How tattoos leave one in ten battling health problems
ALARMING figures suggest one in ten people who have a tattoo experience adverse reactions.
These include swelling and skin irritation, as well as complications which can linger for years.
The research, carried out in the US, is bad news for the rising numbers of Britons who have had a tattoo.
Britain now has one of the highest proportions of tattooed individuals in the world – one in five adults or around 10million, according to the British Association of Dermatologists.
They have been inspired by celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and David Beckham – who has 32 of them. Even Samantha Cameron has a small dolphin inked on the inside of her right ankle.
‘We were rather alarmed at the high rate of reported chronic complications tied to getting a tattoo,’ said Professor Marie Leger of New York University’s Langone Medical Centre.
‘Given the growing popularity of tattoos, physicians, public health officials and consumers need to be aware of the risks involved.’
The minor problems included bacterial infections, skin conditions and itchiness. Others developed edema, which is a form of swelling caused by fluid under the skin. The researchers said that in some cases the coloured portion of the tattoo rose by as much as a centimetre above the skin.
Red ink appeared to be linked with rashes more often than other colours, the US study showed. Such problems were found in six per cent of those who have a tattoo. Four per cent also suffered from chronic problems and complications.
Professor Leger’s researchers questioned 300 respondents about their tattoos in Central Park in New York.
They ranged in age from 18 to 69, with most having no more than five tattoos. Professor Leger said those who develop problems at first usually go to the tattoo artist where they had the procedure. Less than a third go to the doctor when things go wrong.
There are no nationally enforced standards in the UK or mandatory courses for tattoo artists.
Nor is there a reporting system to know how widespread side effects are.
Professor Leger added: ‘While we know infections are a risk of tattoos and can be dependent on tattoo parlour practices, a lot of the complications in our study – and that I have seen in my patients – are to do with the qualities of ink that is used and how the body’s immune system responds to it’.
Figures have shown that roughly 1.5million tattoos are drawn in Britain every year. The practice is increasingly tran-
‘Complications are not being picked up’
scending traditional class boundaries: 28 per cent of professionals have gone under the needle, against 27 per cent of those who define themselves as working class.
Rick Stevens, president of the Tattoo and Piercing Industry Union, said: ‘Without an official tracing system some complications aren’t being picked up properly.
‘And there is a growing problem with unlicensed studios. We would like to see an England-wide licence system so there are national standards in place for artists.’
According to a Harris poll carried out in 2012, one in five Americans has a tattoo. In France the figure is 10 per cent.