TATTOOS: AN ANCIENT ART GOES ... - News in review

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Did you know . . . The Canadian Blood Services takes seriously the threat of bloodborn diseases in people with tattoos? It forbids people who have had a tattoo or piercing from giving blood for a period of 12 months after the piercing. Further Research To read about Health Canada’s Infection Prevention and Control Practices for Personal Services: Tattooing, Ear/Body Piercing, and Electrolysis, go to www.phacaspc.gc.ca/publicat/ ccdr-rmtc/99pdf/ cdr25s3e.pdf. Finding the Right Tattoo Shop The right tattoo shop will follow procedures that reduce your health risks. But not all tattoo shops respect professional standards. Shops are inspected annually, and Health Canada distributes guidelines. But there is no guarantee that all tattoo artists will follow these guidelines. So how can you be sure that you’ll be safe? Here are a few questions to ask before you let anyone put a needle in you. • Is the shop clean and bright? • Where is the autoclave (sterilizer)? Ask to see it. • Do the artists open the needle package in front of each customer? (Needles should never be reused.) • Do they use approved tattoo pigments? • Do they use a new pot of ink for each customer? • Do the tattoo artists wear medical gloves during the procedure? • Do they sterilize the skin? • Do they provide instructions for aftercare? • Do they follow Health Canada’s Infection Control Guidelines? If you’re even a little unsure, walk away. There are plenty of tattoo shops. Educate yourself a little more about CBC News in Review • April 2005 • Page 55 tattoo safety. Take your time to find a shop and an artist you can trust. Or take the safest route: no tattoo at all. The more reputable shops require a parent’s written consent—and sometimes their presence—for any tattooing on teenagers who have not yet reached the age of majority. Health Canada Warning about Black Henna Generally, henna is considered much safer than traditional tattoos, because it dyes the surface of the skin rather than puncturing the skin. Nonetheless, socalled black henna tattooing does pose health problems. In 2003, Health Canada warned the public about it. Traditional henna, which comes from a plant, is quite safe. But traditional henna takes a long time to set before the paste can be removed. Henna artists started using black henna, which sometimes includes an ingredient called para-phenylenediamine (PPD). PPD creates a darker tattoo, and sets quickly. However, it can cause severe allergic reactions, with symptoms such as red rashes, swelling, itching, blistering, open sores, and scarring. It may also lead to life-long allergies. So always ask about the ingredients of the henna before getting a black henna tattoo. Analysis 1. What are the health risks of getting a tattoo? 2. You can get a tattoo at home by an amateur. Or you can go to a professional tattoo shop. Which strategy poses less risk to your health? Explain. 3. How can you increase your chances of avoiding health problems connected to your tattoo? 4. Health Canada now recommends that tattoo parlours require parental consent before minors can get tattoos. Should teenagers be able to get tattoos without parental consent? Make a table to compare arguments for and against. Think about health and legal considerations. Think about how teenagers’ tastes and opinions may change over the coming decades.
FYI You can include Johnny Depp among the people who regret a tattoo. When in a relationship with Winona Ryder, he got a tattoo that said “Winona Forever.” After they broke up, he had it changed to “Wino Forever.” FYI Scientists began studying laser technology in 1986 as a way to remove port wine stain birthmarks. As an afterthought, they realized it would work on tattoos too. YV TATTOOS: AN ANCIENT ART GOES MAINSTREAM Getting Rid of Your Tattoo “I definitely wish I hadn’t done it. I am different now. I wish they were gone. . . . It’s depressing. When I was in high school, I needed to have these tattoos so badly. I thought I was so cool. Now I’m paying a huge price.” — Fawna Nelson, 23, quoted in John DiConsiglio, “Bodily Harm: Does the rebel in you want a tattoo? Beware.” Scholastic Choices, January 1, 2005 “We had a young, female employee who had a tattoo slightly above her breast. We were extremely upset, as was our client, when she was in their trade show booth wearing a shirt under a suit jacket that allowed it to occasionally be seen. . . . We certainly would not hire her back.” — anonymous, Chagrin Falls, quoted in “Are tattoos appropriate in the workplace?” Crain’s Cleveland Business, January 24, 2005 A 2002 study in the British Journal of Dermatology showed that 75 per cent of the people who have tattoos eventually regret having them. People change. That SpongeBob SquarePants tattoo may be important to you when you’re 16. But it might not seem so cool when you’re 37. What if you want to get a job in a company that wouldn’t want to hire a person with a lizard tattoo? Or maybe your tattoo dedicates your love to an old girlfriend, CBC News in Review • April 2005 • Page 56 Sherrie Lee. It might not go over so well with the new girlfriend, Darla. At one time, getting rid of a tattoo was impossible. Now there are options, but none is perfect. Dermabrasion: Freezing and then sanding the skin to its deeper layers. This is very painful but it’s cheap. It can leave scars. Surgery: Cutting out the tattoo. Sometimes this involves replacing the skin with a graft from another part of the body. This is not always viable, especially with larger tattoos. It usually leaves a scar. Cover-ups: An expert can sometimes cover up an unwanted tattoo by tattooing another design on top. Laser Technology: Shatters the ink particles, so that the body can then get rid of them. Different lasers work for different colours. It’s a very lengthy process involving as many as 10 treatments that feel like hot oil hitting the skin. And it’s expensive, running as high as $5 000. About a third of patients end up with clear skin. More than 10 per cent end up with scars. Green and yellow inks are particularly hard to get rid of. The treatment is most successful for tattoos on light skin. Activities 1. Write a list of rules for a tattoo parlour. Expand on the information offered above by researching on the Internet. Or, create a fact sheet about tattoos that lists the risks and costs of tattooing and tattoo removal. Be sure to cover information about how personal taste changes. 2. Draw a sketch of a tattooed image. Imagine the person who has it gains a lot of weight. Draw an “after” sketch to show how the tattoo would change.
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TATTOOS: AN ANCIENT ART GOES ... - News in review

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