You can choose surgery, lasers, dermabrasion or tattoo removers in gel and cream form. All work to help get rid of an unwanted tattoo.

If you think safety is assured in the hands of a trained professional, then, "Yes", a medical procedure is safe if it goes as planned.

If what you are really asking is whether you can safely use tattoo removers at home, and avoid the cost and pain of a doctor, the answer is also yes. The tat removal industry is on the same growth curve as the tattoo industry. You see more tattoo parlors. You see more tat removal products. Not all were created equal.

Tat removers work differently. Some burn off and peel the skin. After blisters and cracking and redness go away, a little tint of the tattoo is gone.

A new generation of at-home tat removers uses ingredients aimed at drawing to the surface the deep ink of a tattoo. The ink is shed as skin naturally replenishes. This is a slow, steady erasure of ink without pain.

To be safe, look for home tat removers with ingredients listed on the labels. Some remover ingredients come with clear safety warnings, such as Hydroquinone. It has been linked to cancer and banned in several countries (not the US).

Check for Trichloracetic Acid, or TCA. Dermatologists and skin care professionals use it more or less safely, but not often on tattoos. TCA is in several tattoo removers even thought it has caused complications and side effects especially when done without the supervision of a medical professional.

Finally, at-home tat removers work slowly but surely. Laser tattoo removal sounds fast but is actually a long, expensive process. Dermabrasion and acid take repeated sessions to peel away layers of ink.

The safest option for removal is to understand it takes time.