All Topics  
Tattoo

 
Tattoo

   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link






 

Tattoo



 
 
A tattoo is a permanent marking made by inserting ink into the layers of skin
Skin

The skin is the outer covering of the body, also known as the epidermis. It is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial biological tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and organ s....
 to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification
Body modification

Body modification is the permanent or semi-permanent deliberate altering of the human anatomy for non-medical reasons, such as: sexual enhancement; a rite of passage; aesthetic reasons; denoting affiliation, trust and loyalty; religious reasons; mystical affiliations; shock value; and self-expression.....
, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding.

Tattooing has been practiced worldwide. The Ainu
Ainu people

are an ethnic group indigenous peoples to Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. There are most likely over 150,000 Ainu today; however the exact figure is not known as many Ainu hide their origin due to Ethnic issues in Japan....
, the indigenous people of Japan, traditionally wore facial tattoos. Today one can find Berbers of Tamazgha
Tamazgha

Tamazgha is a word Tamazight employed for the area more often known as the Maghreb or North Africa, covering the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Niger River, from Siwa Oasis to the Atlantic Ocean....
 (North Africa) and Maori
Maori

The Maori are the indigenous people Polynesian people of Aotearoa . The group probably arrived in south-western Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300....
 of New Zealand with facial tattoos.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Tattoo'
Start a new discussion about 'Tattoo'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


A tattoo is a permanent marking made by inserting ink into the layers of skin
Skin

The skin is the outer covering of the body, also known as the epidermis. It is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial biological tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and organ s....
 to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification
Body modification

Body modification is the permanent or semi-permanent deliberate altering of the human anatomy for non-medical reasons, such as: sexual enhancement; a rite of passage; aesthetic reasons; denoting affiliation, trust and loyalty; religious reasons; mystical affiliations; shock value; and self-expression.....
, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding.

Tattooing has been practiced worldwide. The Ainu
Ainu people

are an ethnic group indigenous peoples to Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. There are most likely over 150,000 Ainu today; however the exact figure is not known as many Ainu hide their origin due to Ethnic issues in Japan....
, the indigenous people of Japan, traditionally wore facial tattoos. Today one can find Berbers of Tamazgha
Tamazgha

Tamazgha is a word Tamazight employed for the area more often known as the Maghreb or North Africa, covering the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Niger River, from Siwa Oasis to the Atlantic Ocean....
 (North Africa) and Maori
Maori

The Maori are the indigenous people Polynesian people of Aotearoa . The group probably arrived in south-western Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300....
 of New Zealand with facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesia
Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean....
n peoples and among certain tribal groups in the Philippines
Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, Borneo
Borneo

Borneo is the List of islands by area and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei....
, Mentawai Islands
Mentawai Islands

The Mentawai Islands are a chain of about seventy islands and islets off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Siberut is the largest of the islands....
, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian society flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries....
, Europe, Japan, Cambodia
Cambodia

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh....
, New Zealand and Micronesia
Micronesia

Micronesia , from the Greek language mikros and nesos , is a subregion of Oceania, comprising hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean....
. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular in many parts of the world.

Etymology

The origin of the word tattoo is from the Samoan
Samoan

Samoan can refer to:* Samoan Islands* Samoa* Western Samoa* American Samoa* Manu'a Islands* Samoans* Samoan language* Samoan American* Samoan Assemblies of God...
 word tatau, meaning "open wound". The OED gives the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From Polynesian (Tahitian, Samoan, Tongan, etc.) tatau. In Tahitian, tatu." The word tatau was loaned into English, the pronunciation being changed to conform to English phonology as "tattoo". Sailors on the voyage later introduced both the word and reintroduced the concept of tattooing to Europe.

Tattoo enthusiasts may refer to tattoos as "Ink", "Tats", "Art", or "Work", and to tattooists as "Artists". The latter usage is gaining greater support, with mainstream art galleries holding exhibitions of both traditional and custom tattoo designs. Copyrighted tattoo designs that are mass-produced to tattoo artists are known as flash
Flash (tattoo)

A tattoo flash is a tattoo design printed or drawn on paper or cardboard, and may be regarded as a species of industrial design. It is typically displayed on the walls of tattoo parlors and in binders to give walk-in customers ideas for tattoos....
, a notable instance of industrial design
Industrial design

Industrial design is an applied art whereby the aesthetics and usability of mass-produced Product may be improved for marketability and Manufacturing....
. Flash sheets are prominently displayed in many tattoo parlors for the purpose of providing both inspiration and ready-made tattoo images to customers.

The Japanese word irezumi
Irezumi

Irezumi is a Japanese language word that refers to the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark; a form of tattooing....
 means "insertion of ink" and can mean tattoos using tebori, the traditional Japanese hand method, a Western style machine, or for that matter, any method of tattooing using insertion of ink. The most common word used for traditional Japanese tattoo designs is Horimono
Horimono

Horimono is a word used to describe irezumi or to describe the carving of images into a sword blade....
. Japanese may use the word "tattoo" to mean non-Japanese styles of tattooing.

The anthropologist Ling Roth in 1900 describes four methods of skin marking and suggests they be differentiated under the names of tatu, moko, cicatrix and keloid.

History

Tattooing has been a Eurasian
Eurasian

Eurasian, also Euroasian or Euro-Asian can mean:...
 practice at least since around Neolithic
Neolithic

The Neolithic period was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 Before the Christian Era in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age....
 times. Ötzi the Iceman
Ötzi the Iceman

?tzi the Iceman , and Similaun Man are modern names of a well-preserved natural mummy of a man from about 34th century BC . The mummy was found in 1991 in the Schnalstal glacier in the ?tztal Alps, near Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy....
, dating from the fourth to fifth millennium BC, was found in the Ötz valley in the Alps and had approximately 57 carbon tattoos consisting of simple dots and lines on his lower spine, behind his left knee, and on his right ankle. Other mummies bearing tattoos and dating from the end of the second millennium BC have been discovered, such as the Mummy of Amunet
Amunet

File:La tombe de Horemheb -2.jpgIn Egyptian mythology, Amunet was a deity having several different characteristics during the long history of the Pantheon of Ancient Egypt....
 from Ancient Egypt and the mummies at Pazyryk
Pazyryk

The Pazyryk is the name of an ancient nomadic people who lived in the Altai Mountains lying in Siberian Russia south of the modern city of Novosibirsk, near the borders of China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia....
 on the Ukok Plateau
Ukok Plateau

Ukok Plateau is a remote and pristine grasslands area located in the heart of southwestern Siberia, the Altai Mountains region of Russia near the borders with China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia....
.

