Load up on detoxifying foods like leafy greens, antioxidant herbs and spices, vitamin C foods, garlic and onions, flax, chia seeds and lots of water. Avoid foods made with additives, potential food allergens and non-organic foods. Use supplements that help to break down heavy metals to promote expulsion from the body.
Even if you're an otherwise healthy person, tattoos can lead to many toxins slowly accumulating in your body. If you're someone who already has tattoos, chances are that you also have some heavy metals in your liver. To eliminate these heavy metals, try detox methods like herbal chelation, milk thistle and dandelions.
Stay out of pools, hot tubs, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water while your tattoo is healing. Choose clothing carefully. Don't wear anything that might stick to the tattoo. Allow up to 2 weeks for healing.
If you over treat that, you risk overloading the lymphatic system and as a result overloading the liver and kidneys. If your tattoo was done with really dodgy ink, this can then either move you into blood poisoning or infection.
The tattoo process causes trauma to your body along with stress on your body and your brain. Your immune system will start to fight back. This is sometimes called “tattoo flu” as you may feel sick. This is normal, especially with your first tattoo as your body is in shock and is trying to heal itself.
As noted above, when you get a tattoo, the body's immune system immediately bolsters itself to fight off infection, but research has found that this happens not just at the “injured” tattoo site but throughout the entire body, and the response has shown to be cumulative.
He and his colleagues have found that individuals who frequently get tattoos appear to have higher levels of certain immune molecules, including antibodies, in their blood than people who rarely get inked (at least for a brief time).
The side effect is that the lymph nodes take on the same color as your tattoo. There is also some evidence to suggest that tattoo ink particles can travel through the blood and become lodged in the liver.
Q: Are tattoos bad for your liver? A: Tattoo ink may get accumulated in the liver and kidneys over a prolonged period of time but as such does not directly affect the liver. Indirectly, tattoos may cause severe liver damage due to hepatitis infection.
It's unknown exactly how long it takes for all of the ink particles to be removed from the body, but it is thought to be a process that could take years. In the meantime, the ink particles that do circulate through the body are believed to be harmless.
The constant needle pricks can be physically draining for the body. As a result, the body can go into “fight or flight” mode and release adrenaline, which can cause feelings of fatigue and exhaustion. This adrenaline rush is a natural response to stress and pain, and it can have a significant impact on the body.
During these first few days, it is normal for your tattoo to feel sore and tender. You may also see redness, swelling, and some mild bleeding. DAYS 3-14 (or until healed): After the first 2-3 days, your tattoo should begin to feel dry and tight.
Drinking afterwards could impact how your tattoo heals
It gets messy, and could again push ink out of your tattoo before it has settled properly, resulting in a faded result. Thinned blood could also make it harder for your body to scab the new wound, meaning the healing will begin as soon as it should.
It is advisable that you refrain from drinking for at least 48-72 hours after getting a tattoo. It is normal for plasma and blood to ooze 48 hours after getting a tattoo. However, alcohol consumption will increase the bleeding rate due to blood thinning.
This also goes for high fat foods, even seemingly healthy ones like seafood, because it requires more energy for your body to process and digest that could be used for healing your damaged skin.
However, evidence does show that some tattoo inks contain carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) – chemicals that have been classified as known or possible carcinogens by the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The particles of ink injected into the skin can travel through your lymphatic system and into the bloodstream. Not all of the ink particles make their way here, but enough to cause some concern. Some of the ink that finds its way into your bloodstream is broken down by the immune system.
The UV tattoo ink used today is as risky as that of any tattoo — maybe slightly more so. Older UV tattoos used phosphorus in the ink, which can be carcinogenic in high doses. And even without phosphorus, the ink runs the risk of adverse effects.
If you have a medical problem such as heart disease, allergies, diabetes, skin problems like eczema or psoriasis, a weak immune system, or a bleeding problem, talk to your doctor before getting a tattoo. Also, if you get keloids (an overgrowth of scar tissue) you probably should not get a tattoo.
The most painful tattoo placements are frequently located at the extremities (head, face, hands, fingers, feet, toes), regions where there is naturally less body fat (ribcage, shoulder blade, collarbones, hips, ankles) or more nerve endings (armpit, groin or buttocks).
Tattoo pigment can precipitate many inflammatory states. The skin is the most common site of inflammation, but tattoo ink can become disseminated and cause systemic inflammation. Granulomatous reactions are a rare type of tattoo reaction, often caused by black tattoo ink, and are challenging to manage.
Surgeons doing biopsies have noted that nearby lymph nodes are sometimes stained with tattoo ink that has been absorbed and then carried off by immune cells. It's possible that, if ferrous particles are present, the migrated ink can affect the appearance of a lymph node in an X-ray.
No, tattoos do not take years off your life.
Tattoo inks are not classified as pharmaceutical or cosmetic. The body is directly exposed to the toxic substances contained in the ink due to the injection of tattoo ink into the skin. Pigments may accumulate in the lymph nodes or other organs as they are in direct contact with the skin tissue and lymphatic system.