A few years ago, my younger son invited me to visit his favorite tattoo shop. He was having yet another tattoo done and wanted me to see the place. What an eye-opening experience!

Unlike the typical biker/sailor vibe in tattoo parlors of the 60’s, this professional shop was impressively clean, the techniques being used were sophisticated, and the ink masters, though truly artists in every sense of the word, made safety the top priority.

On chatting with the owner of the shop, I learned that every week he received many requests for tattoo removal.  He basically had no choice but to refer people either out of state, or to a dermatologist/plastic surgeon who did not offer tattoo removal as a vital service within their practice but was willing to do the occasional tattoo removal procedure.

Tattoos are removed or faded using special types of lasers and as a general surgeon, I had already been using lasers to treat wounds for many years.  In fact, I was now using lasers to treat varicose veins. With so many years of laser experience, I felt that laser tattoo removal was a service that I could easily and effectively provide. What’s more, laser technology had been improving steadily since I first began using lasers so I was confident that I could offer the tattoo removal procedure safely and gently. I cannot speak from personal experience, but my son tells me that getting the tattoo is quite a test of endurance and pain tolerance. I was committed to making removal of the tattoo as comfortable as possible for my clients.