photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net by chaiwat
This is a question we hear a lot in the summer. With cooler temperatures coming in, this may not be something you’re thinking about, but then again maybe you have a gym membership with access to an indoor pool, or perhaps you like nightly soaks in the hot tub, you enjoy luxurious bubble baths, or maybe you’re just curious. Regardless, we’re sure you’ll find this article informative.
The biggest risk with laser tattoo removal treatments is secondary infection. Infection from the treatment itself is virtually unheard of as the laser is hot enough to kill any germs or bacteria that may exist on the skin. Now don’t worry, the laser is not burning your skin off in order to remove ink. The heat is applied for such a short amount of time, nanoseconds, that it literally heats up and cools off before the skin is permanently damaged.
So back to the risk of secondary infection; when the treated area is exposed to bacteria it is possible to develop an infection after laser treatments. Bacteria and other germs are around us every day. Limiting our exposure to such germs and bacteria is how we avoid illness and infection. When avoidance is not possible, we make sure to wash our hands, maybe take vitamins to boost our immune system, and drink plenty of fluids to quickly flush away potentially hazardous germs and other toxins. Well, after laser tattoo removal treatments you want to really limit the amount of germs and bacteria that the treated area comes in contact with. A swimming pool (that you can check over here), hot tub, or even a bathtub can be teeming with germs and bacteria. Also soaking a wound can keep it too moist to heal properly. Scabs can become gummy and fall off before they are ready leaving the wound underneath exposed for longer than it should be.
In most cases after laser tattoo removal, there or four days is all the time needed for the outer skin to heal enough to return to water activities. If your tattoo is full of color, especially reds or yellows, more time may be necessary as these colors tend to blister after treatment and blisters do tend to take longer to heal.
As always if you have any questions or concerns about your treatment, healing, etc feel free to talk to our certified laser specialists. They are always willing to make sure you are fully confident in your laser tattoo removal process.