How Does Saline Tattoo Removal Work?

Saline tattoo removal works by drawing ink out of the skin rather than breaking it down internally, which is what makes it fundamentally different from laser removal.

During a session, a sterile, single-needle machine works a saline solution along the existing lines of your tattoo or eyebrows, following the pattern already in your skin. Saline solution has a much higher salt concentration than the fluid inside your skin cells, so through osmosis, your body pulls fluid out of those cells to balance it out — and that fluid carries trapped ink particles with it, up through the layers of skin toward the surface.

That ink-laden fluid dries into a scab, which needs to be left to shed naturally over the following days. As it sheds, it takes the lifted ink out of your body for good. Full fading from a single session continues for around 8 to 10 weeks as the new skin settles underneath.

Because nothing is broken down internally and no heat is involved, the process is repeated in further sessions — spaced 8 to 10 weeks apart — until the tattoo has faded or been removed to the degree you're after.