Photo by Travis Pratt Dr. Michael Warner of The Cosmetic Skin Surgery Center has performed tattoo removals with laser treatments.

"The tattoo guy suggested I add something to it," she said. "And four hours later I walked out of there with a multi-colored fairy that went halfway up my shoulder.

"He gave me a really good price, too, $200," added Crouse, who lives in Berkeley Springs, W.Va. "It probably cost between $2,500 and $3,000 to have it removed."

Frederick artist Christina George, 37, also recently had a tattoo removed, an arm band with a Celtic design she got at 24 with a very clear purpose: "To rebel against my father."

"He was okay with my brothers having tattoos," she explained, "but forbid me from getting one."

"The tattoo never really pleased me though. I didn't think it through, maybe something different, a different place."

She finally got the tattoo erased, like Crouse, through laser treatment at The Cosmetic Skin Surgery Center in Frederick by Dr. Michael Warner.

"I only heard 'I told you so' once from my father," George added. "That was enough."

Crouse said she'd previously attempted to remove her tattoo with a chemical peel she purchased online that had left her arm badly scarred prior to treatment. Warner said he's had clients who attempted to remove their tattoos with acid, oven cleaner and boiling water, among other homemade remedies.

According to a study published in July by the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center that tracked patients at four dermatology clinics in Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts and Texas, of those who seek tattoo removal, significantly more are women, 69 percent, than men, 31 percent. The study estimated one in four women would like to remove their body art -- a potential boon for the laser treatment business -- though removal is neither cheap or easy.

"Painful," George said.

"Like getting poked with something really hot," Crouse said.

Both, however, say they are happy with the results.

Laser tattoo removal involves a series of treatments, typically eight to 10, during which an intense laser beam light is pulsed over the tattoo in order to break up the ink without harming the normal skin. The time to treat a tattoo depends on the size of the tattoo and the number of colors. A small single color tattoo may take five minutes per treatment; a large multi-color tattoo, maybe a half-hour per visit.

George said she heard about Warner's office through her hairdresser who'd had a tattoo removed previously. "Another thing women talk about with their hairdresser, just like where you get your nails done," George said.

Both Crouse and George also fit the demographic in the Texas Tech study, obtaining their tattoos at approximately 20 years of age, providing self-expression and self-identity. However, the possession of tattoos, cited first as a quest for uniqueness, turned into concerns around stigmas, negative comments and clothes issues -- more so than men -- although Warner estimated that his tattoo removal clients split closer to a 50-50 female-male ratio.

The most popular reason for removing a tattoo, even more common than wanting to erase a name of a former boyfriend or girlfriend, is that the person's peer group has changed. This was the case with both Crouse and George.

Crouse, who has another tattoo, a small butterfly below her neck she got as a teenager, said she's grown out of wanting something visible on her arm. Once she started working for the IRS in Martinsburg, she began wearing long sleeves to work.

"Plus, I couldn't really wear dresses anymore," Crouse said. "I'm not saying you can't go out and look 'girlie' with a tattoo, but it's just not who I am anymore."

George said she decided to get her arm band removed after she began student teaching. She said the elementary school children were just too distracted, and high school kids made inappropriate comments. Ironically, with her strong interest in drawing, she'd once considered becoming a tattoo artist. Now she has advice.

"Think about it," George said. "Take six months. A month at least. And think about what you're getting and where and why and what meaning does it have for you.

"Are you really going to want a cartoon Tweety Bird on your body when you're 40 years old?"