- Introduction.
A tattoo is a design engraved in the upper surface of the skin (dermis) made by using ink, dyes, or any other substance that alters the pigments of the dermis. A tattoo is either temporary or permanent; a Temporary Tattoo is a decorative design that remains visible on the skin for a short period.
A process used to create these tattoos is named as screen printing that presses the tattoo on paper coated with transfer film acting as a sticker. A Permanent Tattoo is a design made by different dyes or pigments using needles, and it is done manually by a tattoo artist to puncture the dermis using different pigments and ink by injecting it by hand.
Tattoo Engraving
As we briefly discussed, what tattoo is? Here comes the process of tattooing how it is engraved in the skin using dyes and inks? A tattoo is designed by a professional tattoo artist who uses dyes and usually black ink that is penetrated in deep skin known as the dermis, which is a layer underlying the epidermis.
Afterward, when the injected pigment is dispersed, it activates the immune system to engulf the pigment particles as they are foreign bodies to immune cells after that healing takes place and the damaged dermis is healed by collagen growth. This mends the epidermis where pigment remains trapped ultimately below the skin resulting in a design which we name as a tattoo.
Short History of Tattooing
The art of tattooing is being practiced for a long time ago, and the ancient remains of humans reveal that tattoo designing is being practiced for centuries. Once a body was found with 61 tattoos in the Alps dated 3250 BC, so it shows that tattoo designing was widely practiced using pioneering technologies in Taiwan and the South of China.
The old tattoos were locally associated with hunting tattoos, traditional tattoos, and even facial tattoos were practiced, India also has a great history of body modifications and tattooing from hundreds of years. They also used to engrave different designs on maze rocks, and they used to design cultural symbols on an individual body. Europe also has a great history of tattoo arts. In 1565 an Inuit woman was found with facial tattoos, which they placed in Netherland afterward.
We all know the ancient history reads that tattoo artist was in high demand in port cities due to the sailor who used to get a tattoo as their sign-in Europe and America. A German opened the first professional tattoo shop in New York in 1858. Then this practice goes on, and by 1980, there were 5000 self-claimed tattoo artists as it gets high in demand skin mural trade, and it went so on and so forth.
Types of Tattoos
There are many types of tattoos; we are briefing some well-known examples below.
- Cultural and Traditional Japanese Tattoo: These tattoos are by far the most designed, as they include the marks of status or symbols of religion and pledges of love and bravery.
Even today, people love to get tattooed for their religious sentiments and to symbolize their grouping regarding particular religion/ groups or even for criminal gangs.
- Japanese Dragon Tattoo: The Japanese dragon tattoo is highly popular among the merchants during this time due to the symbolic representation of their heroes and creatures like dragons and phoenixes, generally this type of tattoo represents the rich past of Japan.
- Oni Mask Tattoo: It is the type of tattoo where a face mask of a supernatural ogre is designed; you may find these tattoos more prominent with Japanese folklore.
- Black Ink Tattoo: This term includes a broad range of tattoos; these tattoos are solely created using black pigment or black ink; in ancient times, it was used to design symbols and ornamental designs. Still, in the modern era, very creative illustrative work is produced using black ink.
- Irezumi Tattoo: This tattoo is mainly known as Japanese style tattoo originated in the Edo period, this type of body art features heroes tattooed from the ancient time telling the story about Japanese bravery and their mythological creatures.
- Mandala and Lettering Tattoos: This term is a Sanskrit word, which means Circle; these designs include symbols and patterns aligning their beliefs and practices.
Lettering tattoos are those which are designed as per their beliefs and dates or scripts that are unforgettable, also adding a unique look to the wearer.
- Aftercare for your tattoo.
Getting the tattoo is good, but there are some measures to take after getting tattooed, after getting the tattoo is designed, one should remove the bandage after 24 hours.
Washing your tattoo with antimicrobial soap will be useful, applying the layer of antibacterial ointments and washing the tattoo several times with soap and pat dry gently.
Another thing you can use is Tegaderm, which is a sterilized, germproof layer for the protection of your new tattoo. It helps to protect our tattoo from contamination and also protect our clothes and surrounding from excess blood, ink, or fluids that are normal byproducts of healing a tattoo.
- Concerned Health Hazards.
Tattoos though, look cool but also have few drawbacks regarding our health because it is concerned with the breaking of skin barriers, the tattoo can cause serious health risks regarding a person’s skin tone and sometimes even cause fainting. Designing a tattoo by an amateur might result in severe infection due to the use of unsterilized equipment or using the contaminated ink or dye, causing skin or fungal infections.
The use of specific colors may be the cause of health risk as Red Ink causes skin and flesh damage resulting in the amputation of a leg or an arm.
Summary
So in this article, we discussed everything regarding Tattoos, Getting Tattooed, Brief History, Its Types, Health Risks, and After Care, so hopefully, it felt useful to you. Few things I want to summarize here is Covering up of an unwanted tattoo, sometimes we get tattooed, and after a couple of time, we want to cover up the tattoo and get a new one instead. Covering up the tattoo is also an option to go with, and by consulting a tattoo artist is good to know all about it.