Laser Tattoo Removal Guide

Tattoo removal is a costly, long term endeavor. Unless a tattoo is very, very small and has little color, it usually takes many months to see it fully removed from the body, no matter what method is used (with the exception of excision, which simply removed the tattoo all at once via surgery).

In this article, we’ll look at the cost of various tattoo removal methods. This is done for the sake of completeness, and is not an endorsement of these methods. For more information on each method, include the problems and risks associated with them, click on the corresponding link for more information on each tattoo removal technique.

Laser tattoo removal. Priced by a number of factors, including how many square inches of tattoo there is to remove, the colors used in the tattoo inks, and how many laser pulses are used in each treatment session. A good rule of thumb is to estimate that a tattoo the size of 3 square inches (about 3 US postage stamps placed together) would cost $150 each session, and could take 5-10 sessions.

Rejuvi tattoo removal. Similar to how laser tattoo removal prices are structured, the cost of rejuvi treatments depends on the total size of the total and the colors used. Treatments are broken down by pricing different areas of the tattoo by the square inch. Expect treatments to cost about $90-$120 per square inch treated.

TCA tattoo removal. Priced by the bottle. This is a cheap tattoo removal method often costing around $50 for a bottle. For example, Nuviderm, the most popular TCA containing tattoo removal product, costs $39.95 for a 1 OZ bottle. This is said to remove (“or extremely fade”) a single tattoo of 3×3 size.

Dermabrasion tattoo removal. Dermabrasion is priced by the size of the tattoo and number of sessions needed to complete it. It’s likely to run in the thousands of dollars for the removal of a tattoo.

Excision tattoo removal. For small tattoos, excision is relatively inexpensive, although it’s not without it’s problems. (See entire article.) A small piece of tattoo work can likely be excised for under $200. Larger pieces will cost substantially more, as it not only involves a bigger area of work, but additionally work for skin grafting and suture placement.

Tattoo Removal Cream. Tattoo removal creams are usually sold in kits or bundles, each corresponding to a number of treatments. For instance, a month long supply with daily treatments may run about $50. A 6 month supply may cost $300. There a number of different tattoo removal cream products, such as Wrecking Balm and Tat B Gone, but prices between competing products are largely in the same ball park.

As you can see, tattoo removal costs are very high, possibly costing up to $10,000 for a large tattoo that would require 15+ visits at a laser removal clinic. It’s estimated that most tattoo removal services end up costing about $1500-$3500. Something to keep in mind about the cheaper methods is that even over the counter products which are sold for $50 can end up costing hundreds of dollars if it takes 6 months of daily treatments.

Getting a tattoo removed usually costs as much – if not more – than the original price tag of getting that same tattoo originally. In other words, it’s not an inexpensive procedure. In fact, the cost of tattoo removal is one of the biggest problems people face who no longer want their tattoo; they simply cannot afford to have it removed.

Or can they?

While consulting with a laser tattoo removal clinic and learning that it could cost in the thousands of dollars to have their tattoo removed, many people give up at that point.

But what they might not be aware of is that many laser clinics are accustomed to helping people finance the cost of laser removal. Many of these laser clinics offer a variety of health and medical services, beyond tattoo removal, such as laser hair removal. These services are very often financed and not paid for all at once. The same is true for tattoo removal.

What sort of services are offered in this regard? There’s basically 3 ways patients can go about paying for laser tattoo removal.

1. Pay as you go. In this payment plan, a person pays for the services as they receive them. For laser tattoo removal, this means paying for the cost of individual laser treatments at the same time of each individual session. Note that while the total cost of laser removal is quite expensive, since it’s done in multiple sessions, people need only to cover the cost of one session at a time when doing the “pay as you go” plan.

2. Direct financing with the laser tattoo clinic. In this set up, a person works out a payment plan directly with the clinic. This basically means you agree to pay X amount of dollars per month until the total cost of all treatments is covered. This may or may not include interest – most likely, it will be free of interest. There may be some sort of monthly fee tacked onto the bill though for the convenience of financing.

3. Medical loans or other loans. This type of payment involves taking out a loan with a company, probably at a high interest rate. Many loan companies exist whom specialize in medical and health related loans. If possible, seek a bank loan with a more reasonable interest rate over medical loans, assuming the interest rate works more in your interest (no pun intended!).

Of course, the type of payment plans offered depends entirely on each individual clinic. Some may only offer services to those who can pay upfront whereas others may work with patients to secure a loan or offer direct financing between the clinic and the customer.

All this amounts to seeing that while laser tattoo removal is unfortunately quite expensive, there are reasonable options out there for financing its cost. Mostly likely one of these solutions can work for you if you are determined to have your tattoo removed.