Can My Wrist Tattoo be Cut Out And Skin Grafted?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Hello there, I have a tattoo going around my right wrist that I would to remove via surgical excision and skin graft replacement.

A: Thank you for your inquiry and sending your pictures. Excision and skin grafting of your circumferential wrist tattoo is one treament option for it. Whether that is appropriate for you depends on your understanding of the following:

1)With an exclusive black pigment this is the most responsive tattoo to laser treatments for removal albeit with the need for multiple treatments.

2) Excision and skin grafting offers immediate tattoo removal in a single treatment with the tradeoff of a skin graft appearance rather than that of the tattoo.

3) A split-thickness skin graft, while replacing the undesired skin area, does not create normal looking skin compared to the surrounding skin. It will create a wristband like appearance.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon