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.

There are a variety of products out there that fall under the unofficial term of “tattoo removal creams”. These products are primarily sold online. They do not require a prescription or any visit with a doctor or medical professional. One of the biggest selling points is just that – you can buy them online and use them in the privacy of your own home, without seeing a doctor or going in for treatments. Additionally, there is no pain involved in the application of these creams to the skin. This is a big contrast towards nearly all tattoo removal methods, such as laser removal, dermabrasion, excision, and rejuvi, all of which cause considerable pain and discomfort for their administration.

There are many different brand of tattoo removal cream. This includes Wrecking Balm, the most popular and widely available tattoo removal cream, and others such as Tat B Gone, Tattoo Off and Tattoo Away.. While there are even more removal creams than these, by far the two most popular products are Tat B Gone and Wrecking Balm.

Both of these products claim that they will fade or remove a tattoo through the use of repeated applications of their cream to the skin. This means applying a “topical” lotion, gel, or cream – and by topical, this simply means at the surface of the skin. Both Wrecking Balm and Tat B Gone kits have a handful of products included, that are to be used together. For instance, a person might use one gel first to prepare the skin, then a second gel that’s supposed to act to remove then ink, and then a third gel to finalize the process and rejuvinate the skin.

It’s unclear to many how these products work. Many consider the manufacturers claims to be more marketing and hype than anything else.
However, there are many online reports from people claiming that through the use of a tattoo removal cream product, they did in fact see a significant fading of their tattoo. For this reason, it’s fair to say that the products work to an extent. However, having a tattoo entirely removed at the level offered from laser removal, for instance, is a controversial claim.

It’s worth considering that tattoo removal creams may in fact work in the sense of fading a tattoo slowly. In this sense, cheaply done tattoos and tattoos that are already faded and old may respond better than newer tattoos with high quality ink.

For someone considering tattoo removal, these products are very inexpensive and do offer a money back guarantee. Note though that it can take many, many months of applications before the desired results can be seen. The total cost of so many treatments or tattoo removal kits can eventually outweigh what was originally perceived as a cheap tattoo removal method.