Statistics show that about 10% of people in the United States have tattoos. Of this percentage, half of them want to get rid of their ink.

Also, with the economic downturn, more people are investing in laser tattoo removal procedures to help with getting a job.

The desire to remove unwanted tattoos is quite strong indeed. However many people wonder if the treatments hurt.

Many sources online describe the process as being somewhat painful. Common analogies include: specks of grease from a frying pan, sunburns, having a tattoo done, snapping rubber band.

Megan Fox’s Experience With Laser Tattoo Removal

Megan Fox  (who is trying to remove her Marilyn Monroe tattoo) thought the pain from her laser tattoo removal procedure was quite severe. On the Los Angeles based talk show, Ellen, the celebrity said that her session was “incredibly painful.” And she tells the audience that the laser “pops up like pieces of popcorn and explodes your skin.”

Surely this sounds worse than the rubber band and hot oil analogies. So many people are questioning the descriptions they find on the internet.

Keep in mind that people are different in how much pain they can tolerate from laser tattoo removal sessions. Also different sized designs will require more or less energy pulses. Larger tattoos need more pulses. This means that more heat energy will enter the skin and increase the level of pain.

How To Make Laser Tattoo Removal Less Painful

However there are a couple ways to make the tattoo removal process more comfortable for patients who choose laser treatments.

  1. Numbing cream
  2. Lidocaine
Numbing Cream in Laser Tattoo Removal

Numbing cream is often not enough for minimizing the pain from the laser treatments. This is because creams can only penetrate the epidermis layer. Tattoo ink pigment resides deeper in the dermis.

Lidocaine in Laser Tattoo Removal

In many cases, lidocaine can be injected into the skin as a local anesthetic. With smaller tattoos, the injections can make laser tattoo removal procedures painless.  However with larger tattoos, there is a limit with the amount of lidocaine that can be safely administered. These cases may not be completely pain free. But the drug can certainly help make the procedure a more comfortable experience.

It is not clear if numbing cream or lidocaine was used for Megan Fox. But if pain management is important to you, talk to your doctor about what can be done.

 

Tattoo Removal

This Los Angeles patient said that her laser tattoo removal process “wasn’t that painful”*