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Frosting
Frosting
Frosting is the white response to tattoo removal and is the exact side effect we actually want to see in the first couple of treatments.
This reaction indicates that the laser has targeted the ink effectively. The frosting only lasts temporarily, often visible for the first 5-10 minutes.
What is frosting?
The laser causes the rapid local heating of the ink pigment, forcing the water particles to the upper layers of the skin giving the white colour.
This is not a blister. Once more ink is removed in further treatments; it is less likely to see this frosting.
Technically, our laser machine has a photoacoustic (light and sound) response. The acoustic effect is a creation of a shock wave that propagates throughout the dermis of the target area causing the tattoo pigments to shatter (the energy profile of that shock wave prevents the generation of heat).
The vibrational effect causes a rapid heating of melanosomes converting the cells water into steam, giving the frosting response.
This frosting prevents further penetration of laser into the skin due to it scattering the laser light.
