In 2008 I decided the time had come for me to get my tattoos removed. They were an expression of a rebellious phase in my life having to do with a former best friend of mine. I looked at some tattoo removal places and called each one about prices, removal time, effectiveness, etc.

The cheapest laser removal place was over $700 per treatment to start and they said up front it would likely take at least seven treatments! I wouldn't have that kind of money ($4,900 at least) even if it were an emergency—I'm in the working class!

Further research of my own online told me laser removal can permanently depigment the skin (even if you're Caucasian), can make the tattoo ink darker, is likely to cause burn scars, and will hurt like hell, all of which every laser place I'd called had neglected to mention.

I was relieved when I called the last place—Jo—and found out there was an alternative to laser. She said she couldn't give me a proper estimate on the phone so I set up a (free) appointment to see her.

When I got there she looked over my tattoos and quoted them at $200 per treatment for the one and $100 per treatment for the other. She was very honest and upfront about all the technicalities: effectiveness of treatments would be somewhat unpredictable because of factors such as different tattoo inks—types used by parlors and colors of the tattoos, time elapsed since getting tattoos, how deep the tattoo artist went and how much ink they used, time I took between removal treatments, location of tattoo on body, unique body chemistry of person being treated, etc.

She gave estimates on how many treatments she thought each tattoo would take but made it clear those were estimations and she'd need to see how the tattoos responded to treatment to make a more accurate prediction. She also said a minimal amount of scarring might occur (which would be lessened if I followed her post-treatment instructions to the letter).

Also, I was very concerned about how cleanly everything would be since I of course don't want to get any diseases or infections. I was glad to find out she has to be licensed by the state and follow their guidelines for standards of sterilization just like tattoo artists.

I really appreciated how forthright she was, being open about everything so I could decide whether I was comfortable with it all or not and wouldn't have any huge surprises or disappointments along the way. I decided to begin treatments.

The process of tattoo removal is often disappointing because it's so easy to get a tattoo that foolishly we kind of expect it to be nearly as easy to remove them. This is never the case.

The one tattoo is in an obvious place so it was the main focus of removals and took more treatments than she expected, partly because at times I couldn't afford more treatments for a longer time than she recommended to wait and partly because the tattoo artist was overly aggressive and really overdid the tattoo, making it much more obvious than it was supposed to be because it suited his personality and not mine. But eventually she gave me a price break on it. And she used anesthetic every time, each time becoming more proficient with her technique so that the treatments have become actually quite mildly painfully for the kind of thing it is. It still hurts but nowhere near as much as getting a tattoo or the first couples or so removal treatments.

The key thing to remember with the tattoo removal process is "Have Patience". It may take four treatments before you see big improvements but also as you get a tattoo removed you kind of forget how pronounced it was to begin with so it's good to keep a photo around of how it looked before treatment. Also, if it's old the treatments draw the ink to the surface so it will look more obvious after the first treatment, then begin to reduce after the second treatment.

In my opinion getting old tattoos removed is very rewarding. It's much better than saying to yourself, "It's no big deal, I keep it covered, no one knows it's there". That's a lie—you know it's there and it does bother you. I think we owe it to ourselves to remove things we now hate from our bodies. Other people may tell us, "No one can tell it's there so don't waste your money and time on it" but if it was on their body they'd probably want it gone just as badly (especially if it reminds them of an ex, former friend, or attitude/time of their life that no longer defines them). And the longer you wait the harder it is to get tattoos removed because the ink settles down further (that's why older tattoos look dulled). And as you get older your body is less resilient to infection and will therefore be less able to ward off infection when the skin has been broken so it's best to get removal treatments sooner and take lots of vitamin C and other vitamins to keep your body healthy.

My only real complaint is that after she moved to her new location she could no longer bring her cute tiny dog to work.

By the way, I think all eight grade kids should be forced to see someone getting tattoo removal treatments, hear their stories of why they want it removed, and see how money removals cost so they'd never, ever get any tattoos. If I'd known all of this ahead of time I would have done something with my friend like buy matching necklaces or charm bracelets! Seriously—print out this testimonial and show it to any young person you know right now.

-James from Portland