Tattoos: More Than Meets the Eye

Tattoos, simple right? The needle punctures the skin, the ink is on the needle, and then you have a tattoo. To my surprise marking your skin forever isn’t that simple.

Before starting this post I would like to clarify that this isn’t saying that tattoos are good or bad or anything about the morality of the process, but simply how the process physically goes. It is the research that I did before getting my own tattoo and something that I feel is interesting given how many young adults do already have tattoos or plan to get them one day. With that said, first we will look at how the needle makes the tattoos permanent, along with the benefits and downsides of having a tattoo.

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How tattooing works?

First, lets go over the actual needle used for a tattooing, these are not the same as needles used for a shot or an IV. Unlike medical needles, tattooing needles are not injecting the ink into our skin. They are actually more similar to paintbrushes, holding the ink in between each needle. Depending on the look each person is going for, a needle can have 3 to 25 different ends on it, according to Guia Marie Del Prado from Business Insider.

Once the needle is dipped in in ink it is ready to puncture our skin. During this process capillary action is what matters, once the skin is punctured the body goes into repair mode. This means that the body will do what it can to repair the broken skin, therefore fibroblasts, dermal cells, and macrophages will be distributed to heal the wound. The way that tattoos become permanent is due to the macrophages that don’t make it out of the dermis. So basically a tattoo is just a bunch of trapped cells that were invaded by a foreign body, the ink.

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Upsides

Getting tattoos now-a-days are almost a social norm amongst individuals from within our generation and it is a trend becoming more and more accepted in the world. With about 45 million Americans with at least one tattoo, there must be some upsides to having a one, right? Of course! Getting a tattoo can be very addicting! The whole process of getting a tattoo is very exciting as a whole! Everything from picking the artist, color schemes, design, location, and style are just a few things to name that all go into getting a tattoo, and that is even before the inking begins! Once all the above have been decided and settled upon, it is time for the actual tattooing to begin.

As the adrenaline rushes your body just as you hear the intimidating sound of a needle moving up and down at immense rates, you more than likely start to panic a little bit because you have no idea what kind of pain you are about to endure. Each person has a different pain tolerance, therefore tattoos won’t feel the same for everyone. Below is a picture of the sensitivity levels of different parts of the body.  Explained here, we see how adrenaline dulls the pain. This is applicable when getting a tattoo, epinephrine levels are high in our body therefore dulling the pain. Of course this is different for everyone and can change due to third variables. These third variables can be things such as location, pain tolerance, and the amount of fat on the person.

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This gives some of us an extraordinary sense of euphoria creating rush in which can be addicting to most. According to statisticbrain.com, about 32% of people are addicted to getting inked. Not to mention the unbelievable way you feel once the tattoo is complete. Your self image is raised substantially once your tattoo is completed, and this is backed with a stat of almost 31% of people saying they feel sexier after getting it. You become so proud of yourself for going through it all and want nothing more than to show it off so almost everyone can see it, and ask what it means. The science behind this actually makes a lot of since. Tattoo addiction is more psychological than it is physical. Here we see the ways that physiological, psychological, and social attributes contribute to the euphoric feeling after getting a tattoo. Not to mention, it is an unbelievable conversation starter for those who are afraid to talk to that cute guy or girl they have been eye balling at the party. It will get the two of you talking and might give you an idea of who he or she may be!

That leads me into my next pro to getting a tattoo. Many people get tattoos with meaning. Something significant that happened to them, or is a tribute to someone that has made an impact on their life. For example, I have a tattoo of coordinates for Millinocket, Maine because that is where I used to spend majority of my summers as a child. It is also where I shared some of the best times and experiences of my life with some of the best people. Another example is one of my best friend’s tattoos. He has a tattoo of his step father’s name on his forearm with the year of his birth and the year of his death. Obviously, this is an honorable tribute to him and means something to him. The point I am trying to make is that a tattoo can represent more than just art on your body. Most tattoos have a story behind them that mean something to them. It allows for people to properly honor those things that truly matter to them. Others may get tattoos that represent their heritage or their culture. An example of this are the tribal tattoos we see from the islands of the pacific. They usually have a lot of shading and intricate patterns throughout which usually represent something of their family history. This allows for them to bring pride and honor to their family name or tribe.

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Downsides

This may sound crazy, but tattoos actually can have negative effects to them other than the typical “bad boy” reputation. It may be possible for some tattoo ink to contain metal particles, this allows for the tattoo to prevent a person from undergoing a few certain procedures. This study, discusses the possibility of how some inks may cause the tattoo to burn during an MRI. The Smithsonian states that the MRI has a very high output of magnetic energy so the metal in the tattoo can begin with a tingling sensation, then turning into a burn.

The second example is here. Apple has confirmed that the frequencies of the apple watch can be messed with by tattoos on the wrist. The darker the tattoo the more it messed with the signal of the watches. Personally, I find this to be crazy. Who would have thought??

Of course with the use of needles, comes the risk of infection, or transmitted diseases by improper use and technique of the artist. You are essentially scarring your skin and without proper care, it can lead to many unwanted complications. It is important to know and trust your artist otherwise you may end up with a nasty infection! Here is a link to an article on how to properly care for your tattoo and allow it to heal properly without complications.

