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19 years
I'm aware of the risks involved in using a reusable needle for tattoos, but what side effects may the ink have? I have heard that it is linked to cancer.
Apr 29, 2014
2nd opinion

Dr. Rania Mousa General Medicine
Tattoos breach the skin, which means that skin infections and other complications are possible. Specific risks include:
-Allergic reactions. Tattoo dyes — especially red, green, yellow and blue dyes — can cause allergic skin reactions, such as an itchy rash at the tattoo site. This can occur even years after you get the tattoo.
-Skin infections. A skin infection — which might cause redness, swelling, pain and a pus-like drainage — is possible after tattooing.
-Other skin problems. Sometimes bumps called granulomas form around tattoo ink. Tattooing can also lead to keloids — raised areas caused by an overgrowth of scar tissue.
-Bloodborne diseases. If the equipment used to create your tattoo is contaminated with infected blood, you can contract various bloodborne diseases — including tetanus, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
-MRI complications. Rarely, tattoos or permanent makeup might cause swelling or burning in the affected areas during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams. In some cases, tattoo pigments can interfere with the quality of the image — such as when a person who has permanent eyeliner has an MRI of the eye.
-Medication or other treatment , including possible removal of the tattoo — might be needed if you experience an allergic reaction to the tattoo ink or you develop an infection or other skin problem near a tattoo.
CONCERNING LINK TO CANCER :dermatologists have been evaluating patients with tattoos for decades for any evidence of skin cancer, and they have never found an increased prevalence of the disease in those individuals.The same is true for patients who have already had melanoma or another form of skin cancer; the inks used in tattoos have never been shown to increase their risk of recurrence. People who have had skin cancer are always at higher risk of developing future skin cancers, but tattoos do not increase that risk.
tattoo is never a good idea, however, to have a tattoo placed too close to or within a mole (nevus).
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