What's It Cost to Undo a Tattoo?

At age 16, Kimberly White got tattoos of a rose and a heart with vines on her breasts.

Since age 19, she's regretted them.

Now 38, she's having them removed.

"I just hate them, and now I can afford it," said White, who lives in New Cumberland, Pa.

What once was thought permanent, is no longer.

Tattoo removal is more readily available and effective than in the past, but it often costs more than the tattoo itself -- in pain and dollars.

Tattoo removal by specialized, high-intensity lasers is increasingly popular and often the most effective method, experts say.

But complete removal may require eight to 12 painful sessions, and price varies depending on the size of the tattoo and the ink colors used.

The average cost per square inch locally is $50 to $100 or more a session.

"A tiny cross the size of my baby pinky fingernail would be $25 a session, for example," said Hillary Lebouitz-Schaefer, a medical aesthetician and president of Lebo Skin Care in York Township.

Tattoo removal is generally considered a cosmetic procedure, so insurance usually doesn't cover it.

Solid green or blue ink in a tattoo will bump the price because Lebouitz-Schaefer rents the laser and pays extra to remove those colors -- the toughest to erase.

Also extra is the application of numbing cream -- $75 per five or six sessions, she said.

Many compare the pain of the laser to flecks of hot grease hitting the skin -- 300 to 400 flecks as the light pulsates.

"Like 10,000 bumble bees stinging you," White said, wincing after completing her sixth session at Lebo.

The laser works by directing high-intensity energy at the tattooed area for a fraction of a second, passing through the outer layer of the skin to disrupt and break up the pigment beneath. The body's immune system then carries the pieces away as the skin heals.

Patients wait eight to 12 weeks between sessions so that the body has time to heal.