A new study found that some people with tattoos develop skin problems such as rash, itching, and swelling.
About 20 percent of the American population has at least one tattoo. Some get a tattoo to make them feel rebellious, to feel sexier and more intelligent.
"Given the growing popularity of tattoos, physicians, public health officials, and consumers need to be aware of the risks involved," Marie Leger, senior study investigator and NYU Langone dermatologist, said in a press release.
Researchers at the New York University Medical Center surveyed 300 adults with ages 18 to 69 in New York's Central Park in June 2013. Most of the respondents have more than five tattoos with 67 percent located on the arm. They were asked if they had experienced adverse skin reactions after getting a tattoo.
The survey results showed that 10 percent of the respondents reported short-term skin reactions such as delayed healing, pain, swelling, and infection within weeks of getting tattooed. Only a third of them went to a doctor to have it checked, the rest went back to the tattoo parlor instead. Six percent experienced long-term reactions which lasted for months.
The researchers plan to continue their study with a bigger population to determine the ink and dye components that could be causing the skin problems. Leger said that in some cases, people who experience skin reactions had to undergo surgery to remove the tattooed area.
"It is not yet known if the reactions being observed are due to chemicals in the ink itself or to other chemicals, such as preservatives or brighteners, added to them, or to the chemicals' breakdown over time," Leger said. "The lack of a national database or reporting requirements also hinders reliable monitoring."
The findings of the study highlight the importance of educating people of the complications of getting a tattoo.
"Anytime you introduce a foreign substance into the body, in this case, the skin, there is the potential for adverse events [such as] infection or something more serious like an allergic reaction," Dr. Jared Jagdeo, assistant professor of dermatology at UC Davis, who was not involved in the current research, told CNN.
The study was published in the May 27 issue of the journal Contact Dermatitis.