Pre-Christian Germanic
Germanic peoples

File:Germanische-ratsversammlung 1-1250x715.jpgThe Germanic peoples are a historical Ethnolinguistics group, originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Indo-European languages Germanic languages which diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre-Roman Iron Age....
, Celt
Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
ic and other central and northern European tribes were often heavily tattooed, according to surviving accounts. The Picts
Picts

The Picts were a confederation of tribes in what was later to become eastern and northern Scotland from Roman Empire times until the 10th century....
 were famously tattooed (or scarified
Scarification

Scarifying involves scratching, etching, or some sort of superficial cutting or incision. Scarification, in botany, involves cutting the seed coat using abrasion, thermal stress, or chemicals to encourage germination....
) with elaborate dark blue woad
Woad

Woad is the common name of the flowering plant Isatis tinctoria in the family Brassicaceae. It is commonly called dyer's woad, and sometimes incorrectly listed as Isatis indigotica ....
 (or possibly copper
Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
 for the blue tone) designs. Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
 described these tattoos in Book V of his Gallic Wars
Gallic Wars

The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman Republic proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gaul, lasting from 58 BC to 51 BC....
 (54 BC).

Tattooing in Japan is thought to go back to the Paleolithic
Paleolithic

The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic or "Old Stone" era is a Prehistory era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human history....
 era, some ten thousand years ago. Various other cultures have had their own tattoo traditions, ranging from rubbing cuts and other wounds with ashes, to hand-pricking the skin to insert dyes.

Tattooing in the Western world
Western world

The term Western world, the West or the Occident can have multiple meanings dependent on its context . Accordingly, the basic definition of what constitutes "the West" varies, expanding and contracting over time, in relation to various historical circumstances....
 today has its origins in Polynesia
Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean....
, and in the discovery of tatau by eighteenth century explorers. The Polynesian practice became popular among European sailors, before spreading to Western societies generally.

Purposes


Decorative and spiritual uses

Tattoos have served as rites of passage
Rite of passage

A rite of passage is a ritual that marks a change in a person's social status. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures....
, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility
Fertility

Fertility is the natural capability of giving life. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population....
, pledges of love, punishment, amulet
Amulet

An amulet , a close cousin of the talisman consists of any object intended to bring good luck and/or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include: Gemstone or simple Gemstone, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, jewelry ring, plants, animals, etc.; even words said in certain occasions?for example: vade retro satana?, to repe...
s and talismans, protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts. The symbolism and impact of tattoos varies in different places and cultures. Tattoos may show how a person feels about a relative (commonly mother/father or daughter/son) or about an unrelated person.

Today, people choose to be tattooed for cosmetic, sentimental/memorial
Memorial

A memorial is an object which serves as a memory of something, usually a person or an event.Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures,statues or fountains ....
, religious
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
, and magical
Magic (paranormal)

Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a conceptual system that asserts human ability to control or predict the nature through Mysticism, paranormal or supernatural means....
 reasons, and to symbolize their belonging to or identification with particular groups, including criminal gangs (see criminal tattoo
Criminal tattoo

Tattoos are used among Crimes to show ownership of gangs and record the wearer's personal history - such as his or her skills, specialties, accomplishments and beliefs....
s) but also a particular ethnic group or law-abiding subculture. Some Maori
Maori

The Maori are the indigenous people Polynesian people of Aotearoa . The group probably arrived in south-western Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300....
 still choose to wear intricate moko
Ta moko

Ta moko is the permanent body and face marking by Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It is distinct from tattoo and tatau in that the skin was carved by uhi rather than punctured....
 on their faces. In Laos
Laos

Laos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west....
, Cambodia
Cambodia

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh....
, and Thailand
Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
, the yantra tattoo is used for protection against evil and to increase luck. In the Philippines
Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
 certain tribal groups believe that tattoos have magical qualities, and help to protect their bearers. Most traditional tattooing in the Philippines is related to the bearer's accomplishments in life or rank in the tribe.

Identification

People have also been forcibly tattooed for various reasons. The well known example is the identification system for inmates/Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s in concentration camps
Nazi concentration camps

Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazism concentration camps were greatly expanded in Germany after the Reichstag fire in 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime....
 during the Holocaust
The Holocaust

The Holocaust , also known as , Churben is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a program of deliberate extermination planned and executed by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler....
. However, tattoos can be linked with identification in more positive ways. For example, in the period of early contact between the Maori and Europeans, Maori chiefs sometimes drew their moko (facial tattoo) on documents in place of a signature. Tattoos are sometimes used by forensic pathologists to help them identify burned, putrefied, or mutilated bodies. Tattoo pigment is buried deep enough in the skin that even severe burns will often not destroy a tattoo. Because of this, many members of today's military will have their identification tags tattooed onto their chests or ribs (these are sometimes known as "meat tags" in the American armed forces). For many centuries seafarers have undergone tattooing for the purpose of enabling identification after drowning. In this way recovered bodies of such drowned persons could be connected with their family members or friends before burial. Therefore tattooists often worked in ports where potential customers were numerous. The traditional custom continues today in the Royal Navy (Great Britain) and in many others.

Tattoos are also placed on animals, though very rarely for decorative reasons. Pets, show animals, thoroughbred
Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds best known for its use in Thoroughbred horse race. Although the word "thoroughbred" is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed....
 horse
Horse

The horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolution of the horse over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, odd-toed ungulate animal of today....
s and livestock are sometimes tattooed with identification and other marks. Pet dogs and cats are often tattooed with a serial number (usually in the ear, or on the inner thigh) via which their owners can be identified. Also, animals are occasionally tattooed to prevent sunburn (on the nose, for example). Such tattoos are often performed by a veterinarian and in most cases the animals are anesthetized during the process. Branding
Livestock branding

Livestock branding is any technique for marking livestock so as to identify the owner. Originally, livestock branding only referred to a hot brand for large stock, though the term is now also used to refer to other alternative techniques such as freeze branding....
 is used for similar reasons and is often performed without anesthesia, but is different from tattooing as no ink or dye is inserted during the process.

Cosmetic

When used as a form of cosmetics
Cosmetics

Cosmetics are substances used to enhance or protect the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care Cream , lotions, Powder , perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and gels, deodorants, baby products, bath oils, bubb...
, tattooing includes permanent makeup and hiding or neutralizing skin discolorations. Permanent makeup
Permanent makeup

Permanent makeup is a Beauty technique which employs tattoos as a means of producing designs that resemble makeup, such as eyelining and other permanent enhancing colors to the skin of the face, lips, and eyelids....
 is the use of tattoos to enhance eyebrows, lips (liner and/or lipstick), eyes (liner), and even mole
Mole (skin marking)

A melanocytic nevus is a type of lesion that contains nevus cells.Some sources equate the term "mole" with "melanocytic nevus". Other sources reserve the term "mole" for other purposes....
s, usually with natural colors as the designs are intended to resemble makeup.

Medical

Medical tattoos are used to ensure instruments are properly located for repeated application of radiotherapy and for the areola in some forms of breast reconstruction. Tattooing has also been used to convey medical information about the wearer (e.g. blood group).

