It seems that tattoo removal is in the headlines again with the Sunday Mail screaming NEW RULES FOR INK REMOVAL! The article goes on to say that “the State Government is cracking down on tattoo removalists, who will now face fines of up to $84,000 as the demand for the service grows”.

What the article failed to mention is that – Businesses that remove tattoo pigments by laser will not be affected* (Extract from Queensland Health publication). The reason that laser tattoo removalists are not affected is because of the tattoo removal training that laser operators undergo to obtain their Radiation Health Queensland Licence.

On further reading the article states …. “an emerging trend involves penetrating and damaging the layers of the skin so the tattoo pigment rises to the surface and eventually scabs off. Tattoo removal businesses that use these liquid products must now be licensed and adhere to correct methods of infection control”.

The facts are that laser tattoo removalists using a Class 4 laser to remove tattoo ink have always had to be licensed and to obtain that licence they had to complete Infection Control Certification as one module in their training. The world – wide standard for removing tattoo pigment remains the Q-Switch Nd: YAG laser and people considering removing unwanted ink can be confident of achieving safe and effective results with this system.

Unlike other methods which involve – “penetrating and damaging the layers of the skin” – the laser is designed to break up the large ink molecules within the skin so that the body’s immune system can then eliminate them over time. Laser treatment results in minimal disruption to the skin surface and the treatments are spaced at 6 weekly intervals for maximum effectiveness.

It is highly recommended that before you undertake any treatment to remove your unwanted ink that you should check the qualifications of the person that will conduct your procedure and the most important factor in your decision should be their tattoo removal training.