The Dangers of Tattoos

Tattoos are a great way of expressing what you love and who you are. Unfortunately they also carry a few risks.

It is often forgotten that tattoos are actually wounds. A needle is piercing the skin multiple times per second, leaving behind ink, something that is not naturally in the body. As all wounds they need time to heal, improper care of a new tattoo can lead to infection and discolouration. This is why the healing time is the most important part of getting a tattoo. To prevent the tattoo getting infected it will be covered before you leave and the tattoo artist will also tell you how to properly look after the new tattoo during healing.

There are other, more dangerous, risks associated with tattoos. Getting a tattoo means piercing the skin causing you to be at risk of catching diseases carried in the blood. This includes HIV, tetanus and hepatitis. To prevent this tattoo artists are required to only use needles once and to sterilise any equipment that must be reused. It is very important to go to a proper tattoo artist to prevent any infections or diseases that could be caught. 

Tattoos can also be linked to other skin related diseases/infections. When you get a tattoo you also cannot give blood for 12 months.