$3,400 and 10 Treatments Later: Large Black Ink Cleared on the Upper Arm, Forearm
$3,400 and 10 treatments later, a large black tattoo on the upper arm, forearm at Removery has cleared.
Before treatment and after 10 treatments at Removery.
What the tattoo was
Large black tattoo on the upper arm, forearm, on Type I skin, approximately < 1 yr old at the start of treatment.
What the numbers show
$3,400 across 10 sessions works out to $340 per session. The typical range from clinics in this area is $133 to $399 per session in Portland. That rate suggests package pricing or a clinic at the lower end of the local market. Over 4 years, with 8 weeks between treatments.
The laser
Candela Picoway is a picosecond laser. For black ink, it operates at 1064nm with a pulse duration of 240 to 450 ps. A specialist with more than 10,000 treatments describes PicoWay as outstanding on black ink.
What you take from this
The last 5 to 10 percent of clearance is the hardest: the remaining ink tends to be deepest, and the combination of unknown ink composition, depth, scar tissue, and immune response slows progress.