There are times in life when you wish WhiteOut could blot out a mistake, such as a tattoo you have changed your mind about. At one time the only way to remove a tattoo was with another tattoo which isn’t exactly removal but modification. This is no longer the case.

Dermatologic surgeons have developed safe and effective techniques to successfully remove unwanted tattoos, according to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.

Laser surgery: The surgeon removes the tattoo by treating the pigment colors with a high-intensity laser beam. This offers a bloodless, low-risk, highly effective approach with minimal side effects. Sometimes, multiple treatments may be required.

Surgical Excision: The surgeon removes the tattoo with a scalpel and closes the wound with stitches. Side effects include a chance of skin discoloration, infection and scarring.

Dr. Amy Gregory, cosmetic medical physician from First Glance Skin Care, said she uses only lasers to remove tattoos. Gregory is board certified and specializes in laser surgery. She said the size of the tattoo determines the cost of tattoo removal.

“Black is the easiest to remove … because the lasers that we have see that color and they are able to fragment that ink up,” Gregory said.

She said bigger tattoos are more costly to remove while removing small ones usually starts at $100 per square inch. Laser tattoo removal usually requires three to 10 visits.

Monica Brown, Permanent Cosmetics manager, said they have two ways of removing tattoos. One technique is to color over the tattoo with skin-tone ink.

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