Thursday, June 25, 2015 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer

(NaturalNews) It’s somewhat amusing when health-conscious folks try to defend tattoos, all the while ignoring the fact that everything from the needle itself to the ink being injected is a potential health hazard. A recent study found that most tattooed people who develop some kind of acute reaction following the invasive procedure also end up developing chronic health problems like constant swelling and infection.

After polling some 300 tattooed people walking through New York’s Central Park, researchers found that only about 10% recalled suffering any noticeable reactions following the procedure. But among those who did, six in 10 said they suffered severe health problems that didn’t go away for a long time; some of them still suffering to this day.

Dr. Marie Leger, a dermatologist at the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City and co-author of the recently published paper, says she decided to investigate the issue after noticing an uptick in the number of patients coming to her because of problems with their tattoos. After speaking to friends and colleagues, she discovered that tattoo-related health problems are much more common than she previously thought.

Her paper, which was published in the journal Contact Dermatitis, contends that one in 10 people who get tattoos experience itching, swelling, redness or infection as a result of the procedure. In most cases, these adverse effects last for months or even years, though many tattooed people decide to just live with it and avoid seeing a doctor.

Claiming that she actually likes tattoos, Dr. Leger still warns that people need to be aware of the risks involved, which are probably more severe than the average person assumes. Injecting any kind of unnatural substance below the skin obviously isn’t risk-free, and since getting a tattoo is largely permanent (aside from getting it professionally removed), people need to carefully consider what they’re doing to their bodies.

“Of 300 participants, 31 (10.3%) reported experiencing an adverse tattoo reaction, 13 (4.3%) reported acute reactions, and 18 (6.0%) suffered from a chronic reaction involving a specific colour lasting for >4 months,” warns the study. “This study shows that tattoo reactions are relatively common, and that further investigation into the underlying causes is merited.”