I am an artist and in the process of designing a tattoo

Question:
I am an artist and in the process of designing a tattoo for my back. This will cover my entire back and extend out onto my shoulders and upper arms. I want to get laser hair removal before the tattoo. How much time should I wait after the laser hair removal to start the tattoo? Will the maintenance treatments to keep the hair off affect my tattoo?

Answer:
Your question with regards to the potential interaction of our hair removal laser prior to receiving, and after having a full back tattoo is an interesting one. You can proceed with getting your back tattoo almost immediately following your last laser hair removal treatment. Unfortunately, because there will not only be changes to your back skin pigment following placement of your tattoo, but, also, different areas of your back will have different pigment than other areas of your back and shoulders, performing laser hair removal for touch up procedures may be a bit tricky. The hair removal laser energy will be absorbed to varying degrees by different skin pigment. The darker the skin pigment the more the hair removal laser energy is absorbed by the skin, and thus, the higher the potential there is for burns of the skin to occur.

Posted by Dr. Philip Schoenfeld