A few days ago, a friend of mine called me that he was going to get a tattoo on his arm. He actually spent over 200 thousand Naira to get the tattoo done. I haven't seen him since then, only for him to show up in my house in pains, and also furious. He had just been to two places, the police station and the hospital. I was fascinated by the event, and decided to ask what led him to go to the two place. It turned out that he just arrested the manager of the tattoo parlor where he had his tattoo, and he was at the hospital because the tattoo he just had, was infected, and his skin was looking rot with swelling. He said he was diagnosed with hyperkeratosis.
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Tattoos, which were regarded as a symbol of identity, and culture, has now become a significant part of fashion. According to a survey by Pew Research Center, over 40% of young adults have one or more tattoos on their skin, and in 2019, an Ipsos poll showed that over 30% of Americans had a tattoo on their body.
The skin, which is the largest organ in the body, made up of three layers. It is made up of the Epidermis, the Dermis, and the Hypodermis. These layers are different. The Epidermis is the top thin layer of the skin, which can be up to 50 cell layers thick, made up of the epithelial tissue. The epidermis, even when thin, protects the body against invasion of germs and bacteria. The outermost part of the epidermis peels off (desquamation). On an average of 28 days to 49 days, the skin regenerates. Putting the tattoo on the epidermis would have been a good idea, but the fact that the skin changes from time to time would make it impossible for the tattoo to stay permanently.
The Dermis is the next layer of the skin after the epidermis. The dermis is made up of the dense irregular connective tissue, and cells called Fibrocytes which produces collagen which go in all direction. The dermis is where most skin components such as hair follicles. The Hypodermis, or the subcutaneous layer, is the third skin layer. It is made of fatty tissues known as the Adipose tissue. The Hypodermis is made up of sweat glands, macrophages, nerves. With tattoo, the needles pierces through the skin, to reach the dermis and in some cases the hypodermis. While it has come to become a 1 in 4 persons' style, they can still pose health risks and allergies.
Tattoos generally penetrates the skin, and damages the inner layer of the skin causing blood clot in the blood vessels that are broken, while causing bruises to the skin. The skin tries to heal, and the body macrophage tries to fight and engulf the foreign bodies that get into the body. In this case, the macrophages engulfs the tattoo ink, which is deposited into the broken tissues and skin.
Most adverse health issue is often a result of getting a tattoo from unauthorized facilities. The risk of contaminated blood as a result of obtaining tattoos made the American Association of Blood Banks require that people who just got a tattoo wait for 12 months before donating blood. The skin could get contaminated with bacteria such as Mycobacteria which causes swelling, itching, redness, and blemishes.
Tattoos could cause keloids on the areas where the tattoo was drawn, as a result of trauma to the skin from the incisions and tattoo ink. Interphase dermatitis is another disease that could be caused by y inflammatory cells as a result of tattoo, in the dermo-epidermal junction.
Tattoos are becoming safer, and fewer people are having complications, but till date, they are still inevitable. The first precaution to having tattoo complications is to have the tattoo done in a licensed tattoo parlor. Non-disposable equipment should be sterilized properly, while disposable equipment should be new, with all safety measures followed. For mild complications from tattoos, anti-inflammatory steroid drugs can be used to treat it, while for complicated cases, surgery might be required.
After tattoo, it is important to care for the tattoo region by keeping it clean through washing with soap and water, apply moisturizer, allowing the tattoo region to heal, without picking on scabs.