Prevalence

Tattoo Back
Tattoos have experienced a resurgence in popularity in many parts of the world, particularly in North and South America, Japan, and Europe. The growth in tattoo culture has seen an influx of new artists into the industry, many of whom have technical and fine arts training. Coupled with advancements in tattoo pigments and the ongoing refinement of the equipment used for tattooing, this has led to an improvement in the quality of tattoos being produced.

During the first decade of the 21st century, the presence of tattoos became evident within pop culture
Popular culture

Popular culture is the totality of Distinction memes, ideas, Perspective s and Attitude s that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture....
, inspiring television shows such as A&E
A&E Network

A&E is a cable television and satellite television television network with headquarters in Manhattan and offices in Stamford, Connecticut, Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, and London....
's Inked
Inked

Inked is a documentary television series about the employees of the Hart & Huntington Tattoo Company in Las Vegas, Nevada. The series was created by Jeff Bowler in 2005, and was broadcast by the A&E Network....
 and TLC
TLC (TV channel)

TLC is an United States Cable television network that carries a variety of informational and Reality television. TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications since 1991, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks....
's Miami Ink
Miami Ink

Miami Ink is a reality show on TLC that follows the events that take place at Love Hate, a tattoo shop in Miami Beach, Florida. The show premiered in July 2005 and entered its third season on June 12, 2007....
 and LA Ink
LA Ink

LA Ink is a reality show on TLC that follows the events of "High Voltage Tattoo", a tattoo studio in Los Angeles, California. It is a spin-off of TLC Miami Ink and it premiered on August 7 2007 at 10:00 PM EDT....
. The decoration of blues singer Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin

Janis Lyn Joplin was an United States singer, songwriter, and music arranger, from Port Arthur, Texas. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist....
 with a wristlet and a small heart on her left breast, by the San Francisco tattoo artist Lyle Tuttle
Lyle Tuttle

Lyle Tuttle is a well-known United States tattoo artist and historian of the medium, who has been tattooing since 1949....
, has been called a seminal moment in the popular acceptance of tattoos as art. Tattoos are generally considered an important part of the culture of the Russian mafia
Criminal tattoo

Tattoos are used among Crimes to show ownership of gangs and record the wearer's personal history - such as his or her skills, specialties, accomplishments and beliefs....
.

In many traditional cultures tattooing has also enjoyed a resurgence, partially in deference to cultural heritage
Cultural heritage

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical Cultural artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations....
. Historically, a decline in traditional tribal tattooing in Europe occurred with the spread of Christianity
Christianization

The historical phenomenon of Christianization, the religious conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once, also includes the practice of converting native Paganism practices and culture, pagan religious imagery, pagan sites and the pagan calendar to Christian uses, due to the Christian efforts at Ch...
. However, some Christian groups, such as the Knights of St. John of Malta, sported tattoos to show their allegiance. A decline often occurred in other cultures following European efforts to convert aboriginal and indigenous people to Western religious and cultural practices that held tattooing to be a "pagan
Paganism

Paganism is the blanket term given to describe religions and spiritual practices of pre-Christian Europe, and by extension a term for polytheistic?traditions or folk religion?worldwide seen from a Western or Christian viewpoint....
" or "heathen" activity. Within some traditional indigenous cultures, tattooing takes place within the context of a rite of passage between adolescence and adulthood.

Many studies have been done of the tattooed population and society's view of tattoos. In June 2006 the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
American Academy of Dermatology

The American Academy of Dermatology is the largest organization of dermatology in the world. It was founded in 1938 and represents 15,000 dermatologists in the United States and Canada....
 published the results of a telephone survey which took place in 2004. It found that 36% of Americans ages 18–29, 24% of those 30-40 and 15% of those 41-51 had a tattoo. In September 2006, the Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center

The Pew Research Center is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world....
 conducted a telephone survey which found that 36% of Americans ages 18–25, 40% of those 26-40 and 10% of those 41-64 had a tattoo. In January 2008, a survey conducted online by Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is an United States market research company that specializes in public opinion research using both telephone and wikt:online surveys on online panels....
 estimated that 14% of all adults in the United States have a tattoo, just slightly down from 2003, when 16% had a tattoo. The highest incidence of tattoos was found among the gay, lesbian and bisexual population (25%) and people living in the West (20%). Among age groups, 9% of those ages 18–24, 32% of those 25-29, 25% of those 30-39 and 12% of those 40-49 have tattoos, as do 8% of those 50-64. Men are just slightly more likely to have a tattoo than women (15% versus 13%)

Negative associations

In Japan, tattoos are strongly associated with the yakuza
Yakuza

, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime groups in Japan, and also known as "violence groups".Today, the Yakuza are among the largest crime organizations in the world....
, particularly full body tattoos done the traditional Japanese way (Tebori). Certain public Japanese bathhouses (sento
Sento

is a type of Japanese communal Public bathing where customers pay for entrance. Traditionally these bath houses have been quite utilitarian, with one large room separating the sexes by a tall barrier, and on both sides, usually a minimum of lined up faucets and a single large bath for the already washed bathers to sit in among others....
) and gymnasiums often openly ban those bearing large or graphic tattoos in an attempt to prevent Yakuza from entering.

In the United States many prisoners and criminal gangs use distinctive tattoos to indicate facts about their criminal behavior, prison sentences, and organizational affiliation. A tear tattoo
Tear tattoo

The tear tattoo is a symbolic tattoo that is placed underneath the eye. The tattoo has several connotations. Teardrop tattoos usually signify the loss of a friend or loved one....
, for example, can be symbolic of murder, with each tear representing the death of a friend. At the same time, members of the U.S. military
Military of the United States

The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified armed forces of the United States. The United States military was first formed by the second Second Continental Congress to defend the new nation against the British Empire in the American Revolutionary War....
 have an equally well established and longstanding history of tattooing
History of tattooing

Tattooing in prehistoric times Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice since Neolithic times. "?tzi the Iceman", dated circa 33rd century BC, bearing 57 tattoos: a cross on the inside of the left knee, six straight lines 15 centimeters long above the kidneys and numerous small parallel lines along the lumbar, legs and the ankles, exhibiting p...
 to indicate military units, battles, kills, etc., an association which remains widespread among older Americans. Tattooing is also common in the British Armed Forces
British Armed Forces

The armed forces of the United Kingdom, commonly known as the British Armed Forces or His/Her Majesty's Armed Forces, and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, encompasses a Royal Navy, an British Army, and an Royal Air Force....
.

Insofar as this cultural or subcultural
Subculture

In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong....
 use of tattoos predates the widespread popularity of tattoos in the general population, tattoos are still associated with criminality. Although the general acceptance of tattoos is on the rise in Western society, they still carry a heavy stigma among certain social groups.

The prevalence of women in the tattoo industry, along with larger numbers of women bearing tattoos, is changing negative perceptions. A study of "at-risk" (as defined by school absenteeism and truancy) adolescent girls showed a positive correlation between body-modification and negative feelings towards the body and self-esteem; however, also illustrating a strong motive for body-modification as the search for "self and attempts to attain mastery and control over the body in an age of increasing alienation."

Religious perspectives


Judaism


Tattoos are considered forbidden in Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
 based on the Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
 (Leviticus
Leviticus

Leviticus is third book of the Torah , the name given in Judaism to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible .Leviticus contains laws and priestly rituals, but in a wider sense is about the working out of Covenant set out in Genesis and Exodus - what is seen in the Torah as the consequences of entering into a special relationship with God...
 19:28): "Do not make gashes in your skin for the dead. Do not make any tattoo marks on your skin. I am God." The prohibition is explained by contemporary rabbis as part of a general prohibition on body modification that does not serve a medical purpose (such as to correct a deformity). This is motivated by the view that the human body belongs to God, and therefore modification, such as tattooing, would be a defacement of God's property.

Procedure

Tattooinprogress
Tattooing involves the placement of pigment into the skin's dermis
Dermis

File:EpidermisPainted.svgThe dermis is a layer of skin between the epidermis_ and subcutaneous tissues, and is composed of two layers, the papillary_dermis and reticular dermis....
, the layer of connective tissue
Connective tissue

Connective tissue is a form of fibrous biological tissue.It is one of the four types of tissue in traditional classifications .Collagen is the main protein of connective tissue in animals and the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% of the total protein content....
 underlying the epidermis
Epidermis (skin)

The epidermis is the outermost layer of the skin, composed of terminally differentiated stratified squamous epithelium, acting as the body's major barrier against an inhospitable environment....
. After initial injection, pigment is dispersed throughout a homogenized damaged layer down through the epidermis and upper dermis, in both of which the presence of foreign material activates the immune system
Immune system

An immune system is a collection of biological processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumour cells....
's phagocyte
Phagocyte

Phagocytes are the cell s that protect the body by ingesting harmful foreign particles, bacteria and dead or Apoptosis cells. They are essential to fighting infections and subsequent immunity , and move through the blood and tissues of vertebrates, and the hemolymph of invertebrates....
s to engulf the pigment particles. As healing proceeds, the damaged epidermis flakes away (eliminating surface pigment) while deeper in the skin granulation tissue
Granulation tissue

Granulation tissue is the perfusion, fibrous connective tissue that replaces a fibrin clot in wound healing. Granulation tissue typically grows from the base of a wound and is able to fill wounds of almost any size it heals....
 forms, which is later converted to connective tissue by collagen
Collagen

Collagen is the main protein of connective tissue in animals and the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% to 35% of the whole-body protein content....
 growth. This mends the upper dermis, where pigment remains trapped within fibroblast
Fibroblast

A fibroblast is a type of cell that synthesizes the extracellular matrix and collagen , the structural framework for animal tissues, and play a critical role in wound healing....
s, ultimately concentrating in a layer just below the dermis/epidermis boundary. Its presence there is stable, but in the long term (decades) the pigment tends to migrate deeper into the dermis, accounting for the degraded detail of old tattoos.

Some tribal cultures traditionally created tattoos by cutting designs into the skin and rubbing the resulting wound with ink, ashes or other agents; some cultures continue this practice, which may be an adjunct to scarification
Scarification

Scarifying involves scratching, etching, or some sort of superficial cutting or incision. Scarification, in botany, involves cutting the seed coat using abrasion, thermal stress, or chemicals to encourage germination....
. Some cultures create tattooed marks by hand-tapping the ink into the skin using sharpened sticks or animal bones (made like needles) with clay formed disks or, in modern times, needles. Traditional Japanese tattoos (Horimono
Horimono

Horimono is a word used to describe irezumi or to describe the carving of images into a sword blade....
) are still "hand-poked," that is, the ink is inserted beneath the skin using non-electrical, hand-made and hand held tools with needles of sharpened bamboo or steel. This method is known as tebori.

The most common method of tattooing in modern times is the electric tattoo machine, which inserts ink into the skin via a group of needles that are solder
Solder

A solder is a fusible alloy metal alloy with a melting point or melting range of 90 to 450 ?Celsius , used in a process called soldering where it is melted to join metallic surfaces....
ed onto a bar, which is attached to an oscillating unit. The unit rapidly and repeatedly drives the needles in and out of the skin, usually 80 to 150 times a second. This modern procedure is ordinarily sanitary. The needles are single-use needles that come packaged individually. The tattoo artist must wash not only his or her hands, but they must also wash the area that will be tattooed. Gloves must be worn at all times and the wound must be wiped frequently with a wet disposable towel of some kind.

Prices for this service vary widely globally and locally, depending on the complexity of the tattoo, the skill and expertise of the artist, the attitude of the customer, the costs of running a business, the economics of supply and demand, etc. The time it takes to get a tattoo is in proportion with its size and complexity. A small one of simple design might take fifteen minutes, whereas an elaborate sleeve tattoo
Sleeve tattoo

A sleeve tattoo is a very large tattoo, or a collection of smaller tattoos, that covers most or all of a person's arm, usually from shoulder to wrist....
 or back piece requires multiple sessions of several hours each.

Tattoo Machine 2 Coil
The modern electric tattoo machine is far removed from the machine invented by Samuel O'Reilly
Samuel O'Reilly

Samuel O'Reilly was a tattoo artist and the inventor of the modern rotary tattoo machine, which he patented in 1891. O'Reilly's machine was based on the rotary technology of Thomas Edison's autographic printing pen....
 in 1891. O'Reilly's machine was based on the rotary technology of the electric engraving
Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass engraving are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing images on paper as prints or illustra...
 device invented by Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb....
. Modern tattoo machines use electromagnetic
Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism is the physics of the electromagnetic field, a field which exerts a force on Elementary particles with the property of electric charge and which is reciprocally affected by the presence and motion of such particles....
 coil
Coil

A coil is a series of wiktionary:loops. A coiled coil is a structure where the coil itself is in turn also looping....
s. The first coil
Coil

A coil is a series of wiktionary:loops. A coiled coil is a structure where the coil itself is in turn also looping....
 machine was patented by Thomas Riley in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, 1891 using a single coil
Coil

A coil is a series of wiktionary:loops. A coiled coil is a structure where the coil itself is in turn also looping....
. The first twin coil
Coil

A coil is a series of wiktionary:loops. A coiled coil is a structure where the coil itself is in turn also looping....
 machine, the predecessor of the modern configuration, was invented by another Englishman, Alfred Charles South of London, in 1899.

Dyes and pigments

Early tattoo inks were obtained directly from nature and were extremely limited in pigment variety. Today, an almost unlimited number of colors and shades of tattoo ink are mass-produced and sold to parlors worldwide. Tattoo artists commonly mix these inks to create their own, unique pigments.

