Truth about tattoos and its adverse side effects!

Truth About Tattoos

The culture of Tattoos have been trending since centuries, Tattoos are used for different purposes in different cultures, regions, and tribes. While the tattoos have a different meaning in the modern world, it was served as symbols for the indications of ranks or status, fertility, bravery, or dedication towards anything. Tattoos have also come to be associated with the gang affiliations and religious belief then in the mid of 20th century, but for now, the young generation has started exhibiting tattoos for representing various things like an expression of love, freedom, luck, a symbol of gratitude, protection, or simply a decoration.

Almost everybody has a tattoo these days, Americans have the highest number tattoos in the world. While having a tattoo has become fashion or trendy, no one talks about its side effects or health issues related to the ink which is injected while creating these tattoos. According to a report, between 1% to 5% of people having tattoos suffer from a bacterial infection or allergic reactions, these are believed to be short-term effects. The ink which is used in tattooing is considered as cosmetics in most countries due to this, it is hard to measure the long-term effects of the ink. Basically, tattoos are made by injecting the skin with pigments, therefore any distortion comes with its adverse effects which can be anyone of these:

Diseases

The use of needles while making the tattoo can increase the risk of transfusion-transmitted diseases such as hepatitis B and C, herpes, tetanus, syphilis, staph, and even HIV, AIDS. there are several places where the people who have tattoos are screened before they can donate the blood to someone.

Hence it is crucial to visit an established and registered shop which follows the safety standards and support the prevention of spreading diseases. Some of the basic safety measures include using sealed needles for every new tattoo, sterilizing the hands and instruments regularly, and using gloves are the basic protocols of safety which every tattoo shop should follow.

Allergic Reactions

Allergic reactions to the people having tattoos are very common, before getting the tattoo you’re required to do a patch test to determine whether your skin is suitable for tattoo ink or not, but keep this in mind this may not guarantee you for not getting any allergies. Considering the number of people get tattooed every year, the phototoxic reactions can occur rarely, phototoxic reactions refer to a reaction on exposure to sunlight.

Inflammatory reactions which are mainly caused by ink can appear as swellings and red rashes which generally occurs for everyone and disappears within 2 to 2 weeks if given the proper care and attentions. Dermatitis which is caused due to allergic reactions to pigments can cause inflamed skin rashes. These allergic reactions usually don’t occur immediately, the effects can be after months or years.

Skin Infections

The common risks involved is skin infections, apart from the risk of contaminated needles which can spread hepatitis and herpes. The infections are mostly caused due to the staphylococcus bacteria. MRSA is the most common sort of infection which occurs on the surface of the skin in the form of rashes.

There is one more type of infection which is called cellulitis which occurs under the tattoo, it is more difficult to detect, it causes pain and discomfort and should be immediately taken care. Other common infections can be staph, fungi, mold etc. which can also spread beyond and can affect the eyes, lung infections, joint infections etc.

MRI scans

The people having tattoos have been complaining about burning sensation while undergoing an MRI scan, which is due to the metals which ink contains that is used for tattooing. Due to the pigments in the ink, the MRI’s quality has been getting affected, according to reports.

Risk Of Cancer

While getting a tattoo, the most common health issue can cause is skin cancer. Though it is not proven, tattoos raise the risk of developing the melanomas which are abnormal growth of cells. The toxicity of the inks which has unknown chemical composition can go through the bloodstream which can flow in the kidneys. The studies on the effect of tattoos and its relationship with cancer on the body are still going, many experts claim that tattoos can cause cancer.

These were the most common side effects of the tattoos, while there so many other adverse side effects of the tattoos which can be keloids and scars, abnormalities, granulomas and lymph node problems, removal problems, toxicity etc.