My Skin's Reaction After Getting a Tattoo

I recently had something happen that has been pretty upsetting. It’s not something I was entirely unprepared for or unaware of. However, I guess the old sentiment, “all good things must come to an end,” is true because after forty-two times and fifteen years, it finally happened to me!

What bad thing happened to me?

I had an allergic reaction after a tattoo. In hindsight, there are a couple of things I could’ve been more mindful of that may have prevented the allergic reaction from being as bad as it was.

Spoiler alert: it was as bad as it was because of my already existing atopic dermatitis.

Lucky for you, I’m going to share those things with you today so that you can potentially avoid something like this happening after your next ink session!

Was it an allergic reaction or an infection?

So, the first thing I want to clarify is that I have apprenticed as a tattoo artist and know the craft well. Beyond just getting work done, I learned to perform tattoos on others.

One thing I learned about a tattoo ink allergic reaction is that they are very random and distinctly different from an infection. An allergic reaction to an ink often doesn’t even mean you are allergic to that ink or that it will happen again. My mentor told me if you get enough tattoos, eventually, it will happen.

My doctor only confirmed how true that was when I brought my very angry new tattoos to her to examine and immediately on exam, she stated it was an allergy, not an infection.

I could easily accept that as what I had been seeing didn’t exactly match with what I knew infected tattoos to look like, or feel like. There was redness around the tattoo, yes- but no pain, the redness didn’t grow or spread. No pus or discharge, but it looked like the ink was being pushed to the surface and out by my body in some parts of the tattoo. I didn’t have any other symptoms like fever, pain or swelling.

What did my doctor have to say about it?

My doctor and I have a pretty good, open relationship. She knows it is perfectly okay for her to be straight up with me and that is the method of communication I prefer from a healthcare provider.

Knowing this, I still found myself a bit speechless and embarrassed when she asked me after the examination, “So, why did you get a tattoo in proximity to a flare-up spot? You should know that’s a risk for a reaction.”

I had to admit, sheepishly, that no, I hadn’t considered that at all. I hadn’t had a flare-up there in a while so it didn’t even occur to me that it might pose a problem. My doctor told me that having atopic dermatitis puts me at a higher risk of allergic reactions in general, both on the skin and off.

I left her office with an expensive prescription for antihistamines and a large dose of humility.

What does research say about tattoos and eczema?

After my appointment ended, I became curious about what the internet and medical research say about atopic dermatitis and tattoos. I was able to corroborate what my doctor had told me in my appointment after just a few Google searches.

If you’re interested you can check out those articles here, here and here.

If this experience taught me anything, it’s that atopic dermatitis can affect all things about my skin, even if the problem I’m having seems unrelated. Just having atopic dermatitis makes me a bit more susceptible to having reactions. Therefore, I have to adapt my choices accordingly. I might not be able to get tattooed as often as I want, and I may have to be extremely mindful about how my body is doing before getting tattooed but I’d take that any day over having to deal with something like an ink allergy happening again!