Up until recently, the best thing and the worst thing about tattoos is that they were totally permanent. When we hold strong feelings; about a person, a belief system, a political or social ideology or an opinion on what we consider beautiful, we truly believe we are going to feel that way forever. Sometimes we do feel that way forever, but then again, sometime we don't.

There are a lot of reasons people choose to have a removed. The classic one that we all hear about is the "we'll be in love forever" tattoo. If you have a girl's name tattooed on your chest and you've been broken up so long you don't even remember what color her eyes were, it's probably time to have it removed. Another one that gets removed quite a bit is the "youthful outlook" tattoo. You may have been angry and cynical in your younger years or you may have been the butterflies and fairies type, but 15 years later that outlook may seem like another lifetime and the tattoos that go with it seem like they belong to someone else.

As people who have tattoos we no longer have to live with decisions we made five, ten or even twenty years ago. We can have the tattoos we regret or those we no longer identify with removed.

The bad news is that although removing a tattoo is an option, not only is it more painful than getting the tattoo, it's also much more expensive. Laser tattoo removal, which uses pulses of light to target and break up the ink, can cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on the size of the tattoo and whether or not color was used. Multiple sessions of laser therapy are generally needed. There is usually some scarring and occasionally a lot of scarring. Improvements in technology have reduced the amount of scarring, sometimes to almost nothing, but in most cases, scarring is still a consideration.

There have been other medical forms of tattoo removal over the years, such as excision, microdermabrasion or Intense Pulsed Light Therapy (IPL) , but the scarring, the cost or the pain involved were much more than the equivalent with laser tattoo removal. Because of this, these methods aren't used much anymore other than in special circumstances.

There are tattoo removal creams on the market, however there is no widespread evidence that they work to remove a tattoo, although there can be some fading for some people. If you can't afford laser tattoo removal and just want to give tattoo removal cream a try, there are some things to keep in mind. Tattoo removal creams can include harsh or dangerous intensities of chemicals or other ingredients that can damage your skin or can cause irritation or allergic reactions in some people. If you want to try to use a tattoo removing cream, it's best to discuss it first with a dermatologist, who can point out any potential safety issues regarding the ingredients.

Just like getting a tattoo in the first place, the decision to have a tattoo removed can be a long process. By weighing your options carefully, you will make the decision that's right for you.