Shocking tattoo side effects!

    There are adverse risks to putting on a tattoo    Photo: Facebook

By DR ALFRED MURAGE

Walking within the city streets exposes you to a barrage of tattooed Nairobians keen to show off their body artwork. Some will even risk indecent exposure to give a glance of tattooing in some unimaginable places! And with more tattoo studios are coming up by the day you can expect many more ‘Tattoo Show Offs’.

But don’t let the ease of getting tattoos stop you from making a thoughtful decision about permanent body art. Before you get a tattoo, be clear about what’s involved and be certain that tattooing is the right decision for you.

Tattooing has an array of health risks involved so make sure you understand the risks and basic safety precautions.

Risks:

Permanency of tattoos

A tattoo is a permanent design made on your skin with pigments inserted through pricks into the skin’s top layer.

Tattooing tactics

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.

Pains involved and probable allergies

The process causes a small amount of bleeding and some pain. The breaching of the skin raises the potential for allergic reactions, infections and longer-term skin conditions associated with scarring referred to as keloids.

Risk of infections

At worst, contaminated tattoo equipment can transmit blood borne diseases like Hepatitis B and C, and even HIV.