A wide range of dye
Dye

A dye can generally be described as a colored substance that has an Chemical affinity to the Wiktionary:substrate to which it is being applied....
s and pigment
Pigment

A pigment is a material that changes the color of light it Reflection as the result of selective color absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which the material itself emits light....
s can be used in tattoos, from inorganic materials like titanium dioxide
Titanium dioxide

Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium oxide or titania, is the naturally occurring oxide of titanium, chemical formula titaniumoxygen2....
 and iron oxide
Iron oxide

Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Altogether, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides....
s to carbon black
Carbon black

Carbon black is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products such as FCC tar, coal tar, ethylene cracking tar, and a small amount from vegetable oil....
, azo dyes, and acridine
Acridine

Acridine, C13H9N, is an organic compound and a heterocyclic compound. Acridine is also used to describe compounds containing the C13N tricycle....
, quinoline
Quinoline

Quinoline, also known as 1-azanaphthalene, 1-benzazine, or benzo[b]pyridine, is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound. It has the formula C9H7N and is a colourless hygroscopic liquid with a strong odour....
, phthalocyanine
Phthalocyanine

A phthalocyanine is a macrocycle having an alternating nitrogen atom-carbon atom ring structure .The molecule is able to coordinate hydrogen and metal cations in its center by coordinate bonds with the four isoindole nitrogen atoms....
 and naphthol
Naphthol

File:alpha-Naphthol.svgFile:beta-Naphthol.svgNaphthol, or hydroxynaphthalene or naphthalenol, is either of two colorless crystalline solids with the formula C10H7OH....
 derivates, dyes made from ash, and other mixtures. The current trend for tattoo pigment favors Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic used to make light, rigid, molded products such as piping , musical instruments , golf club heads , automotive body parts, wheel covers, enclosures, protective head gear, airsoft Airsoft gun and toys, including Lego bricks....
 (ABS plastic) as seen by the widespread popularity of Intenze, Millennium and other ABS pigmented brands.

Iron oxide pigments are used in greater extent in cosmetic tattooing
Permanent makeup

Permanent makeup is a Beauty technique which employs tattoos as a means of producing designs that resemble makeup, such as eyelining and other permanent enhancing colors to the skin of the face, lips, and eyelids....
. Many pigments were found to be used in a survey of professional tattooists. Recently, a blacklight-reactive tattoo ink
Ink

An ink is a liquid containing various pigments and/or dyes used for coloring a surface to produce an , writing, or design. Ink is used for drawing and/or writing with a pen, brush or quill....
 using PMMA microcapsules has surfaced. The technical name is BIOMETRIX System-1000, and is marketed under the name "Chameleon Tattoo Ink". This same ink can also be found as "The Original Blacklight Inks by NEWWEST Technologies".

Modern tattooing inks are carbon based pigments that have uses outside of commercial tattoo applications. Since 2004, the United States Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is an Government agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is responsible for regulating and supervising the safety of foods, dietary supplements, Medications, vaccines, Biopharmaceutical, blood transfusion, medical devices, Electromagnetic radiation-emitting devices, veteri...
 has performed studies to determine if the contents pose hazards, and have followed up with legal action in case of non-safe materials, including traces of heavy metals
Heavy metals

A heavy metal is a member of an ill-defined subset of elements that exhibit metallic properties, which would mainly include the transition metals, some metalloids, lanthanides, and actinides....
 (such as iron oxide) or other carcinogenic materials. In 2005 at Northern Arizona University a study characterized to makeup of tattoo inks (Finley-Jones and Wagner). The FDA expects local authorities to legislate and test tattoo pigments and inks made for the use of permanent cosmetics. In California, the state prohibits certain ingredients and pursues companies who fail to notify the consumer of the contents of tattoo pigments. Recently, the state of California sued nine pigment and ink manufacturers, requiring them to more adequately label their products.

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic used to make light, rigid, molded products such as piping , musical instruments , golf club heads , automotive body parts, wheel covers, enclosures, protective head gear, airsoft Airsoft gun and toys, including Lego bricks....
 (ABS plastic) ground down to an average diameter of slightly less than 1 micrometer is used as the colorant in the brighter tattoo pigments that are less likely to fade or blur than the traditional pigments. Many popular brands of tattoo pigment contain ABS as a colorant.

There has been concern expressed about the interaction between magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging

GaneshMagnetic resonance imaging , or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , is primarily a medical imaging technique most commonly used in radiology to visualize the structure and function of the body....
 (MRI) procedures and tattoo pigments, some of which contain trace metal
Trace metal

Trace metals are metals in extremely small quantities, almost at the molecular level, that reside in or are present in animal and plant cells and tissue....
s. Allegedly, the magnetic field
Magnetic field

A magnetism field is a vector field which can exert a magnetic force on moving electric charges and on magnetic dipoles . When placed in a magnetic field, magnetic dipoles tend to align their axes parallel to the magnetic field....
s produced by MRI machines could interact with these metal particles, potentially causing burns or distortions in the image. The television show MythBusters
MythBusters

MythBusters is a popular science television program produced by Australian firm Beyond Television Productions originally for the Discovery Channel in the United States and Canada....
 tested the hypothesis, and found no interaction between tattoo inks and MRI.

Professional tattooists rely primarily on the same pigment base found in cosmetics. Amateurs will often use drawing inks such as low grade India ink, but these inks often contain impurities and toxins which can lead to illness or infection. Although "greywork" is often done with a better quality pelikan #17 or Talens drawing ink mixed with a darker lining ink to obtain a softer grey.

Studio hygiene

The properly equipped tattoo studio will use biohazard
Biological hazard

A biological hazard or biohazard is an organism, or substance derived from an organism, that poses a threat to human health. This can include medical waste or samples of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can impact human health....
 containers for objects that have come into contact with blood or bodily fluid
Bodily fluid

Bodily fluids listed below are found in the bodies of men and/or women. Some may be found in animals as well. They include fluids that are excretion or secretion from the body as well as fluids that normally are not....
s, sharps container
Sharps container

A sharps container is a container that is filled with used medical Hypodermic needles . They fit into two main types:* single use which are disposed of with the waste inside,...
s for old needles, and an autoclave
Autoclave

An autoclave is a pressure vessel designed to heat aqueous solutions above their boiling point at normal atmospheric pressure to achieve sterilization ....
 for sterilizing tools. Certain jurisdictions also require studios by law to have a sink in the work area supplied with both hot and cold water.

Proper hygiene requires a body modification artist to wash his or her hands before starting to prepare a client for the stencil, between clients, and at any other time where cross contamination can occur. The use of single use disposable gloves is also mandatory. In some states and countries it is illegal to tattoo a minor
Minor (law)

In law, the term minor is used to refer to a person who is under the age in which one legally assumes adulthood and is legally granted rights afforded to adults in society....
 even with parental consent, and it is usually not allowed to tattoo impaired persons, people with contraindicated skin conditions, those who are pregnant or nursing, those incapable of consent due to mental incapacity or those under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Before the tattooing begins the client is asked to approve the final position of the applied stencil. After approval is given the artist will open new, sterile needle packages in front of the client, and always use new, sterile or sterile disposable instruments and supplies, and fresh ink for each session (loaded into disposable ink caps which are discarded after each client). Also, all areas which may be touched with contaminated gloves will be wrapped in clear plastic to prevent cross-contamination. Equipment that cannot be autoclaved (such as counter tops, machines, and furniture) will be wiped with an approved disinfectant.

