New laser can remove tattoos clean

Hope for tattoo owners

08/13/2013

A novel laser can remove tattoos almost completely without a trace and painless. Not even scars develop on the skin. It is unclear what the risks of laser cutting are for the user.

Sascha Nobody is just on the way to the treatment room of the Bochumers St.-Josef-Hospitals. The center for laser medicine in North Rhine-Westphalia. There he is one of the first to be treated with the novel laser called "PicoSure". The insurance specialist wants to get rid of his tribal, a curved ornament, on his chest, which he let sting over ten years ago. "That was a youthful sin - and over time more and more shapeless. Now it looks more like a Batman symbol. "

The 300,000-euro device, which has only been on the market since May, can be the desired hope for many people. It was specially designed for tattoo removal. The manufacturer of the laser, Cynosure, promises an almost no-trace distance. Without scars and so-called negative impressions. And above all, she is almost painless.

Old laser technology is painful
"I looked at a few videos on the Internet that showed how tattoos were removed using the old laser technology. That looked pretty brutal, "says nobody. "The pain should be worse than tattooing itself."

He is pleasantly surprised when the physician Klaus Hoffmann starts with the laser to drive over the tattoos on his upper body. "Feels like small electric shocks," he says. After about 10 minutes, the first session is over. Two to four more at intervals of a few weeks will have to follow, so that no one loses his tattoo.

The cost of the new laser technology has changed nothing: 1500 to 2000 euros cost of treatment. According to the GKV-Spitzenverband, the health insurances do not take over this procedure either. The removal of body jewelry is not considered a task of solidarity, explains a GKV spokesman.

Color particles simply splinter
Hoffmann is Senior Physician of the aesthetic-operative medicine at the Unihautklinik Bochum is very enthusiastic about the device. Due to the high-energy laser pulse, the color particles are almost simply splintered. Complete eradication is done by the phagocytes of the body.

As a positive effect no scarring of the tissue occurs. "Since we use PicoSure, patient requests are received daily," says Hoffmann. For the first time also colorful tattoos could be removed with green color - earlier that was very difficult.

However, the Association of German Organized Tattoo Artists (DOT) is not responding as euphorically. "We are not happy about the laserei," says spokesman Maik Frey. "Under laser bombardment, we do not know what kind of late effects the tattoo inks can have when they settle in the body.

Risks of lasering are not clear
At a BfR conference in June, researchers, physicians and tattoo artists discussed possible connections between allergies, cancer and tattoos. They came to the conclusion that the treatment is by no means risk-free. Since the colors used are not subject to approval, it is often unclear which substances they contain. As a result, the risks of lasers can not be sufficiently clarified. Peter Laux from BfR's consumer safety department says: "We do not know where the paint particles are going".

There is a lot of demand at the moment
Hoffmann, however, considers the misgivings about laser technology to be exaggerated. "They are based on hypotheses, there is no known risk." When tattooing, however, 80 percent of the color already migrated into the body - so if there is a risk, then already in this process. "Especially for tattoos, the demand seems currently large. Two more medical sites in Frankfurt and Hamburg now want to use the device as well.

He and the team led by Prof. Peter Altmeyer will soon also test whether the device is suitable for the treatment of collagen damage or pigmentation disorders. (Fr)

Also read:
Tattoo colors are dangerous to health
Tattoo: health hazards through tattoos
Health risk through tattoo
Toxic substances in tattoo colors