The laser starts it.
Your skin finishes it.

The first 72 hours

You leave the clinic with no bandages. Expect swelling and redness for 24 to 72 hours, and skin that feels like a mild sunburn — that is the treatment working, not something going wrong. Older removal technology left people bandaged for one to three weeks after every session; the square-spot laser here lands its energy evenly, which is why the aftermath is this ordinary.

Keep the area clean and dry, and leave it alone. A cool compress is fine for comfort. Small blisters can appear on some treatments, especially early ones — do not pop them, and do not pick at any scab that forms. Skin that is left to heal on its own schedule heals with the least risk of marking.

While it heals

The rules between treatments are short and worth taking literally:

• Keep the skin dry. Showers are fine; long soaks, pools and hot tubs are not, until the skin has settled.
• Keep it out of the sun. If it has to be in the sun, cover it with SPF 50+ and reapply often. No tanning beds, no spray tans — arriving with a fresh tan means being sent home, because treating tanned skin risks hypo-pigmentation.
• Nothing on top of it. No ointments and no bandages over the area — the skin does this best uncovered.

Between treatments, the real work happens

The laser shatters ink; your body carries it away. That is why treatments sit five weeks apart at the start, moving to six and then eight as the removal progresses — the gaps are not padding, they are the treatment. It is also why the tattoo keeps fading for weeks after each session. Judge progress at your next visit, not in the mirror on day three.

Areas with better circulation clear faster: ink on the chest or neck generally moves quicker than ink on a finger or a toe. Both get there — extremities just take longer.

When to call

You get printed aftercare instructions at every visit, and they outrank anything on a web page. If something looks or feels beyond a mild sunburn — spreading redness, real pain, a blister you are worried about — call 734-629-5434. Ryan checks in the day after a first treatment anyway; you will not be bothering anyone. For anything that feels like an emergency, treat it like one and seek medical care first.