[Rat-tat-tat]

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Oakville resident Lon Katzmann wouldn't dream of removing any of his many tattoos, despite the diminishing free space on his upper body.

"I have no drunken tattoos," he says, noting his German family crest, Bible verses and a crucifix on his back. "Every one I've had I've thought out."

For those who do have regrets, the road back to clear skin is painful and expensive, explains Dr. Sachit Shah.

Shah, who operates his B.C. Laser and Skin Care Clinic in Vancouver, puts his patient under a local anesthetic. He uses a special laser to break down the ink, which the body's white blood cells dispose of.

It takes several treatments over six months to a year to be rid of the tattoo. Beginning at $50 per treatment, Shah tells his patients that removal usually costs 10 times what the tattoo cost. One of his clients spent $37,000 to get a large tattoo removed from his back.

And there is the wait factor.

One young woman came in after having permanent makeup — lips and eyeliner — tattooed on her face.

But the lip tattoo was badly done one side of the woman's lip appeared bigger than the other. The woman was in tears, but Shah wouldn't touch the tattoo for three months until the ink set.

In the early days, tattoo ink is mobile and the laser would spread the ink, staining the skin, he explains. The clinic taught the woman how to camouflage the mistake in the meantime.

Other methods of tattoo removal include creams, dermabrasion and excision. Larger tattoos may require taking skin from another part of the body for a skin graft.