Membership in professional organizations, or certificates of appreciation/achievement, generally helps artists to be aware of the latest trends. However, many of the most notable tattooists do not belong to any association. While specific requirements to become a tattooist vary between jurisdictions, many mandate only formal training in bloodborne pathogens, and cross contamination. The local department of health regulates tattoo studios in many jurisdictions.

For example, according to the health department in Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
 and Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
, tattoo artists in these states are required to take and pass a test ascertaining their knowledge of health and safety precautions, as well as the current state regulations. Performing a tattoo in Oregon state without a proper and current license or in an unlicensed facility is considered a felony
Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the United States and previously other common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors....
 offense. Tattooing was legalized in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma between 2002 and 2006.

Aftercare

Tattoo artists, and people with tattoos, vary widely in their preferred methods of caring for new tattoos. Some artists recommend keeping a new tattoo wrapped for the first twenty-four hours, while others suggest removing temporary bandaging after two hours or less. Many tattooists advise against allowing too much contact with hot tub or pool water, or soaking in a tub for the first two weeks. This is to prevent the tattoo ink from washing out or fading due to over-hydration and avoid infection from exposure to bacteria and chlorine. In contrast, other artists suggest that a new tattoo be bathed in very hot water early and often.

General consensus for care advises against removing the scab that forms on a new tattoo, and avoiding exposing one's tattoo to the sun for extended periods; both of these can contribute to fading of the image. Furthermore, it is agreed that a new tattoo needs to be kept clean. Various products may be recommended for application to the skin, ranging from those intended for the treatment of cuts, burns and scrapes, to cocoa butter
Cocoa butter

Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil or theobroma cacao, is a pale-yellow, pure edible vegetable fat extracted from the cacao bean....
, salves, lanolin
Lanolin

Lanolin, also called Adeps Lanae, wool wax, wool fat, anhydrous wool fat or wool grease, is a greasy yellow substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool animals, with the vast majority of it used by humans coming from domestic sheep....
, A&D or Aquaphor. Oil based ointments are almost always recommended to be used in very thin layers due to their inability to evaporate and therefore over-hydrate the already perforated skin. In recent years, specific commercial products have been developed for tattoo aftercare. Although opinions about these products vary, there is near total agreement that either alone or in addition to some other product, soap and warm water work well to keep a tattoo clean and free from infection. Ultimately, the amount of ink that remains in the skin throughout the healing process determines, in large part, how robust the final tattoo will look. If a tattoo becomes infected (uncommon but possible if one neglects to properly clean their tattoo) or if the scab falls off too soon (e.g., if it absorbs too much water and sloughs off early or is picked or scraped off), then the ink will not be properly fixed in the skin and the final image will be negatively affected.

In the UK, most tattoo artists recommend Bepanthen as the main aftercare product for new tattoos.

Health risks

Because it requires breaking the skin barrier, tattooing may carry health risks, including infection and allergic reactions. In the United States, for example, the Red Cross prohibits a person who has received a tattoo from donating blood
Blood donation

A blood donation is when a healthy person free will has blood drawn. The blood is used for blood transfusion or made into medications by a process called fractionation#Plasma protein fractionation....
 for 12 months (FDA 2000), unless the procedure was done in a state-regulated and licensed studio, using sterile technique.. Not all states have a licensing program, meaning that people who receive tattoos in those states are subject to the 12-month deferral regardless of the hygienic standards of the studio. Similarly, the UK does not provide certification for tattooists, and so there is a six month waiting period without exception.

Modern western tattooers reduce such risks by following universal precautions, working with single-use items, and sterilizing their equipment after each use. Many jurisdictions require that tattooists have bloodborne pathogen
Blood-borne disease

A blood-borne disease is one that can be spread by contamination by blood.The most common examples are HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and viral haemorrhagic fevers....
 training, such as is provided through the Red Cross and OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration

The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M....
.

Infection

Since tattoo instruments come in contact with blood
Blood

Blood is a specialized bodily fluid that delivers necessary substances to the body's Cell s ? such as nutrients and oxygen ? and transports waste products away from those same cells....
 and bodily fluids, diseases may be transmitted if the instruments are used on more than one person without being sterilized. However, infection from tattooing in clean and modern tattoo studios employing single-use needles is rare. In amateur tattoos, such as those applied in prisons, however, there is an elevated risk of infection. To address this problem, a program was introduced in Canada as of the summer of 2005 that provides legal tattooing in prisons, both to reduce health risks and to provide inmates with a marketable skill. Inmates were to be trained to staff and operate the tattoo parlors once six of them opened successfully.

Infections that can theoretically be transmitted by the use of unsterilized tattoo equipment or contaminated ink include surface infections of the skin, herpes simplex virus
Herpes simplex virus

Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 are two species of the herpes virus family, Herpesviridae, which cause infections in humans. Eight members of herpes virus infect humans to cause a variety of illnesses including cold sores, chickenpox or varicella, shingles or herpes zoster , cytomegalovirus , and various cancers, and can cause brain...
, tetanus
Tetanus

Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, Anaerobic organism Clostridium tetani....
, staph, fungal infections, some forms of hepatitis
Hepatitis

Hepatitis implies injury to the liver characterized by the presence of inflammatory cell s in the Tissue of the organ. The name is from ancient Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation" ....
, tuberculosis
Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacterium, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the...
, and HIV
HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that can lead to AIDS , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections....
. People with tattoos are nine times more likely to be infected with hepatitis C, according to a study by Robert Haley
Robert Haley

Robert Haley is a Canadian actor. He is probably most notable for having portrayed Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in the 1997 CBC Television miniseries The Arrow....
, MD, chief of epidemiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

No person in the United States is reported to have contracted HIV via a commercially-applied tattooing process. Washington state's OSHA studies have suggested that since the needles used in tattooing are not hollow, in the case of a needle stick injury the amount of fluids transmitted may be small enough that HIV would be difficult to transmit. Tetanus
Tetanus

Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, Anaerobic organism Clostridium tetani....
 risk is reduced by having an up-to-date tetanus booster prior to being tattooed. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an agency of the United States United States Department of Health and Human Services based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States adjacent to the campus of Emory University and northeast of downtown Atlanta....
 no data indicates an association between tattooing in the United States and increased risk for HCV
Hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus is a small , enveloped, Sense #Positive-sense single strand RNA virus in the family Flaviviridae. Although Hepatitis A virus, Hepatitis B virus, and Hepatitis C virus have similar names , these are distinctly different viruses both genetically and clinically....
 infection. In 2006, the CDC reported 3 clusters with 44 cases of methicillin-resistant staph infection
Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of staph infections. It is a spherical Bacteria, frequently found in the nose and skin of a person....
 traced to unlicensed tattooists

Allergic reactions

Perhaps due to the mechanism whereby the skin's immune system encapsulates pigment particles in fibrous tissue
Fibrous connective tissue

In zootomy, fibrous connective tissue is a type of connective tissue which has relatively high tensile strength, due to a relatively high concentration of collagen or elastin fibers....
, tattoo inks have been described as "remarkably nonreactive histologically". Allergies to latex are more common; many artists will use non-latex gloves when required.