To Conclude

Tattoos simply are not for everyone. That is fine, they don’t have to be. However, I hope after reading this blog post you can walk away with a better understanding of tattoos and why people who do have them, get them! I also hope I have been adequate in providing the help necessary to those people who may be on the fence about getting one, and helping them in making a definitive decision on whether or not it is right for them. Just remember that tattoos allow for self expression and gives the people around you a little insight on who you might be without even saying a single word! The pain is only temporary, and depending on where you get it, it might not even hurt at all! In the end a little bit of pain may be worth the end result.

Citations:

Guia Marie Del Prado. Bussiness Insider. “Here’s what’s really happening when you get a tattoo”. June 2015. Link

Rose Eveleth. Smithsonian.com. “Some Tattoo Inks Can Burn You During an MRI”. March 2014. Link

6 thoughts on “Tattoos: More Than Meets the Eye

  1. Rebecca Aronow

    This was a really informative blog post and I really enjoyed reading it. I have one tattoo—a small delta on the inside of my left wrist—that I got after my last exam in high school. I had been wanting the tattoo for a couple years but since I was under 18 I would’ve needed my parents to sign off on me getting it, which they didn’t want to do. My mom advised me to draw the triangle on my wrist in sharpie every day to make sure that I wanted it; I did that for a week before I got lazy and stopped drawing it on every morning. But after two years I still wanted it and so I got it, and I definitely don’t regret it.

    Even though tattoos are becoming much more common, especially in our generation, I do think that there is still a stigma attached to people with tattoos. Before I got my tattoo my dad kept bringing up how potential career opportunities could be negatively affected by me having a tattoo, to which I responded that the jobs I wanted would not care about any tattoo on my body (I want to work in the music industry). But I started thinking about why some people hiring for a job would care about a piece of art on someone’s body, and I found this study that concluded that tattoos are a marker for risky behavior.

    The study, which interviewed 8,656 people between the ages of 16 and 64 in Australia found that 14.5% of the people had tattoos, the people between 20 and 39 were the most likely to have tattoos, and that tattoos were associated with unsafe behavior like smoking and a higher amount of sexual partners. Although this study was relatively small, it agrees with previous studies like one done in the US in 2004 that also found that respondents with tattoos were associated with higher risky behaviors like greater alcohol or drug use and lower levels of education. I found this study to be interesting because the conclusion could be true but it could also be the result of the file drawer problem, where only studies that resulted in these correlations are reported. Either way, these ideas about people with tattoos are definitely still widely believed to be true, and I think that’s a large part of why it can cause a person with a tattoo to not be hired.

    I definitely support tattoos though and agree with everything you said about them increasing self-esteem, having special meanings, and being a nice work of art. But you are definitely right, they are not for everyone, and we should understand what they are and the impact they may have before we permanently alter our bodies.

  2. Olivia Mei Zhang

    Hey Abigail,
    I’ve thought about getting a tattoo for a while now, but think I’m going to wait until I really want a specific one, that has significant meaning attached to it. I can definitely see how adrenaline will somehow “dull” the pain because your body is heightened towards excitement and anxiety. I was unaware that tattoos could be an addiction; I figured people would get multiple just because of personal preference. However, I understand that the addiction is psychological, because individuals are more prone to experiencing the thrill and euphoria. I found this interesting article about tattoo addiction and the role science plays: http://www.attn.com/stories/4353/science-behind-tattoo-addiction

  3. Cristen Heaton

    I really enjoyed this blog post, because I have been recently wanting to get a tattoo of a bible verse and I wasn’t quite sure what a tattoo entailed. The bible verse I would like to get does a special meaning to me as well, it is for my grandmother who lost her battle to Breast Cancer so I respect that you put a little paragraph in your blog post about how tattoos do have meaning to people. I have always heard mixed reviews from people about tattoos due to pain tolerance so I liked how you put in that picture of the pain tolerance chart. Some have said it isn’t bad at all and others have told me not to get one because of the pain level. I know it comes down to a person’s pain tolerance, but mine isn’t that high. It’s INSANE to me how the tattoos can affect an Apple Watch?! Seriously, so shocked. You also think like how much technology goes into an Apple watch and something as small as tattoo ink can affect it? It makes you think how well they are made. Another interesting topic you brought up is how during a MRI, the ink can burn in a tattoo which I think is crazy as well because science is just simply cool.

  4. Mallory Dixon

    I love tattoos. I currently have 4 and completely relate to the part of your post where you said tattoos are addictive. I got my first tattoo on my stomach right under my heart. It is very small (the size of a quarter) and when I first got it 1. It actually tickled so much my tattoo artist had to stop because I kept laughing and 2. Right after I got it, I immediately wanted to get another… So 3 days later I went back and got my second tattoo. All 4 of my tattoos have tons of meaning behind them and they all felt differently while I was getting them. The one on my forearm pinched, the one on my shoulder was numb after a few minutes, and the one on my spine had me twitching so badly in pain that my artist had to pause every few seconds. I knew tattoos could get infected if your artist is not careful and does not clean your skin or their tools properly, but I had no idea that a wrist tattoo could affect the performance of an apple watch or even some tattoos could burn during an MRI.

  5. Jessy Severino

    When I was younger I wanted to get a tattoo I thought they were really cool and definitely people can know a little bit about you from them it is an artistic expression and appreciation. One thing that always had me skeptical on them was the part of the needles and what effects it had on your skin. Another thing that caught me by surprise was the tattoos messing with the frequency of apple watches and; also that some tattoo inks contain metals that’s a bit scary that some people can’t undergo certain medical procedures because the tattoos can have negative effects on the procedures. Tattoos are cool and all but can have negative effects.

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