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A woman has revealed the results of her painful laser removal after having a skull tattooed on her face and hands.
Alyssa Zebrasky, from Cleveland, Ohio, had a colourful Day of the Dead skull tattooed over her face four years ago while in a 'toxic' relationship with her ex partner.
You can watch a video of her progress below:
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Following the tattoo, Alyssa was arrested - and ended up having her mugshot taken - three times in six months.
After attending rehab and a drug court program, she's since committed to turning her life around and has been attending a number of laser sessions in order to remove the tattoo.
"Looking back at those pictures, I just feel disappointed in myself," Alyssa said.
"But I have to remember that I hadn't worked on myself or tried to learn how to love myself as I have now.
"So then I feel proud because change is possible and healing and learning new things are possible. I like being able to look back and see my personal growth."
Alyssa was able to sign up to 'INK-nitiative - a charitable programme in Austin, Texas - where she can have the tattoos removed, but it's not an easy or quick process, and is very painful.
In the video, she describes her hands as hurting 'pretty f***ing bad'. She also said that she has been struggling with pain across her face too.
"When I first started going they did my cheeks, forehead, and hands because like a tattoo your body can only heal so much at once,” she continued.
"Now the cheeks are gone but we haven't started around the mouth yet.
"The cheeks were fairly painless, but I have gotten my nose done once and the nose hurts pretty bad.
"Each session is 20 minutes, the sitting session is way faster than a tattoo itself."
Describing what the laser removal feels like, she added: "The initial pain from the laser I would relate to having a rubber band snapping against your skin, that's what the laser feels like and then like afterwards it's sore for 30 minutes.
"It welts up afterwards and there's some pain almost like if you spilt oil from the stove on your hand, that's the closest I can compare to what it feels like on my hands.
"On my face, it doesn't so much burn but [there's] swelling."
Topics: Life, Sex and Relationships
Lucy Devine