11 Problems That Tattoos Can Cause (Explained)

Most people have tattoos these days, getting more popular with the younger generation. But what are the risks involved?

Tattoos like anything in life have risks involved. All people have different skin and different bodies and there is always a possibility of a reaction from a tattoo.

Throughout this article we will be showing you the risks involved including cancer, keloids, blood clots, nerve damage, muscle pain, kidney stones, swollen lymph nodes, pimples and liver damage.

Some of these problems are very small but do happen in some people. So it is worth taking into consideration.

Can Tattoo Cause Cancer?

There is no evidence from researchers who have studied tattoos and cancer that tattoos can cause cancer for years now. Any direct link of tattoos to cancer is treated as a myth.

Evidence shows that some inks used for tattooing contain carcinogens associated with cancer. This chemical has been categorized by WHOs International Agency for Research on Cancer as a risky substance.

The Australian Government Department of Health did a study. In its report in 2016, the findings after carrying out their research on 49 tattoo inks composition, did not find any a match between carcinogens components and cancer, or the content and labeling.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), a chemical group under carcinogens by WHO used in tattoo ink, was found in a fifth of the tested samples of tattoo inks. They also existed in 83% of the black tattoo ink tested by NICNAS.

A recent review discovered that the number of skin cancers developed in tattooed-bodied individuals was low. Therefore, it indicates that the tumor is coincidental in those people and has no direct correlation. However, several carcinogens in tattoo inks are associated with cancer in other body parts, like the bladder or liver.

An issue with tattoos is that when it is inked on a person’s body surrounding a mole, you will not see changes that indicate you are developing skin cancer. The tattoo pigments in your skin will give doctors a problem accurately detecting cancer development. Therefore, it may delay skin cancer or melanoma diagnosis.

A 2012 review of studies conducted in the Lancet Oncology. The finding on a sample size of 50 cases of different types of skin cancer that develop on tattoos for 40 years. According to the author of this report, there are millions of people with tattoos around the globe; the number of cases with cancer is low to associate the tattoo ink with a link to skin cancer.

A similar report from a medical compilation on tattoos in Clinical Reviews in Allergy and Immunology reached the same conclusion that tattoo inks have no direct link to cause cancer.

Can Tattoo Cause Keloids?

Yes, tattoos can cause keloids. A keloid is a scar raised and made of connective tissue cells and collagen known as fibroblasts. These tissues will rush to the injured part to repair your skin when you get an injury.

Keloid can develop on your skin from tattoo piecing. Usually, when you go for a tattoo, a tattoo artist will perform the procedure by piercing your skin numerously with a needle to seal the tattoo ink into the selected skin area of your choice. This process of piercing creates many tiny injuries that keloids may develop.

When keloids form on your tattooed skin, they are complex and rose with a smooth and shiny surface. After starting on your skin, they can become itchy and hurt you.

They are easy to notice on the skin are because they are reddish-brown and become longer and broader on the skin area than the original injuries that form in that area.

Can Tattoo Cause Blood Clots?

One can develop a complication when they are not done with a professional person or with unclean equipment. an experienced person will know the level where the needles have to reach if t goes past certain areas, it may cause septic shock, which may cause infection to the blood and cause a blood clot.

Before getting a tattoo, ensure that you know the type of equipment your artist will be using in their experience in performing the procedure. Ask relevant questions to avoid getting complications such as developing blood clots. There are reported cases of people dying from a blood clot after getting a tattoo.

Can A Tattoo Cause Nerve Damage?

In rare cases, a tattoo can damage your nerve system. Usually, a tattoo artist, when performing the procedure, the needles may come very close to the nerve endings. However, cases of nerve damage during a tattoo procedure are sporadic.

Certain body parts where people love to have tattoos, such as the hands and feet, have numerous nerve endings and may experience severe pains during and after a procedure.

The skin areas around these parts are fragile, and when they are hit with the needles, it triggers pain. Therefore, these areas are risky and can experience nerve damage when a tattoo procedure is conducted with an inexperienced tattoo artist.

When a tattoo is done on them, a thin skin area means the tattoo needle can reach the nerves closely or directly.

