That tattoo may have seemed like such a great idea a few years ago. But after a bit of time has passed, one may begin to question whatever possessed them to permanently ink certain words or imagery on to their body. Some especially regrettable tattoos are those containing the name or memento of their now defunct true love. Or perhaps an image that seemed so cool when one was a teenager now seems foolish and embarrassing. Let's face it; much body art has been selected impulsively, on a dare, under peer pressure or while intoxicated. Some tattoos are elegant lifelong expressions of art while some are great big examples of "what was I thinking?"

If you've adorned your body with a tattoo that you now regret, there are a variety of methods available to help you to remove it. Removal techniques on the market today include dermabrasion, salabrasion, pulsed light treatment, excision, saline injections, lasers and a variety of tattoo removal creams. Some methods, however, are more effective than others.

Dermabrasion is a procedure performed by a dermatologist or plastic surgeon using a rotary hand tool to basically sand off the top layer of skin. This abrasive method will need to be repeated several times in order to get to the deeper layers of ink.

Scarring may occur. Salabrasion is an older method and probably not the most effective. It uses salt as the abrasive agent to wear away the ink. Intense pulsed light treatment is a procedure in which the tattoo is broken up with beams of intense light. Excision refers to a surgical cutting away and suturing of the area and would be best used for tiny tattoos in order to minimize scarring. Saline injection has been tried with mixed results in the skin. The saline tends to blur and therefore decrease the visibility of the unwanted images.

The removal creams come in a large variety and are not the most effective. They are similar to the bleaching agents sold at your local drugstore in order to fade skin complaints such as sun spots, freckles, etc. Lasers are probably the most sure-fire ways to erase the ink images. There are different types of lasers that are used by plastic surgeons or dermatologists in order to remove the ink. Different colors of ink require different types of lasers which are called the ruby, Q switched, and the YAG.

If it's finally time to get rid of that regrettable ink that you still wear on your skin, make an appointment with a plastic surgeon or dermatologist in your area who specializes in removal in order to find the best method for you.