– This is not a normal reaction – VG

Markus Johnsen was far from prepared for the reaction he had after the laser treatment. Eight years and eight treatments later, the tattoo has not yet completely disappeared.

Johnsen got his first tattoo at age 18. Afterward, the 27-year-old began to regret the ink and wanted to have it removed.

The solution consisted of several laser treatments over eight years.

Each time he had reactions in the form of pain and rashes. After the third treatment, the reactions worsened.

Large blisters filled with blood appeared all over the forearm.

– How did you react when you saw the blisters?

– I probably stressed a lot, because it was extremely uncomfortable. I was not prepared for such a reaction. Especially not when they say it should be gentle on the skin, says Johnsen.

Without any pain relievers, Johnsen suffered for up to two weeks. She explains that she did not have the ability to work, exercise or be social.

ATTENTION! There are strong images in the gallery:

Johnsen went to two different laser clinics, where he received a total of eight treatments. He has read ahead of the possible side effects.

– When you read “small blisters”, this is not exactly what you imagine, he says.

Nor was it cheap for Johnsen to try to remove the tattoo.

He estimates that he spent NOK 10,000-15,000 on laser treatments.

– Then I paid NOK 10,000 for the tattoo as well.

It was after the third treatment at Sait Medical Center in Kristiansand in 2015 that Johnsen claims he had the most serious side effects.

According to Johnsen, the clinic staff must have seemed surprised at how badly they reacted to the treatment.

However, he claims he was told not to see a doctor. A doctor at the clinic drained Johnsen’s blisters.

– When I walked in, they said I needed to relax and that they should drain the blisters, says Johnsen.

– If I hadn’t been good at healing the wound, I would have been full of scars.

Pedro Sait of Sait’s Medical believes it is incorrect that Johnsen was encouraged not to see a doctor.

– He received treatment and antibiotics with us. All patients receive an information sheet on possible reactions after treatment, as well as the phone number of the therapist who can be contacted directly, writes Sait in an email to VG.

Sait is a doctor and specialist in general medicine.

– No normal reactions

Reza Sohrabi is a specialist in dermatology and venereology and a dermatologist in Dr. Dropin. He reacts to the images of Johnsen’s laser-treated tattoo.

– This is not a normal reaction. Here we see that the skin was burned by the laser and developed severe blisters, Sohrabi says in an email.

Explain that a laser treatment will cause redness and sometimes some sores or blisters, but that a reaction of this magnitude is not common.

Sohrabi believes that the cause of the reaction is that too much force has been used in relation to what the skin tolerates.

A reaction of the kind that Johnsen had impairs the skin’s barrier function, so bacteria can penetrate more easily and cause infections, the dermatologist explains.

There is also a significantly higher risk of scarring.

– Sometimes it happens that patients have small wounds and some blisters after laser treatment, but it is very rare to see such an extension as shown here in the pictures.

Important with a serious player

It is much easier to prevent such an injury than to cure it, explains Sohrabi. His recommendations are to go to a serious professional for treatment, preferably a dermatologist.

– This is not what you would expect from a dermatologist’s treatment. In Norway, however, it is not necessary to be a specialist to use a laser.

If the damage has already occurred, you should first contact the person who caused the damage. If you are not offered help or if your trust has been broken, Sohrabi recommends seeing a dermatologist.

A complicated matter

– It is true that a too powerful laser was used given the reaction it obtained. It was a huge tattoo with several layers of color particles that needed to be removed, and thus increases the risk of strong reactions, says Sait.

– Obviously it’s something we don’t want to happen.

Sait explains that new lasers have come to market since Johnsen’s treatment.

– Removing tattoos is a complicated matter. Ordinary people don’t understand what it is, says the doctor.

Emphasize that the reaction to tattoo removal is not similar to, for example, hair removal.

Laser tattoo removal, according to Sait, involves blasting the color particles into pieces, so that the immune system cleans them through the lymph nodes. It can present challenges if the tattoo has multiple layers or many colors.

The patient is at risk of developing blisters in a relatively short time, he says. If there are no infections and the blisters are treated correctly, there will be no scarring.

The doctor likens it to a rubbing wound.

– The best thing is to let it go, that is, do not regret it, do not remove large tattoos with deadlines, says Sait.

According to Sait, the clinic has had the tattoos removed since 2005 and points out that all patients are made aware of the risks before treatment.