Tattoos and your health

A tattoo is a permanent mark or design made on your skin with pigments inserted through pricks into the skin’s top layer. Typically, the tattoo artist uses a hand-held machine that acts much like a sewing machine, with one or more needles piercing the skin repeatedly.

With every puncture, the needles insert tiny ink droplets. The process which is done without anesthetics and may last up to several hours for a large tattoo causes a small amount of bleeding and slight to potentially significant pain.

Tattoos breach the skin, which means that skin infections and other complications are possible. Specific risks include: Allergic reactions. Tattoo dyes especially red dye can cause allergic skin reactions, resulting in an itchy rash at the tattoo site. This may occur even years after you get the tattoo.