………Day 19………………………………Day 34…………………………Before Application
The colors are still darker than when I started, which is unfortunate. The redness is nearly gone. The distinct line around the right hand side of the tattoo is clearly visible and could very well be a permanent scar, we’ll see. All the drip marks are barely noticeable. The areas that are reddish in color on day 19, are more of a pale tan color (close to skin color) now. There isn’t anymore peeling at this point.
I have the same distinct line, and has never gone away. I’m using scar treatment daily and while it’s beginning to fade slightly, it’s a dark brown against my pale skin.
I’m actually pretty pissed about, as I think it’s a “side effect” that should be mentioned.
pastperfect–did the TCA work on your tattoo??
Yes. The TCA is working – however it’s removing ink fairly unevenly. There’s whole sections that are fresh skin with no ink left, and others where it seems no ink has been removed at all.
It’s removing the tattoo, but I’m scarred pretty badly. I’ve been using it at 50%, and honestly am spending more in Scar treatment creams than I did in the TCA. but I have to keep going at this point despite being scarred because it would look absolutely ridiculous to leave the ink as it is with chunks missing.
while on one hand initially I said I would rather have a scar than a tattoo, now I’m even more humiliated when I started and am praying it works. I’m probably going to have to see a dermatologist when I finish (pending if the TCA even removes all of the ink.)
i’m doing nuviderm too.. i haven’t posted a blog on myspace about it yet though because i want to have more definitive results… so far i have used 2 treatments on one tat or 1 on one.. One is showing more promise than the other, kinda weird…if you wanna see my progress or share stories about it email me at ms.catamaran@yahoo.com
Sorry to hear that, I hope it works! what if you tried doing less strength? would it still work?I have been reading all about this online and it’s nice to hear from someone who’s using it because it was something I was considering…
I think at this point I’m so scarred it doesn’t matter if I went weaker or not. I have thought about it though. I honestly if I were you would look into another method unless you can deal with scarring that is going to be pretty noticeable. I have a tat on my back also, and I am going to look into the procedure of just going to a tat artist and having them try to match it to my skin tone. I’ve been reading and apparently if it’s done right, it can be pretty convincing looking.
That’s really interesting. I purchased cover up from MAC, works okay. I checked into laser treatments– have to wait a year– the tattoo is still fairly new and they will not perform treatment before a year bc it could scar into you instead of remove it. That would be $250 per session roughly for usually around 10 sessions which who has that kind of money so I was seeking alternatives….
Good luck with yours, keep us posted
Yeah, this is precisely why I chose to try TCA. I had blue/green tats and was basically told laser could cost me thousands.
its my 14th day and my tattoo already fade a lot. in about a week ot two, i will apply another application and hopefully it will actually fade.
mixblzmami, what color is your tattoo? I have one that is a symbol – all black. Don’t know much about how difficult it is to remove all black tattoos – if they are easier or harder to remove. Do any of you know? And how long do you have to wait between treatments? I’d like to give Nuviderm a try since I’m not even close to shelling out thousands on a professional solution yet.
miche, my tattoo is green and red, but its not dark and bright. its just a name so it wouldnt take a long time for it to come off. and it all depends on your skin color.
I hope this works out well for you. I was looking into this like you because it isn’t so terribly expensive and has the added bonus of not being nearly as painful as laser. It sounds like it’s caused a lot of worry on your part. I think you’ll be Ok as this is a medically approved process for tats. But it does give me pause and reason to be weary.
Funny, I wanted a really good tattoo artist to enhance the mediocre tattoo I already had and he told me I should just have it removed for him to start over. Ouch, that’s a lot of money, pain, & time. Maybe I’ll forget about it or find a different guy seeing removal is so difficult.
Seems there is reason to hope for you seeing this is your first application I think and it takes 4-6 weeks per application and 4 to 6 and sometimes even up to a dozen applications they say .
on the other hand I’ve been reading some more and it sounds like these chemical peels tend to leave the scarring you’re talking about as well as have mixed results. I’m not sure. If it’s not much worse than when you started scarring-wise maybe it’s best to be left alone.
