Before lasers became popular for tattoo removal in the 1990s they were often removed using one or more sanding methods.

Dermabrasion was the more common method and involved manual abrasion (sanding of the skin) to remove the layers of skin on the tattooed area (epidermis) as well as the middle layers of skin. As you can imagine, this can be a painful process, especially with larger tattoos. Usually the majority of a tattoo could be removed using this method, but with some tattoos dermabrasion is not successful. This method has been known to cause scars.

The procedure makes use of either a fine-grit surgical sandpaper, caustic acids, a dremel-like sanding machine or an acrylic nail sander. The procedure is often performed under local anesthetic (such as lidocaine) or local & oral/IV sedation. Ice packs are often applied to the skin up to 30 minutes prior to the procedure.
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