Has anyone had a tattoo removed? If so, what method was used and how was the experience? Particularly interested in the effectiveness and possible scarring and discoloration of the skin.

By Coopaveryben on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 10:05 am:

I personally don't know anything about this but I went to church with a lady who was a member of a gang and she had a lot of tatoo's. She had them all removed, they have left mild scares...lighter skin were the tatoo's were. She said it was a long process to have them removed and that it was more painful than getting the tatoo's and each one was around $1,000-1,500 to have removed. I don't know how she had it done.

By Palmbchprincess on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 03:43 pm:

What color is the tattoo? How large and where is it? A good artist may be able to mix up a "flesh" tone, to cover a small tattoo. (I've got to ask Nate, I remember him telling me that when Ginny's son got a bad tattoo.) The laser removal is something I have no experience with, I figure if I don't like it I'll cover it with something else!!

By Truestori on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 04:41 pm:

A good friend of mine had the laser removal done. She said it is painful but her tatoos are gone. She is very fair skinned and it didn't leave any scars or marks. It is definitly worth looking into. I know that she had to go back to get it lasered 4x before it was completely gone. Goodluck

By Bobbie~moderatr on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 12:25 am:

It all depends on the size and the colors used and where it is at. They do laser removal at my doctors office. He sub leases a couple of rooms to the techs. Anyway, I talked to her about removal because I was leafing through the before and after books. And she said that skin tone (darker the skin the more issues you have with loosing the skin color and having lighter skin left in those spots after it is over) and ink colors (deep red and black are the hardest to remove) and placement (if it is in a place that gets a lot of sun the skin is tougher than in a place that doesn't) make a huge difference as to how well they are removed. And the darker it is the more treatments it takes to remove them.
My sister had a BAD one on her back and she just went in and had them go over it with another one. She went from one she should have sued the "artist" over to a very pretty one. Yes it cost her to have it covered up but it was a lot cheaper than having it removed.

By Insaneusmcwife on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 06:22 pm:

I got my tattoo in Okinawa and decided 6 months later that I didn't really like it so I had a back ground added to it and I love it now. It cost me $60 to fix it instead of the hundreds to have it removed. I know some states (Texas) have a program where they will remove them for free but they won't just remove one they remove all or none and they won't help you a second time.