez said the treatments are spaced four to eight weeks apart.
The Medlite laser is also capable of removing tattoos of all colors.
"Reds and blacks are removed the fastest," Chavez said. "Greens and yellows take a while longer."
Chavez said she adjusts the wavelength on the laser to remove different colors of ink. She said the laser is attracted to the pigment, so the light concentrates on the skin where the color is.
"The color changes with the wavelength," she said.
Chavez said the size of the tattoo determines the price. The minimum treatment price is $100. In general, the price is $50 per square inch of the tattoo, and 10 percent of the tattoo gets removed with every treatment.
"This way the price gets to be less and less along with your tattoo," she said.
Janis Luna came to Tattoos Erased to have a small cluster of red cherries erased from her chest Tuesday.
"I wish I would have been older and thought about what I really wanted and where," Luna said.
Luna was 16 years old when she got her tattoo.
She said she has many reasons for removing her tattoo.
"You grow up to be in a professional setting, and it's just not appropriate anymore," Luna said.
She is a Pueblo of Sandia employee and said even though her tattoo isn't visible to her co-workers, she finds it inappropriate.
"My little girl asks me why I drew on myself," Luna said. "It's hard to explain."
Chavez said most of her patients are older professionals or in the military and are required to get their tattoos removed.
Luna said the laser treatment felt the same as getting a tattoo.
"It feels like I'm getting it all over again," Luna said.
Chavez said each treatment lasts about a minute and a half. The laser emits light in short pulses.
She said the procedure does not require any aftercare.
Stephanie Martin, a UNM psychology student, said she has four tattoos. She was 18 when she got her first tattoo of an angel.
"I would never get them removed," she said "I want more."
Martin said her tattoos will not affect her professional future.
"I get them where I can hide them," she said.
Kristi Sanchez, a biology major at UNM, said she got her first tattoo when she was 16.
"My dad took me for my 16th birthday," she said.
Sanchez said she would never consider tattoo removal.
"I might get another one this weekend," she said.