Allergic
Allergy

Allergy is a Disorder of the immune system often also referred to as atopy. Allergic reactions occur to Natural environmental substances known as allergens; these reactions are Acquired disorder, predictable and rapid....
 reactions to tattoo pigments are uncommon except for certain brands of red and green. People who are sensitive or allergic to certain metals may react to pigments in the skin with swelling and/or itching, and/or oozing of clear fluid called serum
Serum

Serum may refer to:*Blood plasma, with clotting factors removed*Antiserum, for transfer of passive immunity*Serous fluid, any clear bodily fluid...
. Such reactions are quite rare, however, and some artists will recommend performing a test patch. Due to the fact that laser removal of tattoo ink causes a release of ink into the bloodstream the risk of anaphylactic shock is also present during removal.

Tattoo removal

While tattoos are considered permanent, it is sometimes possible to remove them with laser treatments, fully or partially. Typically, black and darker colored inks can be removed more completely. The expense and pain of removing tattoos will typically be greater than the expense and pain of applying them. Some jurisdictions will pay for the voluntary removal of gang tattoos
Criminal tattoo

Tattoos are used among Crimes to show ownership of gangs and record the wearer's personal history - such as his or her skills, specialties, accomplishments and beliefs....
. Pre-laser tattoo removal methods include dermabrasion
Dermabrasion

Dermabrasion is a beauty medical procedure in which the surface of the epidermis of the skin is removed by Abrasion .It is used to remove sun-damaged skin and to remove or lessen scars and dark spots on the skin....
, salabrasion (scrubbing the skin with salt
Salt

A salt, in chemistry, is defined as the product formed from the neutralisation reaction of acids and base . Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically electric charge ....
), cryosurgery
Cryosurgery

Cryosurgery is the application of extreme cold to destroy abnormal or diseased tissue. The term comes from the Greek words cryo and surgery meaning "hand work" or "handiwork"....
, and excision
Excision

Excision means "to remove by cutting".* In surgery, an excision is the complete removal of an organ or a tumor from a body, as opposed to a biopsy....
 which is sometimes still used along with skin grafts for larger tattoos.

Different inks
Tattoo ink

Tattoo inks are pigments used in tattooing. Tattoo inks consist of a pigment and a carrier .Tattoo inks are available in a range of colours which can then be thinned or mixed together to produce other colours and shades....
 can be more or less difficult to remove; one ink, InfinitInk
InfinitInk

InfinitInk is a tattoo ink, which allows for easier tattoo removal, with removal up to three times faster than conventional inks. Further, it is the first tattoo ink to be developed in the United States with medical trials for safety testing....
, is designed to be easily removed, in a single laser treatment.

Temporary tattoos

Temporary tattoo
Temporary tattoo

A temporary tattoo is an image on the skin resembling a true tattoo, but is non-permanent. Temporary tattoos can be drawn, painted, or airbrushed, as a form of body painting, but most of the time these tattoos are transferred to the skin....
s are popular with models and children as they involve no permanent alteration of the skin but produce a similar appearance that can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. The most common style is a type of body sticker similar to a decal
Decal

A decal or transfer is a plastic, cloth paper or ceramic substrate that has printed on it a pattern that can be moved to another surface upon contact, usually with the aid of heat or water....
, which is typically transferred to the skin using water. Although the design is waterproof, it can be removed easily with oil-based creams. Originally inserted as a prize in bubble gum
Bubblegum

Bubblegum is a type of chewing gum especially designed for blowing wiktionary:bubble.Bubblegum is available in many different colors and flavors....
 packages, they consisted of a poor quality ink transfer that would easily come off with water or rubbing. Today's vegetable dye temporaries can look extremely realistic and adhere up to 3 weeks due to a layer of glue similar to that found on an adhesive bandage
Adhesive bandage

An adhesive bandage is a small dressing used for injuries not serious enough to require a full-size bandage....
.

Henna
Henna

Henna or Hina is a flowering plant, the sole species in the genus Lawsonia in the family Lythraceae. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, South Asia, and northern Australasia in semi-arid zones....
 tattoos (Mehndi
Mehndi

Mehndi is the application of Henna as a temporary form of skin decoration in South Asia, the Southwest Asia, North Africa and the Horn of Africa, as well as by expatriate communities from these areas....
) and silver nitrate
Silver nitrate

Silver nitrate, also known as lunar caustic, is a soluble chemical compound with chemical formula silverNitrogenOxygen3. This compound is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography....
 stains that appear when exposed to ultraviolet light can take up to two weeks to fade from the skin. Temporary airbrush
Airbrush

An airbrush is a small, Pneumatics tool that sprays various media including ink and dye, but most often paint by a process of nebulization. Spray guns developed from the airbrush and are still considered a type of airbrush....
 tattoos (TATs) are applied by covering the skin with a stencil and spraying the skin with ink. In the past, this form of tattoo only lasted about a week. With the newest inks, tattoos can reasonably last for up to two weeks.

Types of tattoos

The American Academy of Dermatology
American Academy of Dermatology

The American Academy of Dermatology is the largest organization of dermatology in the world. It was founded in 1938 and represents 15,000 dermatologists in the United States and Canada....
 distinguishes 5 types of tattoos: Traumatic tattoos, also called "natural tattoos", that result from injuries, especially asphalt from road injuries or pencil lead; Amateur tattoos; Professional tattoos, both via traditional methods and modern tattoo gun; Medical tattoos; Cosmetic tattoos, also known as "permanent makeup
Permanent makeup

Permanent makeup is a Beauty technique which employs tattoos as a means of producing designs that resemble makeup, such as eyelining and other permanent enhancing colors to the skin of the face, lips, and eyelids....
".

Traumatic tattoos

According to George Orwell
George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an England author. His work is marked by a profound consciousness of social injustice, an intense dislike of totalitarianism, and a passion for clarity in language....
, coal miners
Coal mining

Coal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal....
 could develop characteristic tattoos owing to coal dust
Coal dust

Coal dust is a fine Powder form of coal, which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal....
 getting into wound
Wound

In medicine, a wound is a type of injury in which the skin is torn, cut or punctured , or where blunt force physical trauma causes a bruise . In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin....
s. This can also occur with substances like gunpowder
Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also called black powder, is an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate, KNO3 that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot solids and gases which can be used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks....
. Similarly, a traumatic tattoo occurs when a substance such as asphalt is rubbed into a wound as the result of some kind of accident or trauma. These are particularly difficult to remove as they tend to be spread across several different layers of skin, and scarring or permanent discoloration is almost unavoidable depending on the location. In addition, tattooing of the gingiva
Gingiva

The gingiva , or gums, consists of the mucosal tissue that lies over the alveolar bone....
 from implantation of amalgam
Amalgam (dentistry)

Amalgam is a commonly used dental restorative material used for dental restoration which has been used for over 150 years. It contains a mixture of Mercury with at least one other metal....
 particles during dental filling placement and removal is possible and not uncommon. A common example of such accidental tattoos is the result of a deliberate or accidental stabbing with a pencil or pen, leaving graphite or ink beneath the skin.

