There are historical methods for tattoo removal such as removal with salt or specially made pastes. Also the simple excision of a tattoo is one of the methods, which are surprisingly still performed today.
Today’s gold standard for tattoo removal, however, is and remains the removal of tattoos with the specialized, pigment-specific, q-switched, q-switched lasers. Their invention in the 1960s revolutionized tattoo removal. Ultra-short pulses and selective absorption in the desired pigment gave a new dimension to tattoo removal.
A further technological innovation with a remarkable effect on the clinical course has now been achieved with the Enlighten III laser from the Silicon Valley-based company Cutera.