"Remove the tattoo?"The ink won't go away. It's absorbed into your body"...pee/sweat [overseas]

*This content was translated by AI.

The ink doesn't disappear during laser treatment, but it's absorbed by the body

Immune cells are recognized as foreign substances and send them out in urine, feces, and sweat

You're going to get rid of tattoos? The truth is that ink goes into the body.

The New York Post reported the truth of tattoo removal on the 16th (local time). Many people think that the tattoo ink just disappears when exposed to lasers, but in reality, the ink enters the body and is excreted in urine, feces, and sweat.

Tattoo removal usually requires 4 to 10 laser procedures. The laser heats the tattoo pigment to 300 degrees Celsius to break the ink particles into small pieces.

According to the Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery, when the laser touches the skin, the energy absorbed by the pigment is converted into heat, and the chemical bonds inside the pigment are broken into small pieces as if glass were broken.

So where do these ink pieces go? It's in the body.

Immune cells recognize it as a 'foreign substance' and remove it

Finely broken ink particles enter the skin. Then our body's immune system works. An immune cell called a macrophage is called, "What's this? "It's a foreign object!" he says, and begins to wrap the ink pieces around and remove them.

At the same time, the lymphatic system moves. The remaining pieces of ink are judged to be waste and are sent out of the body.

Eventually, tattoo ink comes out of the body as one of sweat, urine, and feces.

The New York Post said, "For example, you can pee a tribal tattoo engraved on the hip bone."

"The way the body removes ink depends on the color of the tattoo," said Dr. Humann Korasani, a plastic surgeon. "Ink is discharged through sweat glands, kidneys, and liver. "It's literally sweating tattoos, peeing, or pooping," he explained.

Tattoo ink is made of metal or minerals. Black contains iron and yellow contains cadmium. Depending on this component, the type of laser required varies.

"In the case of multi-colored tattoos, some respond well to lasers, but some do not come off at all," Dr. Corasani said. "It is made of different metals and minerals for each color, so it responds only to specific lasers."

The colors that are easy to remove are black, brown, and blue. On the other hand, yellow or green doesn't come off well.

The location of the tattoo is also important. It is easy to remove arms and back that have good blood circulation, but fingers and toes do not erase well due to low blood circulation.

If so, will removing the tattoo change the color of the urine?

Experts say, "That's not the case." Eating beet or kale can change urine color, but the amount of tattoo ink is not large enough to change urine or fecal color.

No matter how big the tattoo is, you can't see the ink coming out.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.