A tattoo is a permanent marking made by inserting ink into the layers of skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding.
Tattooing has been practiced worldwide. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, traditionally wore facial tattoos. Today one can find Berbers of Tamazgha (North Africa) and Maori of New Zealand with facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples and among certain tribal groups in the Philippines, Borneo, Mentawai Islands, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia, New Zealand and Micronesia. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular in many parts of the world.
Health risks
Modern tattoo artist's nitrile gloves and sterilized equipment
Because it requires breaking the skin barrier, tattooing may carry health risks, including infection and allergic reactions. In the United States, for example, the Red Cross prohibits a person who has received a tattoo from donating blood for 12 months (FDA 2000), unless the procedure was done in a state-regulated and licensed studio, using sterile technique. Not all states have a licensing program, meaning that people who receive tattoos in those states are subject to the 12-month deferral regardless of the hygienic standards of the studio. Similarly, the UK does not provide certification for tattooists, and so there is a six month waiting period without exception.
Modern western tattooers reduce such risks by following universal precautions, working with single-use items, and sterilizing their equipment after each use. Many jurisdictions require that tattooists have bloodborne pathogen training, such as is provided through the Red Cross and OSHA.
Infection
Since tattoo instruments come in contact with blood and bodily fluids, diseases may be transmitted if the instruments are used on more than one person without being sterilized. However, infection from tattooing in clean and modern tattoo studios employing single-use needles is rare. In amateur tattoos, such as those applied in prisons, however, there is an elevated risk of infection. To address this problem, a program was introduced in Canada as of the summer of 2005 that provides legal tattooing in prisons, both to reduce health risks and to provide inmates with a marketable skill. Inmates were to be trained to staff and operate the tattoo parlors once six of them opened successfully.
Infections that can theoretically be transmitted by the use of unsterilized tattoo equipment or contaminated ink include surface infections of the skin, herpes simplex virus, tetanus, staph, fungal infections, some forms of hepatitis, tuberculosis, and HIV. People with tattoos are nine times more likely to be infected with hepatitis C, according to a study by Robert Haley, MD, chief of epidemiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.[citation needed]
No person in the United States is reported to have contracted HIV via a commercially-applied tattooing process. Washington state's OSHA studies have suggested that since the needles used in tattooing are not hollow, in the case of a needle stick injury the amount of fluids transmitted may be small enough that HIV would be difficult to transmit. Tetanus risk is reduced by having an up-to-date tetanus booster prior to being tattooed. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no data indicates an association between tattooing in the United States and increased risk for HCV infection.[citation needed] In 2006, the CDC reported 3 clusters with 44 cases of methicillin-resistant staph infection traced to unlicensed tattooists.
Allergic reactions
Perhaps due to the mechanism whereby the skin's immune system encapsulates pigment particles in fibrous tissue, tattoo inks have been described as "remarkably nonreactive histologically". Allergies to latex are more common; many artists will use non-latex gloves when required.
Allergic reactions to tattoo pigments are uncommon except for certain brands of red and green. People who are sensitive or allergic to certain metals may react to pigments in the skin with swelling and/or itching, and/or oozing of clear fluid called serum. Such reactions are quite rare, however, and some artists will recommend performing a test patch. Due to the fact that laser removal of tattoo ink causes a release of ink into the bloodstream the risk of anaphylactic shock is also present during removal.
Here is a bit of useful info concerning medical conditions and tattoos
if you have one of the conditions listed here you should seek your doctors advice before being tattooed
DIABETES
diabetes is a serious blood condition in which the blood sugar levels cannot be controlled by the body, usually the condition occurs when the human body quits producing insulin, or rejects the insulin it does produce, diabetics who get tattoos can have serious healing problems if blood sugar levels are not kept at normal levels.
