Home Tattoo Removal Does It Work?

On a warm summer afternoon several years ago I was sitting on a bench, enjoying the sun and having a sandwich with a friend in San Francisco's financial district. A nicely dressed man in his twenties walked by, and it was hard not to notice his very visible tattoo. He had shaved part of his head and had tattooed just above the hairline F * * K! (he had the whole word spelled out). I commented to my friend that this guy might have second thoughts about his tattoo as he aged and began to lose his hair. What seemed really cool in our youth often doesn't play so well as we mature.

You had your reasons to get your tattoo (or tattoos) in the first place and now you have very solid reasons for wanting it or them removed. Fortunately, a tattoo isn't the for-life proposition it used to be. Today there are several options available for removing unwanted tattoos. To decide which option is best for you, you will essentially have to balance cost, time - and pain.

The most widely known tattoo removal procedure is laser removal. Laser tattoo removal can cost several thousands of dollars, depending on the number and sizes of tattoos to be removed. It can cause permanent scarring. It can take multiple treatments over a long period of time. It can cause a great deal of pain.

At the other end of the spectrum are tattoo removal creams and gels. The big upside with them is that they can be applied at home, essentially on your schedule (within the guidelines for the product you choose). They aren't cheap, but are relatively inexpensive when compared to the other alternatives. The treatment can take many, many months. There is no pain involved. The big downside is that some tattoos aren't completely removed.

What some people do is combine the home tattoo removal with the laser surgery. They use the creams or gels to fade the tattoo and then get laser treatments. This involves less cost, less time - and less pain.