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submitted 1 month ago by Drusas@fedia.io to c/health@lemmy.world

Once tattoo ink enters the body, it does not stay put. Beneath the skin, tattoo pigments interact with the immune system in ways scientists are only just beginning to understand.

Tattoos are generally considered safe, but growing scientific evidence suggests tattoo inks are not biologically inert. The key question is no longer whether tattoos introduce foreign substances into the body, but how toxic those substances might be and what that means for long-term health.

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[-] _lilith@lemmy.world 40 points 1 month ago

Oh hey look another AI article loosely based on that study about tattoos on mice. Fuck off

[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 33 points 1 month ago

I’ve kind of wondered this myself; anecdotally, of course.

Back in 2015, I got a 3/4 sleeve done with lots of colors (blue, black, red, yellow, and mixes of other colors). Not long after, I coincidentally also started suffering from fatigue, malaise, and other health issues. I love my tattoos, but I wonder (especially now) if it were a huge mistake given everything I’ve struggled with these past 10 years.

Have you seen a doctor? I have a long term illness that was only recently exposed.

[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

I have. A few actually. The most that came from it was learning I had celiac disease. Other than that, all teats have come back normal. It sucks. 🤷‍♂️

[-] snowdriftissue@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The most that came from it was learning I had celiac disease

Well that is kind of a big deal lol. You may already know all this but celiac causes malnutrition as well as direct symptoms.

Iron deficiency from gut malabsorption can cause pretty significant fatigue, malaise, mood issues, and other problems. The criteria for determining what is considered iron deficiency have recently changed as well so that a LOT more people are considered deficient compared to before, and not all docs are up to date yet. Assuming you're an otherwise healthy person, you'd probably want to have a ferritin (iron stores) of at least 50 ng/mL but ideally around 100 ng/mL if you're symptomatic. There are several other vitamins that are commonly deficient in celiac as well.

[-] SupraMario@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Naa man... it's the tattoos lol

This article needs to die, it was a shit study and on mice no less.

[-] snowdriftissue@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

tbf there does seem to be some immune system weirdness with tattoos and if you're already in a higher than normal inflammatory state because you have an untreated autoimmune disease like celiac, maybe it could make you feel like shit at least in the short term. idk

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26940693/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41289395/

[-] SupraMario@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

%100 can see that, but these articles keep coming up like they've nailed down that people with tattoos are more sick than people without. Which is a correlation doesn't equate cause....and everyone is running with it now.

[-] Drusas@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago

I want a tattoo but paused my decision after learning that getting a tattoo causes inflammation and that this has a significant chance of causing flare ups in people with psoriasis. I have psoriasis. I also have other health conditions and should avoid inflammatory triggers in general. Sucks. I only want a very small tattoo, though, so we'll see. Maybe someday.

[-] xep@discuss.online 8 points 1 month ago

Rather unsurprising if you think of tattoo ink as a foreign substance that your body doesn't recognise as part of itself. The body will respond with inflammation, like with everything else.

[-] LavaPlanet@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 month ago

What is this Facebook now?

[-] tacosanonymous@mander.xyz 5 points 1 month ago

I hope it's in a good way.

[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Read the article.

~TL;DR No, not in a good way.~

[-] tacosanonymous@mander.xyz 3 points 1 month ago

If it were in a good way, the title would be different. That’s why I’m refusing to read it.

[-] normanwall@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

I have an idea

Medical tattoos that fade away as the dosage runs out

[-] CptOblivius@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

I biopsy a lot of lymph nodes. I like it when people have tattoos because they lymph nodes turn black from the dark ink and I know I got a good sample.

this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2026
97 points (100.0% liked)

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