There is more than one cost of tattoo removal. Usually when people think about the cost of tattoo removal they think about the money that comes out of your pocket to pay the surgeon. But there is more to it than that. There is also the physical pain associated with removing the tattoo and the mental pain that goes along with wanting to remove a tattoo which was supposed to be permanent. Depending on the type of tattoo removal procedure that you use, the out of pocket cost varies widely.

Your first stop when deciding to remove a tattoo, should be to a dermatologist. The doctor will look at your tattoo and discussion your options, taking into consideration the age of the tattoo, the size, and the color. All of these go into determining the best tattoo removal option that you should use.

The most popular way of removing a tattoo, is through laser or a pulsed light procedure. These procedures are different, but basically, they both use light to break up the pigment in the tattoo. After the pigment is broken up into microscopic particles, the body will eliminate it naturally. These procedures are the most expensive, with the pulsed light being the most expensive. Each treatment can cost upwards of $200, and most tattoos need 5 to 10 treatments. It is not uncommon for a large colorful tattoo to cost $10,000 or more to remove.

Dermabrasion, salabrasion and excision are also surgical procedures to remove tattoos. These procedures sand off or cut out the tattoo. All leave an open wound so there is a high chance of scarring and infection. The cost of tattoo removal by these methods could be about $2,000.

If you want to go for a painless and less expensive method, you can try tattoo removal creams. These work by rubbing in creams that break down the pigment and fades it away. This methods take several months to see an effect - if any. One month of cream can run $100 or more.

If it’s just the design of the tattoo and not the idea of having a tattoo at all that is bothering you, you can get a tattoo cover up. Find a tattoo artist that specializes in cover ups and you can get a new tattoo with no traces of the old design.

Recently it was reported that tattoo related terms received more searches per month then most adult related keywords. This has spawned a huge growth of websites selling flash tattoo designs. You can go and visit these sites and for $10 or so find a tattoo design. You can then download this design and take it to your local tattoo parlor and get a new tattoo.

Well, for many this has become the Achilles heel so to speak of the tattoo art industry. Buying tattoos this way is definitely contrary to the main reasons people get tattoos. Tattoos and the tattoo industry has always held that tattoo art was the last bastion of personal expression and freedom in America. You see most tattoo enthusiast feel that the tattoo they get are very uniquely theirs and a tattoo, being something you have to live with for a long time, should say something about yourself. So these huge flash tattoo sites come along and sell thousands of the same tattoo to people. These same people go to their local tattoo parlor and get a new tattoo and soon they are sporting it around town feeling proud to assert their individuality. However in reality they have just copied a bunch of other people and probably ended up with a tattoo that says nothing interesting or unique about them. They just bought the design because it was popular.

The other sad part of this phenomena is that most tattoo artists are on the loosing end of the proposition. The big websites that sell tons of designs often have had some graphic designer just create a bunch of low quality tattoo designs to sell. The designer was not even a tattoo artist in the first place. However, the tattoo artists out there are now losing tons of business to these larger companies. That is not to say all tattoo sites selling tattoo designs online are doing this. Of course there are some that have taken this into consideration have have worked hard to value the artists for their original ideas and work.

However it still leaves the tattoo enthusiast who just got the same tattoo as thousands of other people out in the dark. Think about what is going to happen when that person is at a concert of some large public event and a guy comes up to him and says, :hey cool man nice tat.” The guy turns and the notices that the speaker is sporting the same exact tattoo. Here he thought he was unique and individual and doing something really cool. What is one to say in that kind of situation? Other then start looking at all the tattoo removal adds online there is not really much.

It is for these exact reasons that a few websites have started popping up on the internet that have solved these basic problems. At the time of this writing there are in fact only two sites on the internet that have effectively dealt with both of these problems. They are custom designed freelance tattoo art websites. That is kind of a mouthful so I will explain what each of those terms means. It means that a person wanting a unique tattoo design can go to the site and post a job. Then tattoo artists from around the globe can come and bid on the job to design a great custom tattoo to the individuals specifications.

This is really the best of all worlds as it encourages tattoo artists and pays them fairly for their abilities and skills. It also create a unique tattoo to the exact specifications and desires of the person getting the tattoo done. It is a really great way to solve the problem and these sites have had a high rate of customer satisfaction and repeat business from both the tattoo artists and the tattoo enthusiast.