TCA, known as Trichloroacetic Acid, serves multiple purposes. It is used by cosmetologists and dermatologists to make the skin peel in order to remove wrinkles and unsightly lines in the face that are not desirable. On the other hand, it is also used for another cosmetic purpose-tattoo removal.
Now, in some cases, people can in fact remove a tattoo completely with TCA, and in other cases, they cannot just rely on the acid to make the tattoo fade away completely. TCA causes skin cell turnover, which causes the skin to peel. For several people, this will be enough to fade the tattoo. This does not necessarily mean that it will make the tattoo go away. If it does, it will probably take several treatments with TCA to be rid of the tattoo. Other people opt to use TCA until the tattoo is well faded, and then pay for laser removal treatments to finish the tattoo removal process. This is a good way to go for some people who are not sure if their skin will be completely rid of the tattoo by just using TCA tattoo removal. This also saves anyone money who plans on getting a tattoo removed, because the TCA peel tattoo removal fades the tattoo enough that there will be fewer treatments left whenever they move on to laser tattoo removal.
Although this used to be one of the only ways to remove tattoos, that does not make it the most effective, or the safest way to remove them. In some people, TCA for tattoo removal causes skin irritation around the site of application, blistering, soreness and redness, and other conditions. Some people use pain or numbing medication before application because it hurts more in certain individuals. Due to the pigment of some people's skin, they cannot even use TCA without having highly unpredictable results, including a loss of skin color around area of application.