You’re young, you’re in love. You know it will last forever. So you have his name tattooed on your chest — right over your heart. But then the unthinkable happens: you break up and now you’re left with a daily, permanent reminder of a love gone wrong. Now what?

Well, if your first boyfriend’s name was Tim, falling in love next with a guy named Jim would be the easiest solution. However, if your new love is, let’s say, Vladimir, you’ll have to have your tattoo removed through laser treatments.

Katherine Ward is a Medical Aesthetician at the Randali Centre For Aesthetic Medicine at 160 North Pointe Boulevard in Lancaster. She has heard all the reasons for wanting tattoos removed. She sees the above scenario a lot. But she’s also seen other situations: Mid 20-year-olds now realize their tattoo is not going to go over well during the interview at the law firm. Young professionals come in per their boss’ “request” to get their tattoo removed. Many young teachers have found themselves in this predicament, also.

Still there are some who are simply not happy with the way their tattoo turned out and want it changed. And then there are others who simply want to remove the daily reminder of a time in their life that they wish to forget.

The process itself can be very expensive: It starts at $400 and it can take 3-5 treatments to remove the tattoo. It depends on how deep the tattoo is, how much pressure was used to make the tattoo — all variables based on the tattoo artist’s technique. A good thing to remember: Black tattoos are easier to remove than green ones. The process can be painful, but as Ward says, “If you can endure the pain of getting a tattoo, you can endure the pain of having it removed.” She describes the pain as being shot with hundreds of little rubber bands by a machine gun. Various numbing agents are used to help with the discomfort.

Doctor Alice Cohen, owner of the Randali Centre, states these statistics: “One in seven people have a tattoo and 50 percent at some point in their lives want it removed.” “People have to be mindful that $50 and 20 minutes of your time getting a tattoo could cost you thousands of dollars and hours of time in uncomfortable laser treatments getting it removed later on,” she said. Unless, of course, you’re in the 50 percent who don’t want their tattoos removed. And, unless, you are like Tom Henderson who, while getting one tattoo is “already thinking about the next tattoo I want to get.”

This article originally appeared in Lancaster Newspapers