Tattoo Practices in North-East India: A Hospital-based Cross-sectional Study

Background:

Tattooing has become increasingly popular, particularly among young people. However, little is known about the tattoo practices in North-East India.

Objectives:

The primary objective of this study was to know the reasons and motivations of tattoo application and tattoo removal in individuals asking for tattoo removal. The secondary objective was to identify the demography, methods and safety of tattoo practices in these tattooed individuals.

Materials and Methods:

A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out in 212 consecutive individuals seeking tattoo removal. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were performed for intergroup comparisons.

Results:

There were 178 (84%) males and 34 (16%) females. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) age of individuals seeking tattoo removal was 21.8 ± 4 years. The mean ± SD age of doing tattoo was 15.8 ± 3 years. Most individuals possessed an amateur tattoo (94.3%), 4.2% a professional one and 1.4% had a combination. Sewing needle was the most common instrument used for making tattoos in 51.4%. The individuals made their tattoos in an unsterile manner in 49.1%. The most common reason for doing tattoo was for fashion in 87.7%. The participants wanted tattoo removal to qualify for jobs, especially in armed forces in 49.5% and due to regret in 21.7%. Black was the most preferred colour in 37.3% followed by green in 28.3%. The fabric ink was the choice of ink in maximum number of individuals, i.e. 93.9%.

Limitations:

It was a hospital-based study done only on individuals seeking tattoo removal. It needs caution to generalise the findings in population. In addition, there may be recall bias in the participants.

Conclusion:

The tattoo was done mostly below 18 years of age in a crude unsterile way. The individuals had poor risk perceptions about various infections and complications of tattooing. There is an urgent need to caution and educate the youngsters and school-going children about safe tattooing and consequences of tattooing.

The risks of do-it-yourself and over-the-counter devices for tattoo removal

The tattoo removal market has boomed over the years following the increased prevalence of tattooed individuals around the world. Surgery and laser are currently the gold standards for tattoo removal. However, both of them have drawbacks. Surgery is better suited for small tattoos in areas of adequate skin laxity but leave a scar, while laser removal is a long and painful procedure, with no guarantee of a complete efficacy. Both are expensive procedures, and not all individuals are ready to fund them privately. Consequently, some individuals are in the search of faster, easier, and cheaper procedures that can be performed either by themselves or by laypeople. The unregulated market of internet provides a favorable ground for many websites to offer various tattoo removal methods. Besides, some tattooists and other non-medical laypeople have started to get interested by such a growing market, especially as some laser devices manufactured in Asia are now available at competitive prices, and due to weaknesses in the EU legislation regarding the use of lasers for cosmetic procedures by non-medical laypeople. We review here different do-it-yourself and over-the-counter tattoo removal methods. We discuss the potential risks for tattooed individuals and stress the importance of a better regulation of such a market.

[Tattooed people, who are you? Demographic and behavioral characteristics of tattooed individuals]

Over the past 20 years, tattoos have become extremely popular in Western countries. In Germany for instance, 8.5% of the population (aged between 14 and 90 years) have tattoos. Trends in France are similar according to a recent poll (10%). However, tattoos are becoming increasingly common among the young, involving up to 25%, according to the individual country. Reasons for getting a tattoo are plentiful and personal. There is no specific profile of tattooed individuals nowadays but a rather wide spectrum of different types. Herein, we review the epidemiology of tattooed individuals in the light of the most recent publications on the subject.

Body-art practices among undergraduate medical university students in dar es salaam, Tanzania, 2014

BACKGROUND

Body-art practices are increasing among adolescents and young adults. Although substantial data are available in developed countries, little has been documented about body-art practices in developing countries.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the magnitude, types and reasons for practicing body-art practices among undergraduate medical University students in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducteed among undergraduate University students in Dar es Salaam involving 536 respondents from two Universities. We used a self-administered questionnaire to collect data. Analyses were based on summary measures and bivariate analyses.

RESULTS

While 7.5% of undergraduate students reported having tattoos, 20% reported having body puncturing or piercing. Body piercing is reported more among female university undergraduate students than their male counterparts. Reported main reasons for undergoing body-art include "a mark of beauty," 24%, "just wanted one," 18% and "a mark of femininity or masculinity," 17%. The majority (98%) of students were aware that unsafe body-art practices may lead to contracting HIV and more than half (52%) reported awareness of the risk of Hepatitis B infection.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite high awareness of the potential risks involved in unsafe body arts that include tattoo and piercing, these practices are increasing among adolescents and young adults. There is need to have educational and counseling efforts so as to minimize associated health risks.

Interactions between risky decisions, impulsiveness and smoking in young tattooed women

BACKGROUND

According to previous studies, one of the common problems of everyday life of persons with tattoos is risky behavior. However, direct examination of the decision making process, as well as factors which determine women's risk-taking decisions to get tattoos, have not been conducted. This study investigates whether risk taking decision-making is associated with the self-assessment impulsiveness in tattooed women.

METHODS

Young women (aged 18-35 years) with (N = 60) and without (N = 60) tattoos, performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), as a measure of decision-making processes, as well as completing the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11).

RESULTS

Tattooed women showed significantly higher scores in the BIS-11 and preference for disadvantageous decks on the IGT compared to non-tattooed women. There was no significant correlation between risky decision-making in the IGT and BIS-11 impulsivity measures. A significantly higher rate of smoking was observed in the tattooed women. However, the analysis did not reveal a group effect after adjustment for smoking in the IGT and the BIS-11 measures.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study was specifically designed to resolve questions regarding associations between impulsiveness and risky decision-making in tattooed women. It shows that in tattooed women, risky decisions are not a direct result of their self-reported impulsiveness. Smoking does not explain the psychometric differences between tattooed women and controls.

Tattoos and human identification: investigation into the use of X-ray and infrared radiation in the visualization of tattoos

Any person with a tattoo known to their family or friends could potentially be identified from the presence of such personal identifying markers. Problems in identification utilizing tattoos may arise when these markers are removed or defaced in some way. This paper uses infrared wavelengths at 760, 850, and 950 nm to improve the visualization of laser-removed or covered up tattoos and also to establish whether the ink pigments used can be observed on radiographs from any metal that may be present. The results obtained indicate that some older inks have a high enough metallic content to allow them to be viewed on a radiograph, while infrared light can demonstrate latent ink still present in the skin after laser removal and can also be utilized to distinguish an original tattoo through a secondary "cover-up" tattoo. Infrared photography and radiography have been shown to improve tattoo visualization in a forensic context.