A medium black tattoo on the forearm reached 50% fading after 5 sessions at Rosenberg Plastic Surgery.
Before (session 0) and after (session 5) at Rosenberg Plastic Surgery.
The tattoo
A medium black tattoo on the forearm on Type II skin (fair, tans sometimes but often burns), 5–10 yrs old when treatment began.
Fitzpatrick Type II is favorable: tolerates standard energy settings with minimal pigmentation risk.
The forearm drains adequately but sits further from the major lymph nodes of the torso.
Older ink benefits from years of natural immune-driven fading: macrophages have been working on the particles throughout the tattoo's life, reducing effective density before treatment begins.
Timeline
5 sessions over years.
Sessions were spaced 7 weeks apart.
The laser
Rosenberg Plastic Surgery treated this case with the PicoSure, a picosecond platform.
For black ink, it operates at 1064 nm with a pulse duration of 550 - 750 ps.
PicoSure's black ink adapter (1064nm) is considered largely ineffective by most experienced providers; the native 755nm is its strength.