If a person decides to get rid of his or her tattoo later on in life, there are many options for tattoo removal. Perhaps they regret the giant bald eagle on their head because of a spur-of-the-moment decision. Possibly they could not get a job because of the tattoo. 

The tattoo could also have been poorly executed, gang related, or there was an allergic reaction. The most efficient means of tattoo removal is by laser, but it is also the most expensive. There are three different types of lasers that are used mainly for tattoo removal: Q-switched ruby, Q-switched alexandrite, or Q-switched nd:yag lasers. To remove the tattoo from the person's skin, different colors of laser light are used. The light is absorbed by the tattoo pigments and breaks the ink into small pieces. The pieces of ink are then absorbed by the body's immune system. Three to ten removal sessions are usually necessary. Black and blue inks are the easiest to remove, yellow and green are the most difficult. 

If the wearer of the unwanted tattoo does not have enough money to remove the tattoo by laser, there are many other (more painful) options for removal. Excision is the surgical removal of tattoos when a surgeon will literally cut the tattoo out of the person's skin Dermabrasion is the scraping of the tattoo out of the skin with a razor blade or sand paper. Salabrasion is the scraping of the tattooed area with a salt rub. If these sound too extreme, then there is still hope for you, too. You can have the tattoo re-worked by a different artist to try to enhance the picture, or you can have the old tattoo covered up by another darker, larger one.