Older treatment methods are still available to remove tattoos. Unfortunately they usually carry an unacceptable high risk of complications and often deliver vastly inferior results.
Organic Creams
These chemical compounds cause irritation and encourage the body to stimulate an inflammatory reaction resulting in expulsion of the cream and the ink. The result is a very high risk of scarring, unwanted depigmentation and prolonged recovery time.
Surgery
Skin grafting involves surgical excision of the tattoo followed by removal of skin from another area of the body to treat the original wound. The result is 2 separate areas of scarring.
Dermabrasion
This involves aggressively stripping off layers of skin, using a mechanical sanding device, either superficially or deep down into the dermis in an attempt to remove the tattoo pigment. The result ranges from partial thickness to full thickness scarring.
Acid Tattooing
Acids can remove tattoo pigment either by bleaching the skin or by expulsion of the tattoo ink during the acid burn healing process. The result is usually unacceptable high levels of scarring and pigment change and only partial removal of the tattoo.
Camouflage
Although not removal, this cover up method is a temporarily effective measure to disguise the presence of an unwanted tattoo