Colorado Doctor First In Nation To Have New Tattoo Removal Technology
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (CBS4) - It's the latest laser touted for erasing tattoos, and a Highlands Ranch doctor says his office is the first in the nation to have it.
4 on Your Side Health Specialist Kathy Walsh went to check out the new technology. She found some people who said they got some tattoos when they were young and foolish, and now they want them erased.
Eryn Harker had a big tattoo right in the middle of her lower back.
"I was 21; it was just something I wanted to do," Harker said.
Fifteen years later she wanted it gone.
"I'm ready to have sort of a clean slate. My mother's probably very proud that I'm getting rid of this," she said.
Harker hoped Dr. David Verebelyi at Colorado Skin Care could erase her impulse ink with what he considers the best tattoo removal technology on the market.
"This laser fires at one-billionth of a second," Verebelyi said.
Verebelyi explained the high-powered laser creates shock waves that break large particles of ink into tiny ones. But he says the brand new technology goes deeper with no hot spots and can treat almost any color.
"(It's) safer and it works better," Verebelyi said.
Harker admitted that it hurt.
"It feels like getting a tattoo," she said. "It's just, you know, same thing, pin pricks."
Still, Kara Vest believes the pain is worth the gain. At 16, Vest got a Christian fish on her foot then added a Celtic knot.
"It was a total mess," Vest said.
She's had two treatments with the new laser to remove her mark of regret.
"You can't see any of the exterior part of the tattoo at all," she said.
Patients need to ice for 4 hours after the laser treatment. There may be some swelling and possible blistering, but in 4 weeks they are ready for another round.
So body art that once seemed essential can eventually become invisible.
The cost of the laser treatment starts at $95 and goes up depending on the tattoo and the number of treatments needed.
Verebelyi has had the laser for about a month. He expects to use it not only on tattoos but birth marks and brown spots as well.
LINK: Colorado Skin Care
