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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >> And, when the FDA noticed a dramatic jump in the number of adverse events being reported, it began the current study. Between 1988 and 2003, there were only five adverse events from cosmetic tattoos reported to the FDA. But, beginning in 2003, more than 150 people reported problems, according to the study.
Researchers from the FDA and CDC interviewed 92 of the people who reported problems and found that the most common adverse reactions were tenderness, swelling, itching and bumps.
"The body sees the pigment as a foreign body and reacts to it, causing a chronic inflammatory reaction," said Dr. Ellen Marmur, chief of dermatological surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. "The area gets swollen, bumpy and red. It looks like a bad, bumpy scar. It's very unattractive."
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Marmur said it's impossible to know ahead of time who will have a reaction and who won't, although most of the people interviewed for the study -- 74 percent -- had a history of allergies. Additionally, the study found that people with allergies took twice as long to heal, on average, Straetemans said.
Sixty-eight percent of the study volunteers were still experiencing a reaction at the time of the study interview, and the duration of symptoms ranged from 5.5 months to three years.
According to Straetemans, 89 of the 92 study participants had been injected with ink from a single product line. That line of inks was recalled by its manufacturer, Premier Products in Arlington, Texas, in September 2004, according to the FDA.
Marmur said she believes people underestimate the risks involved with these types of procedures, especially the most common one: dissatisfaction with the way the tattoo looks. "People need to know the cost of reversing a tattoo is often more than getting it," she said, and that's only for tattoos that can be removed, because not all can.
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