Therefore, the brain will trigger and perceive the level of pains experienced more intensely. Such areas in the body include private parts, ankles, the face, shinbones, feet, fingers, the neck front, and more.

The type of nerve damage caused by the tattoo procedure is considered first-degree nerve damage. This damage is not that type that is destroyed or cut for a person to lose their feeling or movement.

A tattoo procedure will cause minor or moderate nerve damage, which the brain will sense and trigger pain. The pain means your nerve is affected even if it’s not the entire cut and still functions.

These pains may cause discomfort to the person getting a tattoo, but the nerves will recover quickly after the procedure, and everything will be good in time.

Before getting a new tattoo, it would be best to research an artist’s experience level to avoid damage to your nerve system.

Can Tattoo Cause Blood Cancer?

The majority of reviews on tattoos linked to various types of cancer indicate that the relationship between tattoos and cancer is primarily coincidental.

But according to the International Business Times, their reports states that about 13 out of 21 commonly used tattoo inks in Europe contain cancer-causing chemicals.

The reports further indicate that the Tattoo Ink Manufacturers of Europe. It is believed that about 5% of tattoo artists in Europe use toxic ink to perform their procedures which, when it finds its way into a person’s bloodstream, can cause cancer.

The report advises the EU to force tattoo ink makers to conduct a risk assessment on the products they produce and avail their results to the public.

Can Tattoo Cause Muscle Pain?

There is an instance when you get a tattoo. You will experience muscle pain issues. For example, when your immune system is low, you have a high chance of experiencing muscle pain.

According to research conducted by Scottish doctors in their reports in the journal BMJ Case Report, a tattoo can cause an unexpected complication to people having low immunity leading to severe muscle pain even if they don’t have any other injury or trauma.

The immune system is crucial in fighting off infection developing in the body. It’s a complex system that, when affected, reduces its defense role. Some tattoo ink, mostly the red type, uses heavy metal, which causes a reaction in the body. The metals may travel to the lymph glands and affect them.

Can Tattoo Cause Kidney Stones?

Yes, tattoos can lead to kidney stones. Some tattoo ink may have toxins in them, and when they enter your kidneys, lymph node, and lungs through your body’s circulatory system into your bloodstream.

When a tattoo is done on your body, not all the ink your artist used will stay in the inked area. A certain amount will remain in the dermis to form a persistent tattoo. However, the remaining excess ink will travel into your blood vessel system and begin to flow around your body.

The ink particles traveling into your body can find their way into other body organs and locations in your body. They may come out of the body through the excretion or urinary system. This is where your kidneys and liver have a role to play.

Because the excess tattoo ink that travels into your body needs to find an exit, it is most likely to go through your liver and the kidneys before it leaves your body. Your liver’s role is to get rid of the toxins it finds in the body, such as excess tattoo ink.

The chemical structure of the tattoo ink can have some immunotoxic effects which may apply to your kidneys.

When your body is exposed to heavy metals and toxins in colorants from bad ink, it can give your kidneys and liver a tough job, leading to cognitive complications such as fatigue or brain fog.

Most of the toxin ink may pass through the liver and kidney on their way out. But in severe cases where the ink used by your tattoo artist is contaminated or the artist has used dirty needles.in such cases, it will cause an infection that can spread to your kidney and cause kidney stones.

Can Tattoo Cause Swollen Lymph Nodes?

Researchers have discovered that some ink used by tattoo artists across the globe to create tattoos of it may spread into your body through the bloodstream and cause long-term swelling around the lymph nodes.

The excess ink may travel and apply to the lymph nodes as your skin continues to heal from the tattoo piercing.

New research shows that nanoparticles that come from tattoo needles can travel to your body’s lymph node, which causes allergic reactions to your body.

A research report in 2017 revealed that pigments drip from a tattoo site and travel to amass in the body’s lymph nodes. Tattoo needles can deposit pigments that contain titanium dioxide into your lymph nodes, especially when white tattoo ink is used.

When you develop a swollen lymph node, it will be a concern. Swelling happens when your lymph nodes overwork to try and drain the infections that occur from your skin area and other parts of the body. A condition on your tattooed body may find its way into the lymph node.

According to Journal Scientific Reports, the microscopic particles that your tattoo ink releases, such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, and chromium, can migrate and settle into your body, where they will lodge in the lymph nodes.

