As a tattoo artist, I would say don't always trust every tattoo artist to know everything. There are some people who stumbled into their carreers in this field and don't know much about technique let alone the chemical compositions of the inks they use.What Are Tattoo Inks? | Tattoo Reaction to MRIHaving said that, I find very few people are allergic to pigments, but the ones who are are often allergic to red. These people are often allergic to other things containing red such as licorice, red candy, etc. I've had a dermatologist explain it to me as the phenol thaylene content in red pigments. Some people have just a mild reaction such as small bumps and redness; others will have the red in the tattoo scab violently and their body will actually push the pigment out over the long healing process. I've seen this happen and the tattoo might look perfectly fine except all the red is gone! Anyway, even a pretty well informed tattoo artist might not know the chemical breakdown of all their inks. So know what things you are allergic to before getting the tattoo, or let the artist know before you plan to go ahead.
~AMcDermed
A while back I wrote a post about sensitivity reactions to red ink found in some tattoos. One of the comments written in response to that post caught my eye. I've bumped it up so people concerned about possible reactions to tattoos have a better chance of seeing it:
Explore Chemistry
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Comments
I got a tattoo 12 years ago on my leg, its mickey mouse so theres red parts to it. In the last 6 months, I’ve developed these itchy raised bumps only on the red ink of my tattoo, wondering what i can do to get rid of it as I would like that tattoo covered up
I got my first and last tattoo 3 years ago it was fine at first. A few days later it became very sore, my foot swelled to twice the size and the tattoo had wet scabs on it. I had to go to hospital where they put me on antibiotics. When the tattoo finally healed it had pushed a bit of the colour out completely so now I have a tattoo with bits missing! I really want it to get it redone as there is a bit of colour missing and a lot of scar tissue but I am very worried it will happen again! I think I am allergic to nickel as I have had problems with piercings too!
ive always been allergic to metal, ever sinc ei was a baby! i cant have piercings, ear rings, rings or any other type of metal on my skin to the point where im not aloud to wear belts because the metal on the belt buckle attacks my stomach. even when i was a baby, my mom would undress me and see circle rashes all down my stomach in a straight line from the metal buttons on my button up pajamas! i really want to get a tatto but dont know what to do? ive done research that red inc is the worst and people who are alergic to nickle and most of the other metals around, to go with a black ink because thats less seseptable to reactions! what do you think?
I am allergic to metal too! cant have piercings or anything like that. Although i really want a tattoo. I have read so many different things but never from someone who is actually allergic to metal and who has gotten a tattoo.. i have heard of the skin rejecting the ink, the tattoo being raised(scar tissue), not healing properly (scabbing etc.), even that if highly allergic your body can go into shock. everyone thinks im stupid for even considering getting a tattoo, but im sick of talking about it n want to do it. i only live once right. but no tattoo is better than an ugly tattoo. and i really want to hear from someone who got a tattoo already n was allergic to metal.
I am allergic to metal and have 3 tattoos. I have also had 5 body piercings that I have since had to remove due to irritation. When I got my first tattoo (4 years ago) ,it was only a small one so the reaction wasnt bad at all. 2 years ago I decided to go get another which was a much larger design, after which I broke out in hives all over my body which lasted only the night since I was constantly taking allergy pills. About a year ago, I decided to tempt fait a 3rd time and got a small tattoo on my foot. This time I decided to take the allergy medicine prior thinking it would help. I should have ended up in the E.R that night but was too stupid to go plus didn’t want to hear “I told you so” from the people who insisted I get no more tattoos. Halfway through the tattoo I began getting itchy and feeling dizzy, but it was already halfway through so I wasnt about to stop. My reaction progressivly got worse until about an hour after my tattoo was done, I had tempararilly lost my hearing, vision, experienced difficulty breathing, and began to over heat. Thank God it was winter because the only thing that stabalized me was standing in the freezing cold in shorts and a t-shirt downing bottles of water. Although this happened I am still searching to find ways where I can get more tattoos. I am addicted. Talk to your doctor and also find a SMART AND TRUSTING tattoo artist that you can speak with to figure out which colours may be safer then others and so on. Good luck!
just like clare i had a tattoo done on my foot and it swelled horribly and it had wet scabs but it wasnt my first tattoo it was my second i also dont have any problems with my peircings i have three my tounge,my stomach,and my eye brow. I had a tattoo done years before on my back and there was never any itching everything turned out to be jus fine the healing process went great thats what inspired me to get more..I really want more tattoos bt i dont want them to end up like the one on my foot..What do you think i shou;d do? should i stick to black tattoos?..or should i just stay away all together?
I recently got a tattoo on my wrist while on vacation in Los Angeles. My last day in Los Angles, I noticed little bumps appearing around the tattoo design. As of today, the bumps are leaving; but now I see that where white ink is suppose to be. The ink is gone and I just see my skin. I went to the hospital and the doctor said I had an allergic reaction. The doctor told me to take benadryl for the itching. I have also been using aquaphor on it. What should I do for it to heal and for my skin to heal?
iI just got a tattoo on March 16th. Its mostly green. the next night it started leaking my leg became very hot and red.I was at Drs next morning. Apparently it was an allergic reaction to the ink.Then a nasty infection set in 9 days later and its still no better atleast im not in the hospital
My best friend and I got tattoo’s 15 years ago, we got the same tattoo, at the same time, in the same spot by the same artist. Her’s looks perfect to this day and mine. . . .not so much. The area that had the red ink is completely back to my normal skin color. For about a year after getting the tattoo it was 3D as I called it, it had the tiny white bumps with some fluid and the entire red portion was raised. The part that I’m now researching is, what am I allergic to, I used to just think it was the red dye but now after researching the metals used in the dye I’m thinking it may be one of those. I have SEVERE allergic reaction’s that show up in my lips swelling and then the skin around my lips tearing and then of course the lips get chapped from being ripped, but I (or the allergist) can’t figure out what I’m allergic to. I’ve never been to allergic to anything before except the tattoo situation. Any suggestions? Also, for anyone debating on whether or not to get one. . .don’t do it, just read Wikipedia’s article’s on tattoo dye and tattoo medical issues and you will see why!
I got a flower tattoo on my left leg about 2 yrs ago and the colour are red and green.. The tattoo healed perfectly but then like 5 months ago I started to feel that it started to inflate and itch really bad only where the roses area though the green is stayed perfect to this day! Now the red part of the tattoo is still inflated and itches.. Each day the red gets lighter and lighter.. Is the an allergic reaction to the ink? Or What the heck is it lol?
about 2 years ago my mother got a tattoo on her buttocks and almost immediately the entire tattoo site became raised, scaly and itchy, which through some research I’ve learned is the typical reaction to an allergy. To be sure that it was an allery, my mother was seen by her primary care physician and was refered to a dermatologist who diagnosed the marks as a severe allergic reaction. Some time after these symptoms occured she began to break out with rabdom patches of hives on her arms. They turned into sores and even though she was trying not to scratch at the sites, she was scratching at them in her sleep, which resulted in slow healing. The scabs have since healed but she now has purplish marks under her skin. The best way I can think to describe them is that they look like imperfect circles of tatoo. They look like dark bruises but unlike a bruise, instead of the soft, fading edges you’d expect to see in a bruise they have hard edges. These marks seem to be limited to her forearms which was where the scabby sores were. Has anyone heard of or seen this type of reaction?