Can My Tattoos Be Serially Excised?

Q: Dr. Eppley, For a while now I have been trying to remove all of my tattoos with laser and it is definitely working! The thing is, although they are black, as with every tattoo,  full removal could never be guaranteed till the end. 

That’s why I decided to ask an actual reconstructive surgeon to see if a THEORETICAL plan b could work. I repeat that it is THEORETICAL and I would just like to understand if the idea could be carried out on paper, even if it doesn’t translate precisely in real life, due to complications or risks.

I will slice my plan in two sections:

1)The first 3 tattoos  (the gun, the letters on the hand and the numbers):

• Do you believe those tattoos could be excised or serially excised?

2)The other 3 tattoos (the one on my neck, the brain on the shoulder and the jaguar on my stomach).

• Since they are  larger, could I ask if tissue expanders could THEORETICALLY be placed, so as for the surrounding skin to stretched enough for the tattoos to be excised.

I know that expanders have been used on the stomach, the shoulder area and the neck for burn reconstructions and I am also aware that they carry particular risks, especially on the extremities, such as ruptures, necrosis, infection and etc. Taking the obvious risks aside, which I have fully accepted, could this plan be done in the worst case scenario?

It probably won’t come to that at all and I will exhaust of my efforts on laser, before even considering surgery. But just knowing that such options exist, would give me so much relief and allow me to not depend only on unpredictability.

A: Your tattoos are too big for any method of serial excision. The scars they would leave by so doing would be worse than the residual tattoo pigments left by the laser treatments.  You will have to stick with laser treatments and see how much they can accomplish.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World Renowned Plastic Surgeon