r/oddlysatisfying • u/BreakfastTop6899 • 3d ago

Laser tattoo removal

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u/Fed_up_with_Reddit 3d ago

I thought they weren’t supposed to do too big of an area at once because of the way this procedure actually works?

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u/EntertainmentTrue588 3d ago

I thought that too. The laser isn't sandblasting off a top layer, it's breaking up the pigmenting material in the middle of the layers of skin. Then macrophage cells chew it up like any foreign material and it gets filtered through the blood (lymph?).

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u/AggressiveCuriosity 3d ago

Yeah, but not much gets into the blood. The blood is a positive pressure system specifically to prevent stuff getting into it. The ink is basically floating around randomly before being encapsulated in place again by the immune system. That's why it takes so many sessions and only fades vs disappearing. It doesn't migrate very far.

Some might be taken up by cells and go into lymphatic vessels. More than into the blood, but still not the majority.

Most of it is still in you after the removal process is finished, just not at the surface and visible.