[Removal of amateur and dirt tattooing with the Q-switched ruby laser].

The Q-switched ruby laser with a wavelength of 694 nm and a pulse duration of 25 ns causes selective damage to skin pigment. This laser has produced good to excellent results in the treatment of amateur professional and traumatical tattoos, and also of benign pigmented lesions such as lentigines, ephelides, café-au-lait spots and Becker nevi. We report on three patients with amateur and traumatic tattoos, which were removed by Q-switched ruby laser treatment without leaving scars.