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http://www.tattooremovalinstitute.org/gpage4.html
What one woman said:
I don’t know if I am allowed to say which chemical peel I used but I guess they are all the same so it doesn’t really matter. I just wanted to tell everyone save your money. FORGET IT. I was just stupid. It sounded fast, easy and cheap and I did not want to hear anything else. I never paid attention to how in the beginning it said no scarring and then in a few other places it said “will result in permanent scaring”.
Anyone have any ideas what I should do. This blotchy mess that left scars is on my neck. I am so ashamed. Please if you have an idea what to do let me know.
Amanda H.
Sorry for all the posts. Two cream products that don’t cause scarring or pain that sound like they Might work are TatBGone and tattoo-off. Both are mentioned in the blog link in my post above.
(Daniel)
I really don’t want to come off as ranting, but personally scarring and pain doesn’t bother me. Professional laser removal, skin graphs, any tattoo removal service has a chance of causing pain and/or scarring. I posted the Nuviderm directions under the first application blog, and they do specifically state that the higher concentrations cause scarring. The saying..”if it’s too good to be true, it is” saying has always come to mind when I come across products that seem to good to be true…tattoobgone etc. Personally, I know that companies can and do employ full-time staff to blog and write forum feedbacks about their product to increase sales…I’m pretty skeptical when it comes to forums about products. I see my hideous tattoo as a scar anyways, ha (unfortunately) a little more scarring isn’t going to bother me at all. I figure it’s worth a try. As for TCA in general, in very low concentrations it is used for facial peels, acne and numerous other procedures, lower concentrations mean many more applications needed though, higher concentrations mean less applications and more scarring, its a give/take deal I would have to say. After reading about the tattoo artist that wouldn’t cover your tattoo, I would for sure get another opinion! There are artists who specialize in cover-ups. I wish you luck with that, but I bet with some looking around you’ll find a confident gifted artist that can cover up anything! I think I’m going to step down from my soap box now. Not to bash anything, I’m just the type of person who has to experience a product for myself before I can truly believe the statements towards it as true or false. Hence this blog ha.
IAWTC, about having to experience it. However when I went into nuviderm I was told even in a higher concentration, chances of scarring weren’t so great, but the higher you went the higher it got. Even talking to someone using a higher grade than me said he thought he’d have a little scarring, but nothing bad. Considering the scarring I have from using 50, I’d be terrified to see the results of higher. Luckily for me I can hide this scar, and while for right now it’s an extremely “emotional” process and very hard on me, I know when this is all over, should I actually be able to remove all of the ink successfully, there’s options out there with dermatologists and plastic surgeons that can make the scar less noticeable. I think right now, I’m caring less about the scarring and am more terrified that nuviderm is going to only remove 80% of the ink leaving a mess AND a scar on me.
I think honestly, whether you use Nuviderm though, or ANY tca product at all, you are going to run the risk of not all the ink being removed or having scarring issues, and the more you research about TCA the more you’ll see. I knew going in the risks, but chose to do it anyway. Daniel, I would definately seek a second opinion, I’ve never heard of a tattoo artist who first recommends removal and then a second tattoo unless the 2nd tattoo is of a totally different shape/size/color scheme which they couldn’t blend.
From the various companies though that I’ve seen TCA sold through, honestly if I did it all over again I’d stick with Nuviderm because their customer service is good and isn’t shady like TatBGone and Wrecking Ball.
not sure if anyone is still checking into this, but I just began laser treatment, after trying a chemical peel. I want to reassure you that that dark shadow will go away eventually, however it took over a year for that ring around my tattoo to go away. I acutally found a tattoo shop that does laser treatments for much less than a dr. office, $100.00 per session it hurts like hell and I blistered pretty bad however no scarring so far. It’s going to take several treatments but I’m already starting to see fading. The shop uses a very high quality machine so when checking into laser treatments do your research. I’m just glad I’m starting to get results and almost more instantly than a chemical peel
ugh! has anyone out there had GOOD results they could share???
Yes, I used 50% TCA to remove a tattoo with no scarring. My skin is pretty pale and the tattoo wasn’t done too well however. I only appled 1 or 2 layers each time, just enough to get it barely whitish.
I read that using 50% Glyocolic acid and then 35% TCA has the same effects as 50% TCA with a much much lower risk of scarring.
Another tip: if your skin is anything more than slightly sensitive or itchy after the day of application, you should be using less.