You just had to run out and get that tattoo of your girlfriend's name on your arm, because you just knew you two would always be together. The next week she stomped out on you, and you've tried to move on with your life. However, every day you look in the mirror and see her name on your arm, which makes it almost impossible for you to forget about her. Getting rid of your girlfriend was the easy part (unfortunately) - trying to remove the tattoo of her name is going to be much harder.
Tattoo removal is not an exact science, and most doctors will tell you that there are no guarantees that a tattoo removal will be successful. However here are some of the most popular forms of tattoo removal that are available today. Excision is probably the most extreme form of tattoo removal, because it consists of cutting off the skin that has the tattoo on it, and then sewing the skin back together. This removal process is painful and usually results in some scarring of the skin. The next method of tattoo removal is dermabrasion. This form of tattoo removal is basically the equivalent of wetting your skin and then sanding on it until the tattoo does not appear anymore. This is definitely a very painful method of tattoo removal. Another method of tattoo removal is sometimes referred to as cryosurgery. This form is similar to dermabrasion, except a freezing agent is applied to the skin before the skin is sanded off. The most popular method of tattoo removal available is the Q-switched ND laser. This method results in the least amount of scarring and yields the best results, especially on red, blue and black inks.
In my humble opinion, the best method of tattoo removal is making sure that you get a tattoo that you really like, because none of these removal techniques are much fun. However if you do get a tattoo that you begin to regret, there are some options for removing it.