Tattoos are popular and colorful ways to express our creativity, our experiences, and our personality. For many people, tattoos have symbolic meaning or have personal memories behind them. As more celebrities are seen with tattoos, be it permanent or temporary henna, they are becoming an increasingly popular fashion accessory. However, all of a sudden, many people forget that proper tattoos are permanent and that they are actually extremely serious because they can cause life-threatening problems.
At the moment, tattoos are not properly licensed or regulated, but artists must register with the Department of Environmental Health. Is vital Please check with your local council beforehand if your tattoo artist is registered, because local authorities should have registration and inspection plans in place. A health and safety certificate must be on display or with the operator, so ask to see one before getting the tattoo.
Health and safety standards say that:
- Sterile needles must be used for each client.
- Hands should be washed well before and after tattooing.
- Disposable latex gloves and a new pair must be worn for each client. (Some people may have allergic reactions to latex gloves, so you could take an antihistamine before doing so, or if you know you have this allergy, you should inform the artist beforehand that you should be able to use a different glove.)
- Is illegal tattoo anyone under 18 years of age.
The artist should ask you a list of medical questions before getting the tattoo to make sure you are okay to get one. For example, people with hemophilia should not get tattoos, as the blood does not clot properly and therefore cannot stop the bleeding that can occur during a tattoo. Tattoos are discouraged from pregnant women, as are diabetics, people with heart conditions, people with conditions that weaken the immune system, and also people taking aspirin or aspirin-based medications as they thin the blood so that it bleeds more.
First of all, tattoos are wounds and therefore good hygiene is a must. When you have a tattoo, the ink is injected into the dermis or the lower layer of the skin, which does not flake and makes it permanent. The machine that is used can pierce the skin up to 3000 times per minute making holes of up to 1/16 inch or 1.5 mm.
One of the biggest problems associated with tattoos is blood-borne infections, such as:
Hepatitis B and C. Hepatitis affects the liver causing inflammation. Hepatitis B is a DNA virus and can be acute (self-limiting) or chronic (long-lasting). The symptoms of acute hepatitis B are:
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Body pain
- Slight fever
- Dark urine
- Development of jaundice.
It usually lasts a few weeks and in most cases it gradually improves. Chronic hepatitis C is often asymptomatic and can lead to advanced scarring of the liver (cirrhosis) and liver cancer.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne infection that is often asymptomatic. It causes inflammation of the liver that can lead to scarring of the liver (fibrosis) or advanced scarring of the liver (cirrhosis) which, in turn, can lead to liver failure and cancer. It is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact and there is no vaccine available at this time. Early medical intervention is beneficial, but many people only experience mild symptoms and therefore do not seek treatment until they have developed into more serious problems. Some symptoms may include:
- Decreased appetite
- Tired
- Abdominal bread
- Jaundice
- Itching
- Flu-like symptoms.
HIV. The human immunodeficiency virus can cause AIDS; Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. It is transmitted through body fluids and infects the white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system, weakening it so that it cannot fight other opportunistic diseases that lead to AIDS.
Tetanus. This infection causes muscle stiffness and spasms, which usually start with the jaw muscles, making it difficult to swallow or open your mouth. Other common places for muscle spasms are the neck, chest that makes it difficult to breathe, the wall of the stomach, and the arms and legs. Other symptoms are:
- extreme sensitivity to touch
- high fever,
- throat pain,
- fast heartbeat,
- labored breathing
- headache,
- bleeding in the intestines, and
- Diarrhea.
Tetanus can lead to suffocation, blood poisoning, cardiac arrest, kidney failure, and exhaustion, all of which can be fatal.
Septicemia. A bacterial infection commonly known as blood poisoning. Symptoms include:
- High fever
- Violent tremors
- Soft spot
- Cold, pale hands and feet
- Rapid, shallow breathing.
- Restlessness
- Delirium
- Shock
- Loss of consciousness
Other problems include:
- Chronic skin ailments.
- Allergies
- Lichenoids, which are small bumps of reactive tissue, similar to, but more pronounced than, those seen in chronic eczema.
- Sarcoid granulomas, which are ball-shaped clusters of immune cells under the surface of the skin.
- Climbing
- Redness
- Itching
- Infections that cause discoloration of the tattoo.
- Swelling (due to an allergic reaction)
- Ulceration, which is the formation of sores.
- Delayed hypersensitivity reaction. This occurs several years after the tattoo and causes sudden local itching, peeling, redness and swelling.
- Lymphocytoma, which is a mass of mature white blood cells that resembles a tumor; it is a skin reaction.
- Keloids are raised scars that are not easily removed.
- Photosensitivity occurs when the sun reacts with the dye causing an allergic reaction.
- Phototoxicity occurs when the sun reacts with the dye causing localized sunburn.
According to research conducted by Dr. Bob Haley and Dr. Paul Fischer of the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine, tattoos account for “more than twice as many hepatitis C infections as injection drug use.” and tattooed people in a salon are “nine times more likely to be infected with hepatitis C due to infected needles and unsanitary conditions.” In the United States, donating blood to the American Red Cross is not allowed for one year after getting a tattoo due to the high risk of blood-borne infections.
In addition to the risk of blood-borne infections, the ink itself presents a number of risks. Until recently, the ink used in tattoos was not controlled and many artists use inks that are not approved for contact with the skin. Some inks are actually “industrial grade” colors suitable for use in printers or car paint! Many people can have allergic reactions to ink, the most common being to mercury in red inks, but others include manganese in purple inks, chromium in greens, cobalt in blues, and cadmium in yellows. Irreversible darkening can occur in flesh-colored, red, tan, and white inks used in cosmetic procedures and is believed to be caused by the conversion of ferric oxide (Fe2O3) to ferrous oxide (FeO).
Many inks also contain metallic filaments, so if you have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, you may feel a burning pain. This is because the magnetic metals convert the radio frequency pulses from the MRI machine into electricity and the combustion could be electricity going through the tattoo. Because of this, some hospitals do not perform MRIs on people who have tattoos. Magnetic resonance imaging takes very detailed images of almost every tissue in the body and is particularly useful for viewing areas around the spine and brain. It is the best technique for finding tumors in the brain and determining whether the tumors have spread to nearby brain cells and is therefore extremely important and useful.
At the moment, lasers are used to try to remove tattoos or at least fade them, but this is expensive and painful as it involves burning the skin and leaving scars. However, a new removable dye just came out that is made from plastic beads that contain the Food and Drug Administration approved dye or pigment. As the dye is contained within plastic pearls, the body cannot absorb it, however, when a laser hits the pearl, it breaks and the dye is absorbed.
Tattoo artists are subject to the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 as they provide you with a service. Therefore, they must provide this service with “reasonable skill and care” and are responsible for “consequential loss” if the tattoo goes wrong and you have to pay for the correction or removal. It’s best to go to a licensed tattoo artist, if only because you’re more likely to have the right protection and insurance coverage in case something goes wrong.
If you have suffered from any blood-borne infection, allergic reaction, or other medical conditions due to the negligence of your tattoo artist; or if your tattoo does not resemble your design or descriptions then you may be entitled to compensation for any additional tattoo treatment or medical treatment you need to remedy the damage, and for any discomfort or embarrassment you may have felt while recovering . It is recommended that you take photographs of your tattoo as evidence of any damage or incorrect details and, if possible, photographs of the designs that were intended or agreed upon for comparison purposes.