A question I occasionally get asked is, "Which is easier to treat, new ink or old ink?" Well, it seems that there is a benefit to having ink for a longer period of time. In many cases your body will attempt to break down ink on its own over time so your own immune system, given enough time, will very slowly help ink resolve. That said, it takes a really long time to make a difference - years in fact! So to properly answer the question I'll put it this way. If two twins received the exact same tattoo on their 18 birthday and one was treated on his 19th birthday while the other one waited until he was 80 years old. The twin that waited all those years would possibly need a few fewer treatments and would also possibly see faster resolution of his tattoo with each treatment. The bottom line is that very old tattoo probably respond a little faster to treatment but waiting and additional 50 years (or more!) is probably not a reasonable option. On the other side of the coin, as we age we can see a decrease in the efficiency of our immune system so it could be suggested that laser tattoo removal would not work as well in someone with advanced age. I tell patients that they should wait at last 8 weeks after getting their tattoos before they consider tattoo removal and that waiting a few extra months or even a few extra years will not make much of a difference in their overall experience with laser tattoo removal.
Dr. KIRBY
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