Tattoo Safety
Due to the fact that tattooing requires puncturing the skin, there are some inherent risks associated with getting a tattoo. These include the risk of infection and transmission of disease. Of particular concern to tattoo enthusiasts are staph infections, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV. These risks can be minimised by ensuring that your chosen tattoo shop and artist follow strict health and safety guidelines as outlined in this article, as well as by following the advice given in the Tattoo Care article.
While all reputable tattoo artists and tattoo shops should always follow strict health and safety protocols, you are responsible for your own safety when getting a tattoo. You should therefore take it upon yourself to check the health and safety procedures that the artists and shops follow. Before committing to being tattooed by an artist at any given tattoo establishment, you should visit the shop, have a good look around, and ask lots of questions relating to their health and safety procedures. Don’t feel awkward or rushed, instead take your time talking to artists until you are convinced that they will be able to give you the tattoo that you want in a clean and sterile working environment. Any good tattoo artist will be only too happy to answer all of your questions, and leave you feeling totally convinced of their competence. If they can’t provide satisfactory answers to your questions, or if you have concerns about the equipment and general hygiene of the shop, then I recommend looking elsewhere.
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All good tattoo shops look clean and well maintained, use disposable single use materials, and regularly disinfect working areas to maintain sterile working conditions. Tattoo artists should wash their hands regularly throughout the working day and especially in between clients. Also, a new pair of properly fitting latex gloves should always be worn by artists while working on your body.
The needles used to ink your tattoo should be brand new and taken out of their sterile packaging in front of you. Some tattoo shops still autoclave old needles for reuse. While it is not advisable to get tattooed with a used needle, if you do, at least make sure that the autoclave bag is opened in front of you after the needle has been sterilized. You should also ask to see the autoclave (sterilizing medical equipment) and sterilization certification, and ask when the autoclave was last tested for effective sterilization. You should also check how well it performed during its last test. Kitchen pressure cookers are unacceptable alternatives to autoclaves as the temperature and pressure that they can reach are insufficient to kill all blood borne pathogens.
All tattoo shops should use individual ink containers known as “ink caps” that are disposed of after use on one customer. These pots are filled from a larger container of ink, but any ink leftover in the ink cap after the tattoo is complete should be properly disposed of and never tipped back into the main container. This disposable single use policy should also apply to any other materials that the artist uses, such as deodorant sticks. Many artists use deodorant sticks to improve the transfer copy image of your tattoo when applying the transfer to your skin. Artists that use this technique should always wipe the deodorant stick onto a tissue first, rather than rubbing the deodorant stick directly onto a customer’s skin. You can always bring your own deodorant stick with you if you want to be sure.
You should also check that used needles and other items that have been in contact with bodily fluids and skin are disposed of in a properly labelled biohazard waste disposal container. In the case of needles this container should also be marked for sharp items.
When talking to a tattoo artist you should always ask what training has they have undertaken, as well as how experienced they are. It’s also worth asking about their vaccination record to see if they have been vaccinated against hepatitis B etc. Please note that a full vaccination record is not strictly essential providing that they follow all of the other guidelines outlined in this article. If you are particularly concerned then you may wish to consider updating your own vaccination record prior to getting inked.
As stated above, you should never feel awkward asking lots of questions, your health is at stake and the dangers are very real. By following the above guidelines, as well as the advice given in the Tattoo Care article, you should not encounter any health problems. Should you experience excessive swelling and redness, or any other symptoms, visit your doctor immediately.
