Dangers of Getting Tattoos?

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Even though tattoos are not known to be dangerous, there are many diseases one could catch from the equipment and ink used to create tattoos.

That harmless little "innocent" tattoo may have a very deadly secret hiding inside. "A tattooing machine can puncture the skin 3,000 times a minute. And every one of those thousands of punctures creates a hole 1/64 to 1/16th of an inch into the dermis that literally invites infection and disease. Every single puncture of the tattoo needle opens up the real possibility of AIDS, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, tetanus, tuberculosis and about any other blood-borne disease. With the average tattoo taking about 60 minutes that equals 180,000 tiny "Russian Roulette" puncture wounds providing a potential path to a very deadly infectious disease". (1)

Watkins (n.d) reports, for example, that the supposedly harmless tattoo is a very serious risk of acquiring a deadly blood-borne disease such as AIDS, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, tetanus, syphilis, tuberculosis and other blood-born diseases giving the following example. (1)

"Michael Machetti, a California tattooed biker seeking to have a very-vulgar neck tattoo re-tattooed-covered up with the number "666" has filed legal action against Bull's Eye Tattoo Studio for infecting him with a "flesh-eating virus" during the tattoo procedure. Machetti claims the tattooist utilized unsanitary equipment that consequently infected him with the virus. Machetti has required several serious medical operations on his neck and both arms to remove huge portions of eaten skin. According to Ron Bakal, Machetti's lawyer, his client's medical bills are currently over $580,000. (Case RIC391550, Michael Machetti v. Bull's Eye Tattoo Studio, Sam Enriquez, Superior Court of California, County of Riverside, file date April 11, 2003)" (1)

Watkins also reports other interesting studies, and includes the links for other resources, which is excerpted for you to draw on below:

EXCERPT:

An alarming research study recently published by Dr. Bob Haley and Dr. Paul Fischer at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas uncovered that the "innocent" commercial tattoo may be the number one distributor of hepatitis C. The study was published in the journal Medicine (Haley RW, Fischer RP, Commercial tattooing as a potentially source of hepatitis C infection, Medicine, March 2000;80:134-151). Dr. Haley, a preventative medicine specialist and a former Center for Disease Control (CDC) infection control official, is exceptionally knowledgeable to prepare the study.
Dr. Haley concludes, "We found that commercially acquired tattoos accounted for more than twice as many hepatitis C infections as injection-drug use. This means it may have been the largest single contributor to the nationwide epidemic of this form of hepatitis."

Incredible. According to Dr. Haley's research you are twice as likely to be infected with ...