So at the age of 18, I got a cute flower tattoo on my shoulder. Two years later, after working through some personal problems, I decided to add an om to the tattoo and expand the design… (yoga had helped me recover from a bad depression)… the artist basically screwed up and I have since had another artist "fix" the design.
Now, it is quite large and something I have grown to hate.
Laser removal is possible, but extremely expensive and time consuming and painful.
Surgical excision is my 2nd option but will leave a rather large scar.
Cant decide whether or not to go ahead w the removal, or to maybe add to it, making it a larger "piece" and living w it…
Stressed. Ugh.
Please help. Maybe someone out there has gone through the same thing?

Few several years I have been wanting a tattoo on my lower back. I thought long and hard about the placement, size, and design. I was sure it was something I wanted. Well, I finally got the tattoo and it doesn’t look anything like what I wanted. Now I’m starting to regret getting it. I still love the concept of the tattoo, but I’m just not happy.

1. does the tattoo removal cream actually work?
2. how long would laser removal take?
3. can a I get another tattoo in the same spot after I get the current one removed?

The design is purely gray and black. It is about 6 inches high and about 6 inches wide. I got it less than a week ago.

Please, if all you’re going to say is "You’re stuck with it" or "try scraping it off" don’t answer. I would really appreciate honest and helpful replies. Thank you in advance!

looking to get some stuff faded on my arm from elbow to the top of my hand…everything i have there basically goes from the lightest grey to a few black lines…not many…wondering if anyone has good experience with this application…laser removal is out of the question cause its so expensive.
well i just want to lighten them to add on to them…not remove em all together. i do not regret any of my tattoos i just want to make it easier to add on to since its so dark…i am currently 40% tattooed, workin on the other 60%

Its about three years old, 4 inches in height, its placed between my hip bone and pelvic bone and rather low. I got it during my "dark" time I guess you could say, lol. It was supposed to be a "gothic" butterfly and I guess from the area it was placed it healed fuzzy and now looks like a dragon. Would I be able to cover it with another butterfly using brighter colors like fuschia and such? I have another tattoo on my back that I have done one session of laser removal and I will NEVER go through that again! I can live with that one…..so what are my options? Live with this one or is a pretty cover up possible?

Thanks,
Jodi

http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt233/jgcrovetto/DSC02398.jpg

One of the businesses booming (along with the medical profession and pharmaceuticals thanks to the "hepatitis C-tattoo" alliance) as a consequence of the tattoo-craze is the dermatology industry. According to the American Society of Dermatological surgery, over 50% of everyone receiving a tattoo wants it removed.

Tattoo removal via laser surgery is among the fastest growing areas of the dermatology industry.

Depending on the size of the tattoo and colors used, the laser tattoo removal surgery can be very painful and very expensive. Tattoos performed by commercial tattoo parlors are much more difficult to remove because the tattoo is deeper, the ink more complex and thicker. It normally takes between 10 and 15 laser surgery sessions to remove the average tattoo, but 25-30 sessions are not uncommon, depending on the complexity of the tattoo. When you consider the average single session costs between 0 – 0, the removal surgery can be very expensive, costing as much as ,000. That tattoo might cost 00 to remove. And may I remind you, health insurance does not cover tattoo removals – this is strictly out of the pocket expenses. And yet despite this enormous personal cost, most people are so disgusted with their tattoo they’ll literally pay any cost to have it removed.
Plastic Surgeon Tolbert S. Wilkinson, of San Antonio, Texas, who has removed tattoos warns:

"If people only realized how difficult it is to remove a tattoo, understood how costly and how painful tattoo removal is, and recognized that society as a whole still views tattoos as a stigma, maybe they would think seriously before getting one.
Laser removal costs a minimum of ,000.00 (national average) per tattoo, and takes at least 10 to 15 treatments, spread out over two or more years. Even with this treatment, the tattoo is still visible." http://www.heloise.com/tattoo.html

Tattoo author Laura Reybold, writes that ". . .an ever rising number of people are so unhappy with their tattoos that they are willing to pay anything to have them removed."