These particles travel by bleeding or are immersed by immune cells that deposit them into the lymph nodes.

When these toxic substances block your lymph nodes, it causes them to swell, and they will not have the ability to fight infections in your body.

They also cause skin inflammation. Lymph nodes are an essential part of a body immune system for transporting fluid, waste materials, and nutrients between your body tissues and your bloodstream.

Can Tattoo Cause Autoimmune Disorders?

Studies show that tattoos can cause autoimmune disorders in a person. When you go for a tattoo procedure, your new tattoo can trigger your body’s immune system. When this occurs, it will send white blood cells known as macrophages to fight the invaders.

They will sacrifice themselves in the process of the fight engagement to protect your body against infection. Immunologists believe that your body will launch adaptive responses when fighting disease and repairing damaged body parts.

When the white cells for fighting foreign pigment in the body are destroyed when fighting alien tattoo particles from the ink and needle used, your body’s immune system will be compromised.

You are likely to develop an allergic reaction from the tattoo ink or encounter specific medical issues. When this occurs, chances of your body struggling to handle the tattoo ink presence in the body will increase. When this happens, you may experience autoimmune disorders or signs of inflammation.

Can Tattoo Cause Liver Damage?

Yes, getting a tattoo from unprofessional tattoo articles can lead to an unhealthy liver. It happens when your tattoo artist uses toxic inks that have metals particles that, when they enter into your body bloodstream, will start to cause a burden to your liver and other body organs.

As a result, you may develop other infections and complications such as allergic reactions, skin infection, RI complications, bloodborne diseases, and skin inflammation.

From a clinic pathological study conducted. An observation on 26 patients with tattoos and liver diseases. The findings concluded that when a person goes for a tattoo procedure, it can lead to infections of hepatitis viruses. One of them is B type, on -A, non-B types, which cause chronic inflammatory liver complications.

A tattoo procedure involves the injection of ink or colorants into a person’s skin. The needle your artist will use to perform the procedure under your skin surface pushes the ink to reside in the dermis in tiny particles.

Usually, a small portion of the ink inserted into your skin will be absorbed by the tissue in the surrounding area, and the remaining ink will enter your body’s lymphatic system. This is why you can find ink in the lymph nodes available around the tattooed area.

The ink inserted into your skin will not remain in one place. The excess will travel into your body via the blood as the rest stay in the nearby tissues.

For instance, according to Scientific Reports, excess tattoo ink particles can migrate into a person’s body through the lymphatic system and bloodstream and find their way into the lymph nodes. Eventually, the excess ink will reach other body organs like the liver.

Another study report on the journal Dermatology concluded that after migrating from a tattooed area, tattoo pigments get into the bloodstream and flow to the liver, which is an essential organ for performing detoxification.

A liver’s prominent role is to detoxify your body by getting rid of poisonous substances found. The chemical structure of most tattoo inks can prompt some immunotoxic effects.

When your liver is exposed to heavy metals and colorants found in low-quality ink used by your tattoo artist, it can overburden it. Consequently, you will develop cognitive problems such as brain fog.

On the other hand, heavy metals in the body can harm your liver enzymes and cause inflammation.

When you develop inflammation in your body, your liver is experiencing some stress. Your body parts that will experience inflammation are the skin, which may occur in other places like the liver. In some cases, it may become systemic.

Can Tattoo Cause Pimples?

A tattooing process involves puncturing a particular area of the skin. When numerous punctures occur in your skin, they may create a larger wound. When the operation of this tattoo is ongoing, it may trigger rashes or pimples that have sensitive skin or acne-prone skin.

When a tattooing process is done with an unclean artist in an unsanitary environment, you can develop a bacterial or viral infection which may lead to pimples development.

Tattoo pimples may form when your skin hair follicles develop clogs from oil, skin cells, or dirt. When you pick on these pimples, they may become skin infections, and they will patch of fading ink which will need special aftercare to prevent disease.

A new study by NYU Langone Medical Center discovers that as many as 10% of New York dwellers experience different types of skin complications such as pimples after getting a tattoo. The red ink, in most cases, causes itchiness and puffy skin reaction to most people.