Questions linked to tattoo are frequent from the tattooee or future one. here are some answers..

Detattooing methods:

Detattooing is the contemporary of tattooing. No technic is perfect. The success is linked to the magic side of the action lived as a sorte of a purification or a relief. A lots of empirical process using caustic have crossed ages. They are part of the popular tradition transmitted orally from generation to generation. The most ancient reference to detattoing is a socratic dialogue called “the lemon” where the following recipe is given: “put some nitre on the symbolum cover with some turpentine resine. After six days wash it, put soma fine salt and then put a mixture of incens and nitre”.

Sinking consist in letting the tattoo in contact with wtaer from the sea. The slowness of this method has made it go backward.

Thermal destruction: coal was used, cigarets etc… the pain and scars let by this method has made it unpopular.

Diathermy knife: thir is a fulguration of the tattooed zone which create a bedsore wich will be eliminated few days later. The scars stay visible but the drawback is the clearest image of the tattoo or “phantom iamge”.

Infra-red: an ifra-red probe is put against the tattoo. It creates a coagulation of derma’s prteins. the results are often inperfect. It’s mainly for superficial tattoos.

Cryotherapy: freezing created by liquide azote is often too superficial to obtain satisfying results.

Saltabrasion: the use of salt (sodium chloride) for the destruction of tattooes goes back to autius in 543 bc. Everyday salt is bubbed on the tattoo untill the zone become red. The result are interesting plus the mecanic effect of the salt’s crystals, salt make the coloring leaving the extra-cellular environment. It’s a good method for the big tattoos made by professionals but not sufficiant for amateur’s one too deep.

Chemical destruction: detattooing with calium permanganate. Put some calium permanganate on the zone wash it.

Trichloaetic acide: put some trichloacetic acide at 33% which provoks an instant necrosis of the zone, a bedsore is constituate and fall in two weeks.

Detattooing with tanin: the original description talk about a “retattooing” with a tanin solution and an application of nitrate silver. A bedsor is formed and fall in two weeks.

Manual detattooing: some freezing procuct are pulverized the abrasion of the tattooed zone is made with a diamant or ruby buffwheel.

Surgery: the ablation on tattooed skin is detattooing method well used. It doesn’t let any pigment track but some scars.

Dermatome: the dermatome is razor of LARGOT which enable to sample transplants of skin at different dephts. It’s the ideal technic for large spread tattoo.

Punch: the punck is a coiling knife which enable thanks to a double movement of pression/rotation to cut a sample of skin. This technic is ideal for hands and fingers.

Laser detattooing:

The laser is a recent tool. It’s a light ray which deliver a very important quantity of energy for a few millimeters which create a vaporisation of water in the cellular environement. Those new make the tattoo disapear without leaving any traces. Amateur’s tattoo react in better way than professional’s ones. Q switched ruby laser treats bleu/black amateur tattoo but not red and orange colored; the Q switchef nd yag is as efficiant on black and colored tattoos.

conclusion:

Unstable, naive and provocative fresco the tattoo is a unique(only) object, its practice worshipped by such ethnic group and banished by the others, numerous religions deny her(it). The tattoo thus stays, that is in its structure, or in its implications, psychological, a world plÈxiforme and secret which confuses more than an investigator. The tattooed in the confusion of its identity crisis, will find in the tattoo a passing cathartic remedy but the track of which will remain the witness(baton) desactualiser and empty of its sense(direction) whom(that) nothing can totally erase. The detatouage appearing as a real contradiction, wanting to remove at all costs what was made to be irremovable.