Picosecond · Ink Fragmentation · Pacific Plaza
Tattoo removal in Singapore at Atelier uses the DEKA TORO picosecond laser to break ink into fragments that your body clears in the weeks between sessions. Removal is staged, with healing checked before every session, and Dr Sin Yong tells you at the first assessment which colours are likely to fade and which may not.
Tattoo ink sits in the dermis as particles too large for your immune system to carry away, which is why a tattoo lasts. Laser tattoo removal does not lift ink out of the skin. It breaks those particles into fragments small enough for scavenger cells, the macrophages, to clear gradually over the following weeks.
A picosecond laser fires pulses about a thousand times shorter than the nanosecond pulses of a Q-switched laser. At that speed the ink is shattered mainly by a pressure wave rather than by heat, so less heat spreads into the skin around it. That matters in skin that darkens easily after inflammation. The physics is set out on the pico laser page; this page is about tattoos.
Fading happens between sessions, not on the day. Treating again before the skin has healed does not hurry it along.
At A Glance
The figures below describe a typical plan. Yours is written after Dr SY has seen the tattoo. Dr Sin Yong holds a Key Opinion Leader appointment with DEKA.
Ink And Skin
Ink colour decides which wavelength can reach it, and some colours absorb laser light far better than others. The table is a general guide to how laser tattoo removal handles each colour.
Which wavelengths your tattoo needs is decided when Dr SY examines it. A multi-coloured tattoo may need more than one, and a colour unlikely to respond is flagged before the first session.
Dense professional ink, tattoos layered over older ones, bright colours, and tattoos raised or scarred when made: laser can lighten their ink, but not the raised texture.
Tattoo removal creams are not an alternative. No reliable evidence shows that they clear ink from the dermis, and some lead to irritation or a chemical injury.
| Ink colour | Typical wavelength | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Black and dark blue | 1064 nm, which is also gentler on darker skin | Usually the quickest to respond, though full clearance is not promised |
| Red, orange and purple | 532 nm | Red ink can set off an allergic reaction as it is released |
| Green and some blues | Other wavelengths, such as around 755 nm | Slower to respond than black |
| Yellow and white | Poorly absorbed by most wavelengths | The hardest colours to shift |
| Brown and skin-tone cosmetic ink | Chosen cautiously, after a small test area | Iron oxide or titanium dioxide in the ink can turn darker or grey |
The Decision
Wait if you are pregnant, if the skin over the tattoo is broken or infected, or if it has been freshly tanned.
Talk it through first if you have taken isotretinoin recently, take a medicine that makes skin sensitive to light, tend to form keloids or thick raised scars (see keloid treatment), or have had gold injections in the past.
Skin type. The laser passes through the pigment in your own skin to reach the ink. In medium and darker skin, Fitzpatrick III to V, the treated area may darken for a while (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation) or turn paler, and paleness can be slow to recover. Wavelength and energy are set with that in mind, and sun on healing skin raises the risk of darkening.
Surgery instead. A small tattoo, where a fine line scar is acceptable, may suit surgical excision; that means referral to a plastic surgeon. Raised or keloid-prone tattoos are assessed before anything is planned.
On The Day
Recovery
Keep the area clean and covered, leave blisters whole, let scabs fall away by themselves, and keep friction, soaking and heat away from it until it has healed. Once healed, use a broad-spectrum sunscreen whenever the area is exposed, and do not tan between sessions.
Day-by-day care is on tattoo removal aftercare, and how the skin usually looks from frosting to healed is on tattoo removal downtime. Why the number of visits is not set in advance is explained in how many pico laser sessions.
Risks
Each session is a controlled injury. Whitening, redness, swelling, pinpoint bleeding, blisters and scabs are expected. Darker or paler patches can follow, more often in medium and darker skin.
Scarring is uncommon with appropriate settings and good aftercare. The risk rises when blisters or scabs are picked, when infection sets in, when healing skin sees sun, and when a tattoo was already raised. An opened blister can become infected. Some inks, red in particular, can cause an allergic reaction: mostly local itching and swelling, only rarely more widespread.
Contact the clinic the same day if a broken blister looks infected, crusts turn thick, yellow or oozing, pain, swelling or warmth keep increasing, or itching spreads past the tattoo. Swelling of the lips, tongue or throat together with difficulty breathing needs emergency care: call 995 or go straight to an A&E department. More on pico laser complications and complication care.
Dr Sin Yong holds a Key Opinion Leader appointment with DEKA.
Atelier Aesthetics · Owned by AYA
9 Scotts Road, Pacific Plaza #12-01A, Singapore 228210 · +65 8023 7170
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