How Tattoo Ink Affects Your Skin
Tattoos are a unique form of personal expression, allowing you to permanently mark your skin with significant moments, beliefs, and artist designs. While many focus on the aesthetic aspect of tattoos it is crucial to understand how ink interacts with your skin. In this article, we will go over the composition of ink, its effects, and long-term considerations.
Composition of Ink
Tattoo ink is made up of two key aspects: pigments and carrier solution.
Pigments: These are the colorants in the ink, derived from various sources including minerals, metals, and synthetic compounds. For example, black ink often contains carbon, while red ink may carry mercury sulfide.
Carrier Solutions: Liquids like distilled water, alcohol, and glycerin, help deliver the pigment smoothly to the skin. This helps to prevent clumping and aid in disinfecting the ink.
Interaction
When a tattoo is applied, the ink is directly injected into the dermis (the skin layer below the epidermis).
Here is the process:
Injection: The tattoo needle punctures the skin, introducing ink to the dermis.
Response: When this happens your immune system responds as it would any wound. Sending white blood cells rushing to the site to start the healing process.
Ink Particles: During this process, the ink particles are too large for the white blood cells to remove, so they remain trapped in the dermis. Ultimately marking the tattoo permanent.
Healing: Over the next few weeks, the top layer of skin will begin to heal, forming a protective barrier over the tattoo.
Possible Effects On The Skin
While tattoos are generally safe when done by a trained professional artist with sterile equipment, there are still possible risks and effects:
Allergic Reactions: Some people are allergic to specific pigments, especially those that contain metals such as nickel and cobalt. Some common symptoms when this takes place are itching, redness, and even swelling.
Infection: Improper hygiene can lead to bacterial or even viral infection. Ensure that you and your artist follow proper protocols to avoid this.
Skin Conditions: Conditions such as eczema or psoriasis might create experiences such as flare-ups around the tattooed area.
Granulomas & Keloids: Some individuals who get tattoos can experience granulomas which are small bumps on the skin. Others may deal with keloids which are raised scaring as a reaction to the trauma to the skin.
Long Term
Long-term considerations that you should be mindful of when getting a tattoo are fading and discoloration. As tattoos get exposed to sunlight along with natural skin processes can make a tattoo lose its vibrancy over time. A good way to combat this is with proper skin care routines and applying sunscreen when you can. Additionally, some tattoo pigments may interfere with MRI scans, causing discomfort or altering the imaging. Lastly, tattoo removal can be a very lengthy and painful process that takes multiple treatments.
Get Your Next Tattoo Done Properly At Sword & Stone Tattoo!
With everything that we went over it is very important to ensure that you have your tattoos conducted by a trained professional in a clean and sterile environment. To schedule your next tattoo with our trained staff at Sword & Stone Tattoo you can fill out a contact form right on our website! For more information do not hesitate to reach out to us directly.
