Tattoos

[squanch]

I personally don't have any tattoos and am not really planning on getting one. I was just wondering about the possible effects on health and thought I would open a thread since this topic hasn't been discussed here before.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of actual scientific data on the topic online.

Would the tattoo ink essentially be a health risk because it is absorbed into the blood stream over the years?
What effects do tattoos (especially when covering large areas of the body) have on skin metabolism, vitamin d production etc...?

 

[damngoodcoffee]

I passed out and started shaking when i got a tattoo.
I have wondered if it was some poisoning or just cause it freaked me out that someone was ******* drilling my hand.
Felt like i would die for a couple of days.
I remember reading about someone who died from blood poisoning after getting a tattoo so i was freaked out.

 

[squanch]

I passed out and started shaking when i got a tattoo.
I have wondered if it was some poisoning or just cause it freaked me out that someone was ****ing drilling my hand.
Felt like i would die for a couple of days.
I remember reading about someone who died from blood poisoning after getting a tattoo so i was freaked out.

Yes that's definitely another factor. The tattooing process itself seems to be very stressful. People passing out is relatively common from what I've heard.
Really hard to find any reliable information on the long term effects though unfortunately.

 

[Such_Saturation]

I had found a study of the composition and it's often really small nano-sized dyes. But they said they were relatively confined to that layer of skin. Of course they deteriorate with time...

 

[squanch]

Seems like most of the modern (black) inks are iron oxide based. Really doesn't sound like a great idea even if they are "relatively confined" to the tattooed skin layers. Traditional, charcoal based ink doesn't seem so bad (probably not going to look that great though...)

 

[Greg says]

 

[David PS]

I worked as a ceramic engineer (in the early 1980's) for a company that made colorants and pigments for the glass industry. I believe the same heavy metals that are used to create colors for plates and flatware are used in tattoo inks. Yellow pigments typically contain cadmium. Often, mercury is used to create reds. The of the bright colors in the modern inks are especially suspect. The old colorants are not safe either. In the 60's, a neighbor who has a huge eagle tattooed on his chest during world war 2 has heart issues that he attributed to his tattoo.

The last time I checked, the tattoo ink industry was not regulated. At a minimum, I would want to see the ingredient list prior to letting anyone put inks into my body. A google search for heavy metals and tattoo may provide some frightening information.

 

[whodathunkit]

@Greg says , LOL!!

This is not me advocating anyone getting a tattoo...BUT...I LOVED the process of getting inked. It definitely does something to your biochemistry. I don't know if it's the adrenaline or dopamine release or what, but after getting the first part of my first tatt I completely understood how people get addicted to the process and wind up looking like an old-timey carnival freak. I had to rein myself in from getting more than two because I knew no matter how much I "enjoyed" the process I would regret the permanence in the long run.

IMO body art needs to be truly relevant to the soul otherwise it's just an adolescent exercise in pissing off daddy and mommy. I suspect a lot of the Tweety Bird and Angry Bird, etc., enthusiasts we're seeing now are going to be pretty sorry in 10 years or less.

 

[damngoodcoffee]

I took the danzig logo.
It's definitely not anything deep and meaningfull but i think it's fun.

 

[whodathunkit]

I took the danzig logo.

IMO more significant than Tweety.

But even at that, it's whatever you can live with. A single, smallish piece of art is probably livable, even if it is ill-advised. If I could painlessly and cheaply do away with one of mine I would now, even though I don't necessarily regret it. It's just not as significant as it was, and I could live without it, considering it's in a prominently visible location.

I just see a lot of very new ink on a lot of very young people that I suspect is going to generate a lot of regret down the road. It's cool now, but once it starts to sag and pucker and get crepey it's gonna be like, uh-oh.

 

[lvysaur]

I suspect a lot of the Tweety Bird and Angry Bird, etc., enthusiasts we're seeing now

More like 6 years ago, lol. Angry Birds is so monetized that it has its own hollywood movie now.

 

[tara]

In addition to issues with inks, I wonder what effect the needles have on acupressure/acupuncture points/meridians/electric flow?

While you're at it, what about piercings? Ears etc?

 

[Greg says]

Bone and wood piercings are fine but metal can conduct electricity/EMFs . Belly button piercings can turn 'off' the deep transverse abdominal muscles. Paul Chek talks about how for instance a nose piercing can contort the tissue causing a banana face which goes back to normal when the piercing is removed. Also metal belts, watches, jewellery and under wire bras are an issue. Metal frame beds? Who knows?

 

[damngoodcoffee]

 

[James IV]

I looked heavily into the health research regarding tattoos before I began getting "inked." From what I found all tattoo dyes contain questionable ingredients. It appears with modern ink, the brighter the color, the more questionable and diverse the ingredients become. I chose to go with all (traditional) black for this reason, as well as the fact that it's the easiest to maintain, and most resistant to time.
All this being said, the actual amount of toxins that you "ingest" over the years from your tattoos, appears negligible. You probably ingest more toxins sitting at traffic lights everyday.

Now, part of this may be wishful thinking, because if tattoos really are harmful, I'm screwed, since I am fairy heavily covered.

O well, I like them; both getting them and having them. The "stress" of getting a tattoo is mainly adrenaline lowering your blood sugar, and can be easily kept in check by a good meal beforehand, and/or snacking during your session. It's essentially torture, and even the FBI, CIA, and other special forces teach you to try to eat as much as possible if being forcefully interrogated, and they also tell you to smoke!

 

[damngoodcoffee]

The "stress" of getting a tattoo is mainly adrenaline lowering your blood sugar, and can be easily kept in check by a good meal beforehand, and/or snacking during your session. It's essentially torture, and even the FBI, CIA, and other special forces teach you to try to eat as much as possible if being forcefully interrogated, and they also tell you to smoke!

Yeah i had not eaten the whole day when i took mine. Only coffee and cigarettes.

 

[James IV]

Yeah i had not eaten the whole day when i took mine. Only coffee and cigarettes.

Fashion model diet! Haha.
Yeah, I've had some 8 hour sessions and my artist knows I'm going to show up with a picnic basket and a 2 liter of Sprite.