New Tattoo Removal Procedure

By WKRG Staff

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Published: Wed, August 15, 2007 - 11:49 am
Last Updated: Wed, August 15, 2007 - 2:46 pm

For many, tattoos mark important milestones. But what if you want to forget about the college years or that broken relationship? If may be time to have it removed.

Katie Kupec is a newlywed who learned an important lesson thanks to a friend’s wedding. "I didn't want to be that girl with the black tattoo on the back of her neck." But that’s where she was headed. Her tattoo was a deep, dark Chinese letter. “I picked one off the wall that ultimately means wisdom, which turns out to be incredibly ironic because I do think that it's probably one of the not so smart things that I've done."

Armed with new wisdom, she wanted it removed before her friend's wedding. But the dark ink ended up being a challenge. Often the more ink you remove, the more scar tissue you form.

Dr. David Vasily is a dermatologist who is focusing on attacking those tough to remove tattoos. He devised a way to treat Katie’s treatment-resistant tattoo using two lasers, the Standard Q-Yag, plus the new Star Lux Fractional 1540. “We started out using it as a combo, using the 1540 laser, to in effect, clear the fibrosis, remodel the scar tissue, and allow better targeting, subsequent targeting, with the Q Switch Yag Laser.”

Early results of Katie's case were recently presented at a national conference. Dr. Vasily hopes a few more treatments will erase Katie’s tattoo completely, scars and all.

In addition to his work on the dark tattoos, Dr. Vasily is now perfecting the treatment protocol for hard to treat colored tattoos. He says greens, blues and yellows are the toughest to tackle.

Katie's tattoo cost about $60 when she got it five years ago. The multiple treatments to remove it has cost thousands.

For information on how to contact Dr. Vasily, go to www.ilovemyskin.com

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