Getting a tattoo…a closer look.

Curious about what is ACTUALLY happening when you get a tattoo? Tattoos are created by injecting dye in to a person’s skin. (I know duh!) Though you may have heard of the ol’ “stick n poke” (no jokes here!), where a single needle is used to poke the design in to the skin, generally modern tattoo artists apply tattoos by using a mechanized needle. The needle penetrates the skin approximately 1 to 1 ½ millimeters and deposits a drop of ink into the skin with each perforation. The needle is attached to an electrically powered tattoo machine that punctures the skin at a frequency of 50 to 3000 times per minute. Every time the needle punches through the skin it creates a tiny wound -ow!  This alerts the body to begin the inflammatory process to begin repairing the skin.  It is this process that makes tattoos permanent. Although sun and aging affects the permanency of tattoos, they are literally ‘with you for life’.     So many people have said to me “What’s that gonna look like when you are older?”  Well at least with tattoos you get to choose what goes on your skin as opposed to wrinkles, stretch marks, spots and dots and veins—oh my!  I’d rather have a beautiful tattoo, even if it sags a bit over time.  Hey, it’s something pretty to stare at and reminisce about when I’m in the old folks home!