That little butterfly tattoo or strand of barbed wire seemed like such a great idea a few years ago. Now you regret the very day you chose to have it permanently inked into your skin.

Tattoo removal has made great advances within the last several years. It is now possible to diminish or erase tattoos in even the most delicate areas.

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Cathy Kant, a marketing professional, wanted to get rid of some of her ink.

"I have two tattoos. I think the one on my foot is cute, but I wish I didn't have the one on my lower back," she said.

Professionals want to help people like Kant.

"People with professional or homemade tattoos can have them removed with a quality treatment," said Leslie Forrester, a registered nurse at the Liposuction and Cosmetic Surgery Institute in Chicago. But doctors and facilities may offer any number of treatments, some of which are more effective than others.

How Tattoo Removal Works

Forrester explained how a tattoo removal laser works.

"The laser beam pulses break up the colors in the skin, your body attacks the colors and the dye fades in a way similar to white blood cells attacking an illness," she said.

Lasers use an intense beam of light that can be operated as a steady light or pulse to attack ink without hurting skin cells. Different modes are set to break up different colors, so a specific mode will be set -- warm colors, for example -- and all tattoo ink in that color will be focused upon at one time.

"Redness, irritation, light scabbing, swelling, loss of sensation and very light bleeding are all potential side effects," she said. "Skin discoloration can occur, especially when an older or unapproved laser is used."

However, there is virtually no downtime after treatments, so they can be scheduled during even the busiest of schedules.

Tattoos can be removed from any place on the body. Even permanent cosmetics, which are essentially tattoos on the face, often along the lash or brow lines, can be removed, but Forrester suggested that people exercise caution.

"Doctors must be careful when removing permanent cosmetics or gang-related facial tattoos. It can be a very meticulous process," Forrester said.

What To Look For

"Avoid doctors that offer skin grafting as a method of tattoo removal," Forrester said. Recovery is more difficult with a graft and there is a greater chance of a skin infection.

Another method to avoid is micro laser peel, which is approved for skin resurfacing but not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for tattoo removal.

"Make sure the laser your doctor uses has multiple modalities. A quality laser will have different modes for removing different colors," Forrester said. A Q-switched laser provides different pulses to remove warm dyes, cool dyes or black and gray dyes.

Is It Right For You?

Forrester said that anyone can be the perfect candidate for tattoo removal.

"African-American, Hispanic, Asian and white individuals are all excellent candidates for tattoo removal," she said. Skin color doesn't affect the effectiveness of the laser, though different dye colors can affect the resistance of the ink.

People with sensitive skin needn't shy away from tattoo removal, either.

"You will get a bit of irritation from any laser, but something like a micro laser peel will cause more irritation and potential damage," she said.

Breaking Up The Ink

Professional tattoos can be more difficult to remove than the homemade varieties. The color of the ink also affects the effectiveness of the laser.

"Black is easier to remove than bright colors," Forrester said. "Black is done first, colors are removed later."

She also debunked a common myth: "Reworked tattoos are no more difficult to remove than tattoos that are in their original state," she said.

How To Find A Good Facility

When looking for a program to rid yourself of body art, check the Internet or your local phone book to find praticioners. But Forrester suggested questions to consider when looking for a safe and effective experience:

What kind of laser do you have? A multiple-modality laser is best. Avoid facilities that offer a laser that can work on all colors at once or that offer microderm treatments.

How long have you been practicing tattoo removal? An experienced doctor is typically a better doctor. Four to five years of working with tattoo removal is generally a good start.

Do you own or rent the laser? An owned laser is typically better maintained than one that is rented and passed from facility to facility.

What kind of other experience do you have? If the doctor works on similar cosmetic procedures, he or she will likely be better at tattoo removal than a doctor who works primarily with an unrelated field of medicine.

Process Takes Months

The cost of making your skin a blank slate again varies from person to person and piece to piece. Someone getting a small black tattoo will likely need fewer sessions than someone with a colorful tattoo that spans an entire arm or leg.

"Typically, a client can expect anywhere from five to 15 sessions to remove the tattoo completely," Forrester said. Sessions are typically spaced several weeks apart, so a complete tattoo removal could easily take more than a year.

While results may vary depending on many factors, most people are content with the progress and satisfied with around 10 treatments.

Treatments can range from $150 to $600 per session.

For some people, it's money well spent.

"I'm hesitant about potential pain, but really excited to see the changes occur," Kant said.

Visit our Family section Wednesday to learn about how lasers are also used to remove unwanted hair -- permanently.

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