Tattoos and Health Concerns: What You Should Know

Author: Jonathan Scott

In a world where a new disease is discovered almost weekly, sometimes it seems that health issues arise in almost everything we do. Unfortunately this includes getting tattoos.







It is very important when considering getting a new tattoo that you pick a person who has a good reputation. Too many people make this an impulsive decision; they decide one day they want the tattoo and go get it the next day before they've thoroughly researched the subject. They give little thought to who is giving them the tat or the tattoo artist's physical surroundings.







In any case there are a few easy steps to make sure you are going to be safe when getting a tattoo. After you pick your design, make sure you watch everything that the tattoo artist is doing. He should start by washing his hands and putting on latex gloves (if you are allergic to latex, you could request a different kind). Make sure all of the space that they will be working with has been sprayed with disinfectant and covered with saran wrap. This will prevent any type of contamination from going back and forth on the work area.







A huge thing to watch for is the needle. You need to make sure that you watch the artist and make sure he takes a new needle out of the package. If this does not happen, you need to leave and go somewhere else. You also need to make sure that the paint part of the of the tattoo gun has been cleaned with an autoclave. This uses very hot heat and extremely high pressure to make the equipment sterilized.







I have been into many tattoo places and turned around and walked right out. You can usually use your judgement to figure out whether a place is good or not to get a tattoo at. A bad first impression is the first sign that you should look elsewhere. This is not to say that getting a tattoo is always bad, because it is a personal decision. But there are things that you need to watch for and be cautious.







Some people have allergic reactions to tattoos and need to be careful. Latex is one, the metal from the needle, and one that most people immediately do afterwards is expose their new tattoo to high sun exposure. Staying out of the sun for at least a couple of days until after you have the tattoo can prevent an allergic reaction to the sun. There are diseases that can be contracted if you are not careful. Hepatitis B and AIDS need not to be overlooked. Although there have not been any cases of AIDS being contracted from tattoos in the US, it is possible if you are not paying attention to what is going on. There have been cases of Hepatitis B from tattoos. This is where the artist was not careful and the person getting the tattoo did not do their research first.







This article is not meant to scare you. It's meant to inform you of the dangers of tattoos. If you are careful, these can all be prevented, and you can enjoy your tattoo with no problems.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/tattoos-and-health-concerns-what-you-should-know-529471.html

About the Author

Jonathan Scott has been in the tattoo industry for over 20 years. He is an expert on the application of tattoos and methods for their removal. He serves as the in house expert on tattoo removal at http://www.NuviDerm.com.