Humans have been marking their skin for ages.
Across cultures, tattoos hold different significance, from protection from evil to declaring love, religious beliefs and to signify status. Tattoos have even been used as a form of punishment.
However, tattoos are now mostly a fashion icon, and a well-crafted one can be a stunning work of art.
In addition to being permanent makeup and art beauty, doctors can use tattoos to cover disfiguring conditions, birthmarks, and burn injuries.
Tattoos are fairly common, with 32% of Americans having at least one tattoo.
However, when not done correctly, tattoos can pose serious health risks. Negligence when tattooing is quite common and can lead to serious health complications.
In this article, we explore what you can do in case you get injured while getting a tattoo.
Understanding tattooing
To understand tattoos, you must understand the skin first. The human skin encompasses three layers;
- The Epidermis: This is the uppermost layer that blocks microorganisms, other contaminants, and water from getting into your body. This layer creates a water-tight barrier that limits the amount of moisture that can evaporate from your body.
- The Dermis: This is the skin's middle layer and performs most skin functions. The layer provides the blood vessels with a support structure, thus enabling them to feed the skin cells with nutrients and oxygen. It also supports the skin nerve endings, thus providing a sense of touch, and it contains the hair follicles, sweat glands, and oil glands.
- The hypodermis: This is the skin's lowest layer and it contains the fat that insulates the body and connective tissue, thus securing the skin muscles.
The tattooing procedure
Tattoo artists use tiny needles to pierce your skin and deposit the ink into your dermis.
Your body recognizes the tattoo ink as unwanted foreign matter, thus sending white cells to fight it off.
The white blood cells then neutralize the ink threat by engulfing and surrounding it, thus holding the ink particles into your dermis layer, and as it continues to heal around your skin, it is trapped permanently.
Note that during the tattooing procedure, pain and bleeding may occur since the artists don't use anesthetic, and they are piercing your skin and sometimes causing injuries.
What causes tattoo injuries?
The needles that push the ink into your dermis create millions tiny wound openings.
As the epidermis skin layer helps prevent microorganisms, viruses, parasites, and bacteria from entering your body, puncturing the epidermis leaves your skin vulnerable to microorganisms, causing infections.
Microorganisms can be caused harbored by;
- Contaminated needles and ink
- DIY tattoo kits
- Unhygienic practices
- Not using gloves when doing the procedures
- Failure to properly sanitize the area before starting the procedure
- Improper bandaging
- Pre-existing skin problems or conditions
- Poor aftercare
Once these parasites, viruses, and bacteria enter your body, they can cause havoc. They multiply and compete with your other body cells for nutrients and resources.
Some pathogens like viruses and bacteria release toxins, thus providing tactical advantages to their competitors and leading to both long-term and short-term illnesses and even life-threatening infections leading to death.
Once toxins get inside the body, they trigger the immune system, leading to fever and inflammation. Additionally, white cells rush to the injury area, leading to swelling, which causes the blood vessels to become narrow, thus trapping them around the injured site.
Risks associated with tattoos
Allergic reaction
The tattoo ink can cause allergic reactions, like itchy rashes, which can occur even years after the tattoo has healed. Red tattoo ink is more prone to causing allergic reactions.
Sepsis
Sepsis is a deep bacterial infection that occurs once microorganisms, such as bacteria, reach the bloodstream. This blood infection makes the body weak and extremely sick, leading to pain, fever, swelling, and may be fatal.
Blood-borne illnesses
Some tattooing processes can transmit viruses like Hepatitis B, D, and C and also HIV, causing long-term illnesses.
Hepatitis can lead to liver cirrhosis and even death, and HIV can develop into full-blown AIDS, which can lead to long-term suffering and sometimes death.
Keloid scarring
Tattoos tend to leave scars if they don't heal properly. Keloid scars are abnormal growths of scar tissue that extend beyond the boundaries of the original injury.
MRI complications
Tattoos may become irritated during an MRI, leading to itchiness and swelling. This usually happens when low-quality ink pigment is used, or the tattoo is quite old.
Complications that can arise from an injured tattoo
Injured tattoos can lead to;
Disfigurement and scars
An injured tattoo area can lead to damaged skin, producing scars that may require doctors to operate to remove or drain the infected tissues. As such, the operation leaves a big scar or disfigurement.
Amputation
When the tattooing injury infection affects your body tissue, it can lead to the affected area getting amputated. Losing a body part leads to permanent disability, which may cause depression, phantom pain, and anxiety issues.
Death
Toxins, high fevers, sepsis, long-term illnesses, and other complications can lead to death, especially if the infections become antibiotic resistant or the allergic reactions are severe.
Steps to take after a tattoo injury
In case of a tattoo injury, you can hire a personal injury attorney and file for a lawsuit using the "duty of care" concept.
Your tattoo artist and the tattoo parlor have a legal obligation to provide you, and their other clients with a hygienic and a safe place.
The duty of care includes the artist taking precautions to prevent their clients from potential health risks and infections.
If your tattoo artists neglected their duty of care, you can provide evidence and sue for personal injury. As such, you need to prove your artist did the following.
- Neglected duty of care: You must establish that the tattoo artists did not provide a hygienic environment or follow the correct infection control measures, leading to injuries. The duty of care starts after you engage the artist's services.
- Damages: You must prove the damages caused by the tattoo such as infections and scarring. Such damages may include medical reports, photography of affected areas, treatment costs, lost wages, and emotional distress.
- Breach of duty: You must show that the artist breached their duty by failing to follow the correct industry standards for infection and hygienic prevention, such as sterilizing the tattooing equipment.
- Causation: You should clearly showcase that the infection or injury was a direct result of tattooing, such as negligence in properly bandaging the tattoo area.
Proof needed for a tattoo injury lawsuit
To further strengthen your case, you need evidence such as:
- Medical records: Well-documented medical results like prescribed medications, MRI, X-rays, diagnosis, and any ongoing treatment.
- Phototrophic evidence: Once you notice infection on your tattoo area, take explicit photographs and document the condition progressing.
- Expert testimony: Expert witnesses, such as a certified dermatologist, can provide evidence linking your infection to tattooing.
- Witness statements: Evidence like receipts or individuals who saw you in that tattooing parlor works magic.
However, keep in mind that the artist may try to show that it was contributory negligence by stating that the client caused their own infection, which may reduce final compensation amounts.
As such, the client should demonstrate they didn't cause their tattooing infection under any circumstances.
Final thoughts on what to do about tattoo injuries
Tattooing has become the norm, and many people have embraced it wholeheartedly. However, before embarking on your first tattoo, it's vital to understand the consequences.
Our article above ensures you understand the risks associated with tattoos and how to proceed incase of an injury.