"Yet an ever rising number of people are so unhappy with their tattoos that they are willing to pay anything to have them removed. Tattoo removal laser surgery is becoming big business for the dermatologists who perform it."
(Laura Reybold, Everything you need to know about the dangers of tattooing and body piercing, p. 30)

Ronald Scutt, says in Art, Sex and Symbol that even among sailors in the Royal Naval, over 50% regretted ever getting a tattoo. And among the married it rose to over 70%

"From the statistics of the Royal Naval survey, the most significant factor to emerge was almost certainly the incidence of regrets. Out of the whole sample, more than half admitted that they wished they had never been tattooed. In the married group, the figure rose to around 70 per cent."
(Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 179)

One article claims that as many as 80 percent of people with tattoos regret their tattoo. (www.spacecom.af.mil/hqafspc/News/News_Asp/nws_tmp.asp?storyid=02-93)

I am trying to get rid of a very small tattoo that I did with India Ink. It is an anarchy sign with very thin lines and it is approx an inch in diameter. I am just wondering about your opinions on laser removal. How many treatments would it take for India Ink? What is a fair price for removal of such a small tattoo? I thought about using cream at first to fade it so I wouldn’t have to pay for as many treatments, but all of the good reviews sound like advertisements and it sounds like a scam. Any of your input would be appreciated.

Got a tattoo on my upper-back 3 days ago.

It is the outline of the biohazard symbol in black ink.

I live in the Central Coast of California, near Monterey Bay.

I am looking for answers as to how much Laser Removal would cost into getting my tattoo completely removed.

Again, it is really new, so, if I go within a Month’s time, would it cost less to remove?

The total size is about 3 inches by 3 inches.

Please, serious answers only.
Thank you so much.
Since my tattoo is so new, is there anything I can do besides laser treatment? Thanks

I have a black tribal tattoo and want it off. But I am in college and can’t afford laser removal. I have heard too many mixed reviews on tattoo removal creams. I would just like to know which ones work.

i have a tattoo on either wrist i got when i was younger. and i dont wanna get the laser removal too expensive. so is there skin colored ink i could get put over my tattoos to make them less noticable?
i mean i wanna cover them up for good. not just with make up ..

I have a tattoo that’s on my wrist that’s about 3-4 inches and light to medium blue of a wave. I got it one night drunk as hell and I want to get it removed. Are there any type of creams that work? Or is laser removal the cheaper way? If so how much? Sorry for all the questions, but thank you in advance for all help.

I have this tattoo that I HATE! I have other tattoos that I love, but this particular one I got on an impulse and it looks horrible. Initially I was gonna have it covered up with another tattoo, but now I’m not so sure. I just wish it was completely gone, but I’ve heard that laser removal is expensive and usually not covered by insurance. So does anyone know if those "tattoo removal creams" actually work? I have heard of one product called ‘wrecking balm’ but I’m wondering if it really works or is just another gimic? please some insight!

I KNOW i cant get rid of them, unfortunately :\ But they’re ruining my self condfidence, I cant even be naked in a light room with my boyfriend.
Is there anything that can minimalise them? i.e

bio oil, etc..?
creams or cocoa butter?
any types of make-up?
skin-coloured tattoo’s?
and finally, laser removal?

How effective are all these above, from personal experience or otherwise.

I’m not too concerned about costs, I just really need to reduce them :\

I have them on my arms, stomach, back and waist.
Horrible, I know

My roomates and I at college gave ourselves tattoos on our feet with indian ink and straight pins. We thought they would fade after a few months…but its been 7 months and they are still there! Is there any way we can remove them without having to pay a ridiculous amount for laser removal??

I want to join the Navy but I have a tattoo above the neck line (behind my ear). I’m planning on getting it removed by laser treatment but I heard that if you used a tattoo fading cream before hand, it will take less sessions for the laser removal process!?!? If this is true, I’d love to save some cash on unnecessary treatments.
I already discussed it with my recruiter and he said nooooo way can it be above the neck line no exceptions! And tattoo parlors that offer tattoo removal are doing it illegally…they’re not licensed to do so. Only doctors.

I’m in Nursing school, accepted based on grades alone… But, I have a tattoo on my wrist of the theatre masks that I got two years ago, before I believe that I would ever choose Nursing. At the time, I had planned to go into some kind of Art. Anyway, I’m not happy with the tattoo, never have been, but I’ve never been able to afford having it lasered off. Of course, I still don’t really have the finances to do it, but I don’t want to have all the qualifications and grades, and be declined because I got a stupid tattoo on a whim.

The tattoo is about an inch high and an inch wide, all black ink.

I’ve heard about some people using that Wrecking Balm stuff, but I’m a bit of a skeptic. At this point, I’m willing to try anything, but I’d like to avoid expensive laser removal for as long as I can.

Does anyone know about this Wrecking Balm solution, and if it actually works? My uncle said he tried it, but it only faded his tattoo. Of course, his was much bigger and much older than mine…
Well, it’s visible, and I know I’m not going to have the option all the time to wear long sleeves or jewelry considering I want to be a nurse.
Ella: The site you listed is based in England. I’m in the US.

What’s the best make up to use that’s found in the US?