Are Tattoos Bad For Health? Let's Find Out!

Table of Content

• What is a tattoo?

• History of tattoos and purpose

• Tattoo inks

• Health risks of tattoos

• Interesting tattoo facts you need to know!

• Take-Home Points

• FAQ on Are Tattoos Bad For Health?

What is a tattoo?

Tattoo is the art of painting your body with tattoo inks, dyes, or pigments piercing in your skin layers. Tattoos are of two types, permanent and temporary.  

These are applied for beauty, culture, and power and nowadays it is becoming a trend, before you get a tattoo you need to know the disadvantages and health risks of it.

History of tattoos and purpose

Tattoos have been practiced since Neolithic times (new Stone Age). In 2015 scientists found the two oldest known tattooed mummies.  

Tattoos are not only for beauty or fashion purposes, they also help Indigenous people of America as cultural connections to family. 

Tattoos were symbols of the identity of tribes, bravery, beauty and wealth status.

They are very much common and hold strong ancient beliefs in every known culture in the world for one or other purpose. We can still see this culture around, but instead of its actual meaning, it has worldwide become a trend spreading like wind around gen z.

Tattoos are more popular than ever. According to the FDA, 2015 Harris Poll, about 3 in 10 people (about 29%) at least have one tattoo.

There have been reports of people suffering from infections, adverse reactions because of ink contaminations, hygiene problems, not using sterile needles every time, etc

 A tattoo artist has ways to attract customers; “we ink whatever you think”, let’s rethink!  Before you plan to have a tattoo on your skin read the following once.

Tattoo inks

Tattooing is performed in tattoo studios only, while the ink comes from suppliers or is purchased directly from the Internet.  

The ink contains most of the contaminants of industrial pigments, solvents, preservatives, binders, etc. These include paraben, phenol, polydimethylsiloxane, chromium, arsenic, hydrocarbons and phthalates. 

Analysis of tattoo inks revealed that most of the colorants used to make a tattoo include titanium, aluminum, copper, arsenic, cobalt, lead and nickel-like metals that are harmful to the skin.

All these additives are reported to be carcinogenic. 

Health risks of tattoos

There are two levels of medical risks due to tattoos, mild and advanced. Mild complications are any inflammation reaction to the tattoo that is visible. These mild side effects are most common but the advanced side effects are serious and not so common.

When you get a tattoo, the tattoo artist uses a small handy machine with an attached needle to it that pierces your skin. On every single puncture to the skin, the needle inserts ink in your skin layers, “in the dermis”.  The dermis is the second layer of your skin.

The mild risks:

1. Allergic reactions to the dyes used for tattoo making. This will be visible after years in the form of a rash at a tattoo site.

2. Keloids:  An abnormal wound healing as a response to an inflammation of tattoo inks. Keloid tissue extends beyond the side of inflammation if not treated on time. The most common affected areas are the upper-back, chest and ear which are also the most common tattooed places.

The complication accelerated with a tattoo starts where bacterial infections like staphylococcus, pseudomonas aeruginosa and viral infections such as pox and herpes virus fuel infection. 

The treatment includes steroids, cryotherapy, surgical excision, and radiotherapy. 

One study of 6 tattoo cases showed there is a relationship between tattoo ink and cutaneous malignancies. Reported cutaneous malignancies include keratoacanthoma, squamous cell carcinoma, etc.

3. Blood disease: hepatitis B, HIV and etc due to the use of contaminated needles.

4. Sepsis: it is a life-threatening condition where it can lead to organ failure the symptoms are chills, fever, rapid heart rate, and breathing difficulty.

5. Swelling: especially in tongue piercing could lead to blockage of your airway.

6. Difficulty during sex and urination, if you get your genitals pierced. This could be worse if you are already suffering from diabetes, eczema, or psoriasis or if you have a very weak immune system.  