RED CELL DISEASES
ANEMIA-
anemic people have a condition that causes the red blood cell count to go low (usually destroyed), causing the heart to work much harder to supply oxygen enriched blood to the body (red cells carry oxygen) healing will be slowed on anemic people not to mention with the heart pushing more pressure the bleeding factor is greatly increased.
there are a few types and causes for anemia here the most common
G6PD DEFICINCY.
G6PD is an enzyme that helps to protect red blood cells from the destructive effects of certain chemicals found in foods and medications. When the enzyme is deficient, these chemicals can cause red cells to hemolyze, or burst. G6PD deficiency is a common hereditary disease among people of African, Mediterranean, and Southeast Asian descent.
HEREDITARY SPHEROCYTOSIS (pronounced: sfeer-o-sye-toe-sus)
is an inherited condition in which red blood cells are misshapen (like tiny spheres, instead of disks) and especially fragile because of a genetic problem with a protein in the structure of the red blood cell. This fragility causes the cells to be easily destroyed.
AUTOIMMUNE HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA.
Sometimes - because of disease or for no known reason - the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys red blood cells.
SICKLE CELL ANEMIA
most common in people of African descent, is a hereditary disease that results in the production of abnormal hemoglobin. The red blood cells become sickle shaped, they cannot carry oxygen adequately, and they are easily destroyed.
WHITE CELL DISEASES
NEUTROPENIA (pronounced: noo-truh-pee-nee-uh)
Neutropenia occurs when there aren't enough of a certain type of white blood cell to protect the body against bacterial infections
HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV)
HIV is a virus that attacks certain types of white blood cells (lymphocytes) that work to fight infection. Infection with the virus can result in AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), leaving the body prone to infections and certain other diseases.
LEUKEMIAS (pronounced: loo-kee-mee-uhz)
Leukemias are cancers of the cells that produce white blood cells. These cancers include acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
DISEASES OF PLATELETS
THROMBOCYTOPENIA (pronounced: throm-buh-syte-uh-pee-nee-uh)
Thrombocytopenia or a lower than normal number of platelets, is usually diagnosed because a person has abnormal bruising or bleeding. Thrombocytopenia can happen when a person takes certain drugs or develops infections or leukemia or when the body uses up too many platelets. Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a condition which the person's immune system attacks and destroys his or her own platelets.
CLOTTING SYSTEM
HEMOPHILIA (pronounced: hee-muh-fil-ee-uh),
Hemophilia is an inherited condition that almost exclusively affects boys, involves a lack of particular clotting factors in the blood. People with severe hemophilia are at risk for excessive bleeding and bruising after dental work, surgery, and trauma. They may experience episodes of life-threatening internal bleeding, even if they haven't been injured.
VON WILLEBRAND DISEASE
Von Willebrand disease the most common hereditary bleeding disorder, also involves a clotting-factor deficiency. It affects both males and females.
Other causes of clotting problems include chronic liver disease (clotting factors are produced in the liver) and vitamin K deficiency (the vitamin is necessary for the production of certain clotting factors).
HEART AND VASCULAR DISEASES
People with heart and vascular conditions may be on blood thinning drugs, people considering tattoo work who are on these blood thinning agents should consult with their doctor before getting tattooed.
YOU HAVE ANY OF THESE CONDITIONS PLEASE SEEK QUALIFIED MEDICAL ADVICE BEFORE GETTING TATTOOED, ALSO LET YOUR ARTIST KNOW OF YOUR CONDITION BEFORE YOU GET YOUR WORK DONE. A GOOD TATTOO ARTIST WILL UNDERSTAND, AND QUITE POSSIBLY WORK WITH YOU AND YOUR DOCTOR.
ALSO OF NOTE ALL PERSONS ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO DISCLOSE THE FACT OF BEING HIV POSITIVE TO PERSONS WHO WORK WITH BODILY FLUIDS. FAILURE TO DO SO COULD RESULT IN FELONY PROSECUTION. not to mention it takes a really sick rotten bastard to not tell his tattooist he has HIV or AIDS.
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