See also

  • Body art
    Body art

    Body art is art made on, with, or consisting of, the human body. The most common forms of body art are tattoos and body piercings, but other types include scarification, scarification, scalpelling, shaping , body suit and body painting....
  • Chinese character tattoo
    Chinese character tattoos

    Chinese character tattoos or kanji tattoos are tattoos consisting of Chinese characters .Chinese character tattoos are commonly found on mixed martial arts who are familiar with Asian martial arts....
  • Criminal tattoo
    Criminal tattoo

    Tattoos are used among Crimes to show ownership of gangs and record the wearer's personal history - such as his or her skills, specialties, accomplishments and beliefs....
  • Five Dots Tattoo
    Five Dots Tattoo

    The Five Dots Tattoo is encountered in gang, criminal, or prison contexts in a number of areas.Among Vietnamese gang members, the five dots stand for the five T's, which are, T?nh, Ti?n, T?, T?i, Th?, which translates to love, money, prison, crime, revenge....
  • Marquesan tattoo
    Marquesan tattoo

    A Marquesan tattoo is a tattoo design originating from the Marquesas Islands of the Oceania. Marquesean tattoos can be recognized by trademark symbols, such as geckos, or by similar abstract "tribal" designs....
  • Sleeve tattoo
    Sleeve tattoo

    A sleeve tattoo is a very large tattoo, or a collection of smaller tattoos, that covers most or all of a person's arm, usually from shoulder to wrist....
  • Ta moko
    Ta moko

    Ta moko is the permanent body and face marking by Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It is distinct from tattoo and tatau in that the skin was carved by uhi rather than punctured....
  • Tattoo studio
    Tattoo studio

    A tattoo studio is a place where people receive permanent decorative tattoos from a tattoo artist....
  • Tattoo convention
    Tattoo convention

    A tattoo convention is a meeting and exhibition for tattoo artist and enthusiasts, as well as anyone who wishes to see the world of tattooing up close....
  • Tattoo Laws of the U.S.
    Tattooing Laws of the U.S.

    In the United States, there is no federal law stating the required age to be tattooed. When you become 18, in the U.S., you are legally considered an adult....
  • Tear tattoo
    Tear tattoo

    The tear tattoo is a symbolic tattoo that is placed underneath the eye. The tattoo has several connotations. Teardrop tattoos usually signify the loss of a friend or loved one....
  • Three Dots Tattoo
  • UV tattoo
    UV tattoo

    UV tattoos or blacklight tattoos are tattoos made with a special ink that is only visible under a Ultraviolet. They are particularly popular in the raver subculture....


Anthropological

  • Buckland, A. W. (1887) „On Tattooing“, in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1887/12, p. 318-328
  • Caplan, Jane (ed.) (2000): Written on the Body: the Tattoo in European and American History, Princeton U P
  • DeMello, Margo (2000) Bodies of Inscription: a Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community, California. Durham NC: Duke University Press
  • Fisher, Jill A. (2002). Tattooing the Body, Marking Culture. Body & Society 8 (4): pp. 91-107.
  • Gell, Alfred (1993) Wrapping in Images: Tattooing in Polynesia, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • Gilbert, Stephen G. (2001) Tattoo History: a Source Book, New York: Juno Books
  • Gustafson, Mark (1997) „Inscripta in fronte: Penal Tattooing in Late Antiquity“, in Classical Antiquity, April 1997, Vol. 16/No. 1, p. 79-105
  • Hambly, Wilfrid Dyson (1925) The History of Tattooing and Its Significance: With Some Account of Other Forms of Corporal Marking, London: H. F.& G. Witherby (reissued: Detroit 1974)
  • Hesselt van Dinter, Maarten (2005) The World of Tattoo; An Illustrated History. Amsterdam, KIT Publishers
  • Jelski, Andrzej (1993) Tatuaz, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Alfa (In Polish)
  • Joest, Wilhelm (1887) Tätowiren, Narbenzeichnen und Körperbemalen: ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Ethnologie, Leipzig; Berlin
  • Jones, C. P. (1987) „Stigma: Tattooing and Branding in Graeco-Roman Antiquity“, in Journal of Roman Studies, 77/1987, pp. 139-155
  • Keimer, Ludwig (1948) Remarques sur le Tatouage dans l´Egypte ancienne, Le Caire: Imprimerie de l´Institut Francais d´Archéologie orientale 1948
  • Lombroso, Cesare (1896) „The Savage Origin of Tattooing“, in Popular Science Monthly, Vol. IV., 1896
  • Raviv, Shaun (2006) Marked for Life: Jews and Tattoos (Moment Magazine; June 2006)
  • Robley, Horatio (1896) Moko, or, Maori tattooing. London: Chapman and Hall
  • Roth, H. Ling (1901) Maori tatu and moko. In: Journal of the Anthropological Institute v. 31, January-June 1901
  • Rubin, Arnold (ed.) (1988) Marks of Civilization: Artistic Transformations of the Human Body, Los Angeles: UCLA Museum of Cultural History
  • Rychlík, Martin (2005) Tetování, skarifikace a jiné zdobení tela. Prague: NLN (In Czech)
  • Sanders, Clinton R. (1989) Customizing the Body: the Art and Culture of Tattooing. Philadelphia: Temple University Press
  • Sinclair, A. T. (1909) „Tattooing of the North American Indians“, in American Anthropologist 1909/11, No. 3, p. 362-400


Popular and artistic

  • Ink: The Not-Just-Skin-Deep Guide to Getting a Tattoo Terisa Green, ISBN 0-451-21514-1
  • The Tattoo Encyclopedia: A Guide to Choosing Your Tattoo Terisa Green, ISBN 0-7432-2329-2
  • Total Tattoo Book Amy Krakow, ISBN 0-446-67001-4


Medical

  • Haley R.W. and Fischer R.P., Commercial tattooing as a potential source of hepatitis
    Hepatitis

    Hepatitis implies injury to the liver characterized by the presence of inflammatory cell s in the Tissue of the organ. The name is from ancient Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation" ....
     C infection
    , Medicine, March 2000;80:134-151
  • MR Safety and the American College of Radiology Shellock, F.G. and Crues, J.V.
  • Tattoo-Induced Skin Burn During MR Imaging Wagle, W.A. and Smith, M.