The Dangers of Tattoos: What You Need to Know for Your Skin and Immune System

In Germany, 20% of people have tattoos, and in the United States, 29% of people have tattoos! Tattoos are done to show personal fashion or other cultural and artistic values. However, everyone must not know how tattoos (also called tattoos) can seriously damage the skin and further set off the alarm bell of your immune system! When getting a tattoo, the needle is inserted into the dermis below the epidermis (Epidermis), and the needle punctures at a speed of about two times per second. This allows the tattoo ink to penetrate deep into the dermis layer of your skin. Below, Dr. Huang Xuan will explain to you the dangers of tattoos.

The dangers of tattoos are long-lasting and will still cause harm even if they are removed

1. Alien Invaders: Tattoo Ink

What are the dangers of tattoos? When tattoo ink pigment is deposited in the dermis of your skin, your body’s immune system will treat it as a “foreign invader.” At this time, your immune system’s neutrophils (neutrophils) come to the scene and start to release a lot of signals about “foreign invaders”, quickly summoning many different anti-inflammatory cells, as well as chemicals that attract At the scene, everyone is crowded together to fight against the “foreign invaders”. In addition, the arrival of neutrophils at the scene of your skin damage causes large-scale local inflammation. This is why you, after you started getting a tattoo, Your tattoo area may become red, swollen, hot and painful.

2. Bodyguard of inflammatory response

When a needle pricks your skin, tens of thousands of cells on every layer of your skin die or suffer irreparable damage.In addition, tattoo inks use hundreds of chemicals, including lead, nickel and chromium, which are certainly considered toxic and carcinogenic.

When these substances invade the body, they activate your immune system’s bodyguard cells, which we call macrophages. These hundreds of thousands of macrophages also move immediately to protect the body. Macrophages, which have the ability to absorb foreign substances (ink) that invade the body and attack them until they die.

3. Swollen lymph nodes

Some small ink pigment particles also move through the lymphatic system and reach the lymph nodes, acting like miniature notice boards announcing the arrival of “an invader.” This may cause swollen lymph nodes after you get a tattoo, but this is usually harmless. However, most of the ink used in your tattoos has particles that are too large for macrophages to absorb and cannot be attacked by macrophages. What should we do about this?

4. Set up a cordon to make the color more obvious

At this time, your macrophages have to call another helper, called “fibroblasts”, to “surround” these huge ink particles to prevent these large ink particles containing toxic chemicals from spreading out. As a result, the color of the ink in the macrophages is retained and appears as cyan ink through the epidermis, or other ink residues of various colors injected with red or green colors appear under the epidermis. Therefore, the brightly colored tattoo seems to be floating on the body. Superficial. Don’t you know that such “skin destruction” and the addition of “ink foreign invaders” have killed many normal cells in your own skin and also messed up your immune system!

5. Easily lead to infection

And when the needle puncture is not disinfected enough, skin bacteria and needle germs will also enter the dermis and cause infection. At this time, people with weak immune systems will be prone to skin infections!

6.Why do tattoos fade?

However, tattoos don’t last forever. Over time, the macrophages that house the ink age and reach the end of their lives. So not all pigments are permanently trapped. Over time, some pigments will also be broken down or lost in the interstitial fluid of the skin tissue, and then excreted through sweat and urine. Therefore, the tattoo will gradually fade.

7. It hurts you again when removing lines!

Tattoos can have a negative impact on the body, but at the same time, “tattoo removal” can also have a negative impact. This is because when we remove a tattoo, we add laser to the ink and heat it until the ink particles become finer, but during this process, healthy macrophages are also broken down!

Tips for healing days

a. From a scientific point of view

“Tattoos and tattoo removal” are harmful to the body’s immune system.

“Tattoo” has always been an expression of culture and art.

In short, tattoos may have an impact on the skin and immune system, so we should consider safety when choosing a tattoo. If you have a tattoo, you should also take appropriate safety precautions after getting a tattoo to protect your skin and immune system from ongoing damage! Perhaps only in this way can we maintain “the safety of science and the peace of mind of culture and art”!

Treatment day extension recommendations:Can’t I get a tattoo if I have swollen legs? How to treat large scars?It turns out that predicting physical fitness is the most important thing

This article is reproduced from:Dr. Huang Xuan The original title is:Tattoos, the damage that makes you immune

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Image source: 123RF

2024-02-04 16:00:00

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