It's a boxy monolith the size of a Xerox copier, with an LED panel and a dizzying array of buttons and switches. The laser, shooting pulses of radiated light into your epidermis at nanosecond intervals, explodes the tattoo ink into a zillion tiny particles. Your body absorbs the particles, and they wash away in your bloodstream. It feels like a huge rubber band snapping against your skin. Then it feels like sunburn for about an hour afterward.
Most patients claim that it feels like flecks of bacon grease spattering on their skin.
A topical anesthetic is applied to the tattooed area, but if you're worried about the pain you can usually get sedation. A professional tattoo may require anywhere from three to 10 laser sessions, each session spaced about a month apart, with the exact number of treatments depending on the type and amount of inks used in your tattoo. Black, blue and red are the easiest to remove. Orange and purple are harder, green and yellow harder still. The total cost can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, depending on the inks, size and intricacy of your tattoo.