The advanced risks are usually non-infectious

1. Aseptic inflammation

2. Allergic reactions

3. Hypersensitivity to the ink mostly red ink, chromium in green ink, cadmium metal in yellow ink, and cobalt metal in blue ink.

4. Permanently scared,  due to severe infection.

5. Granuloma formation: this could occur every year after getting a tattoo and it may extend to allergic reactions.

6. Pigmentary disorder due to metalliferous compounds like paraphenylenediamine.

• Nerve damage: according to the British Journal of Dermatology there have been traces of nanoparticles in the inks. The particles are so small that it can easily penetrate the skin layers and into underlying blood vessels leading to nerve damage.

• Metabolism imbalance: according to the National Center for Toxicological Research yellow ink is broken down by sunlight, a small amount of ink particles passes into the lymphatic system and accumulates in the lymph nodes.

• According to Doremus, however, tattoos can make it more difficult to diagnose skin cancer or can cause false identifications of cancer in lymph nodes.

• Tattoo colors promote cell stress and weaken mitochondria. Tattoo dyes with PAHs reduce the mitochondrial activity of skin cells (i.e., these cells have a more limited degree of health) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)

All these unnoticed complications lead to life-long problems for an individual if not diagnosed on time. Hence whenever you think of having a tattoo rethink for yourself. 

Interesting tattoo facts you need to know!

1. More women than men have tattoos in the US. A study by the Oxygen Network and Lightspeed research concluded that 59% of women have tattoos compared to only 41 percent of men.

2. Americans spend around 1.65 million per year just on tattoos. The number of tattooed people is expected to continue to rise over the next few years, stretching the average yearly spending even further.

3. Rock star Tommy Lee created a new tattooing world record. In 2007, Tommy Lee was the first person to be tattooed while flying in mid-air. Tattooer Mario Barth of Starlight Tattoo gave Lee a black and Grey peacock on his leg while flying 45,000 feet in the air on Lee’s private jet. Both Lee and Barth made their entry into the Guinness Book of World Records after the epic mile-high tattoo.

4. Italian tattoo artist sets highest longest setting single session of tattoo. The artist Alessandro Bonacorsi tattooed a 32-year businesswoman for straight 60 hours.

5. To mix tattoo colors uniquely, urine was used! Urine was believed to have antiseptic properties and hence added as an important component of tattoo ink.

6. Your skin is pierced about 50 to 3000 times per minute. People don’t realize when they are getting tattooed that it’s not a single needle that is piercing their skin. Tattooing needles utilize a group of needle points that are pushed into the skin layer via a machine.

7. The philosopher Confucius was against the tattoo practice. Many Chinese people were and still are against the tattoo practice.

8. The oldest discovered proof of tattoo dates back to 3250 BC.

9. It was discovered on the preserved body of a man named “Ötzi”, who was found beneath a glacier in the Alps. His body displayed more than 60 different tattoos, mainly of simple dot and line designs, which were created using carbon ink.

10. The first tattoo machine was inspired by Thomson Edison’s electric pen. It was invented by Samuel O’Reilly.    

11. The oldest known tattoo ink contains insect eggs. An ancient Roman physician created tattoo ink which was made from pine bark, corroded bronze, vinegar, vitriol, insect eggs and leek juice.

12. Black is the easiest color to remove from tattoos.  The black ink absorbs the maximum number of laser waves, hence it can be more easily removed from the skin than other vibrant inks, lighter colors like green and yellow.

13. The world’s tattooed man is 100% covered.  Luke Diamond Rich is a heavily tattooed person known. For the details, he has tattooed his eyelids even his foreskin!

Take-Home Points

• Tattoos are not a good option for your body, health, and fitness concerns, trends will not gonna last with you, always think about your body and health first.

• Tattoos are of two types: permanent and temporary, for necessary occasions you can opt for tattoo stickers, markers, etc.

• It leads to serious life problems which could be dangerous.

• Tattoos give you temporary pleasure but in the long term, it might lead to complications.