Enlighten Treatment Review: Laser Tattoo Removal Procedure

Editorial Review

Pros:

• Safe and effective. Faster clearance of tattoo ink than older devices.
• Can also help with skin tone and texture.
• Results are very predictable with low risk of complications from a certified provider.

Cons:

• Tattoo treatments can be painful and often require local anesthetic (topical anesthesia).
• Tattoo removal is a lengthy process, can sometimes take more treatment sessions than expected.

Things You Should Know:

• There is some post-treatment downtime with crusting and swelling of the treated area.
• Even though picosecond lasers can be more effective to remove resistant tattoo's, it is still difficult to remove tattoos in their entirety. Multiple treatments are still required to achieve good results.
• Certain bright, neon colored inks can be more difficult to eliminate completely.

Most Common Use Cases :

• Tattoo removal with a variety of colors.
• Various pigmented lesions.
• Experimental treatment of Melasma.

Physician Testimonials

"While picosecond lasers are the most effective devices for tattoo removal, they remain difficult to remove in their entirety and multiple treatments are still required to achieve good results."  Jeffrey Dover M.D.

"Mainly for tattoo removal, but we are now using it for melasma as well with very nice results." Rick Green, M.D.

"The Enlighten is quick, effective, reliable and reproducible. I do use local anesthesia to numb my patients so they have no discomfort during the treatment." Manu B. Aggarwal M.D.

Additional Information

Procedure Description:

Enlighten features short and high-power picosecond laser pulses which efficiently and quickly break down the ink particles in tattoos. A 'picosecond' is one-trillionth of a second, and is 1,000 times shorter than the 'nanosecond' pulses used in existing lasers for tattoo removal. Picosecond laser pulses have been shown to remove tattoos more completely and in fewer treatment sessions than traditional laser used historically in the past.

Typical Clinical Applications:

Tattoo removal, benign pigmented lesions.

Best Patient Candidates:

Male/female, ages 20s-60s, skin types I-VI.

Other Patients Considerations:

Removal of tattoos.

Enlighten US Procedure Cost & Price Range:

$350-500 per tattoo treatment (based on the size of the tattoo).

Average Number of Treatments Needed:

Tattoo removal: 4-6 treatments.