[Screwston]

[Emancipator]

If you start an tattoo removing business will you be ready to remove anal tattoos?

[churros]

Does anyone have experience with getting tattoos removed? I wonder whether the rates are cheaper in Colombia, alongside other forms of plastic surgery.

[Zona]

Churros, I finished the removal process of one of mine a little less than a year ago. I have no idea what it would cost in Colombia, but if you have any other questions about the process then feel free to ask.

[Teutatis]

I'm interested in getting rid of mine, how much did it cost, how long did it take, and are you happy with the results?

[Zona]

I think a lot of it depends on the quality of your tattoo to begin with. I don't mean the artwork aspect of it, but more in terms of its age, type of ink, ink depth, etc.

Mine was a shitty "prison style" tattoo on my leg that I had gotten as a dumbass teenager. It was probably around 8 years old when I started the process, although not terribly faded, and maybe 4 square inches in size. I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 up front for the entire removal package.

I ended up going to a place called "Dr. Tattoff" that specializes in laser removal. Their business name is pretty dumb, but I was very pleased with their pricing and services. I would definitely suggest checking them out if any of you guys live in Southern California, Texas, or Atlanta.

They did a consultation where they analyzed my tattoo and gave me an estimate for how many sessions it would take, as well as how much it would cost. They have a guarantee that, should you choose to buy the package, then you simply pay the total amount and if it takes any treatments beyond what they initially estimated, then those are all on the house. So basically you know what it will cost up front (and it was much cheaper than I had anticipated), and then they'll do as many treatments as you need to fully remove it. Unfortunately they underestimated the amount and depth of ink in mine, as they told me it would probably only take about 5 sessions. It ended up being twice that many, but like I said, you only pay for what they initially quote if you buy the package.

The process ended up taking a bit less than 2 years from start to finish. When you get your treatment you then have to wait for 7-8 weeks before going in for another one. This is so that your body can process and filter out the ink particles. If the tattoo is in an area where there is lots of blood flow (like on your torso) then your body will process it faster. Mine was on an extremity in an area without as much blood flow, so that's probably why it took a bit longer.

I am incredibly happy with the results. The ink itself is completely gone. There is a bit of faint scarring left over, perhaps from the laser itself. It basically burns the shit out of your skin, although some sessions were worse than others. Still, it looks so much better and people would never be able to tell that there was ever a tattoo there. My only regret is that I didn't start the process sooner.

[Teutatis]

Very nice, thank you for describing the process. I'm going to start looking for a place.

[scotian]

I've had two treatments to remove my tattoo and it went the same as Zona described above, I'll have at least another three before I can consider a cover up. Prices in Canada seem to be all over the place, I paid $250 for my first treatment in BC and $150 for the next one in Alberta. Depending how the treatment goes, I may not do the cover up if they can remove it all but my tattoo has red and blue so that may difficult.

Word of advice: Never be in a rush to get inked, don't cheap out on your tattoos and if you can't afford to go to top tattoo shops in your city, its worth waiting!