It seems some of us are getting so bored in isolation that we’re turning to DIY tattoos. While this might sound like fun in theory, in practice it should be heavily avoided unless you’re willing to risk the health risks.
Stick and poke tattoos
A rise in the trend of ‘stick and poke tattoos’ on social media has begun to cause some concern. Stick and poke tattoos are created by dipping a needle into ink before ‘poking’ it into your skin over and over to create a permanent tattoo. It’s an alternative method to tattooing yourself without a tattoo machine.
Although this might seem like a perfectly reasonable way to tattoo yourself, as with all forms of tattooing, it’s a method that’s best left to the professionals.
Difficult to sterilise DIY tattoo equipment
If you visit a reputable tattoo studio to get a new design (like Celebrity Ink™!), they will have the latest sterilisation equipment and disposable needles in place to ensure they tattoo you as cleanly as possible. These standards are almost impossible to replicate in a home setting.
For example, if you order a DIY stick and poke tattoo kit off the internet, there’s no way to tell whether the kit is arriving completely sterile and uncontaminated.
Although it’s tempting to reach for the alcohol to sterilise your DIY kit, experts have warned that this in itself is not enough to completely clean and kill the bacteria on the equipment.
Dangers to your health
If you do use a DIY tattoo kit that hasn’t been properly sterilised, you run the risk of contracting an infection. Scarily, infections can cause fevers, stomach cramps, breathing problems and dizzy spells.
And if you use a tattoo ink that hasn’t been produced by a reputable supplier, you also put yourself at risk of creating an allergic reaction. This could cause your skin to become inflamed, red, itchy, and in some cases, form blisters.
Don’t isolate yourself from COVID-19 only to make yourself sick from a DIY tattoo!
Cross-contamination can harm your health
Another risk to DIY tattoos is cross-contamination. So before you order a home kit to tattoo all of your housemates, keep in mind the spread of diseases like Hepatitis C.
There are reasons why tattoo studios are forced to adhere to strict regulations and guidelines – without doing so they could run the risk of spreading disease.
All professional tattoo studios adhere to tightly-controlled measures to ensure no cross-contamination happens. It’s these tight controls that are impossible to enforce within a home environment.
DIY means you’re not an expert
One of the dangers of tattooing your own body is that you could stick the needle in too far.
Professional tattoo artists know the skin is thicker in different parts of your body than others, meaning different levels of pressure should be applied depending on where on the body the tattoo is being placed.
If someone isn’t an expert in tattoo artistry, they could potentially stick the needle into the skin too deeply, causing the ink to spread and create a blurry-looking tattoo. No one wants that!
Remember that if you hurt yourself while trying to give your body a DIY tattoo, you could end up in hospital – a place you really want to be avoiding at the moment.
Tattooing is an art form and should really be left to the experts who are properly certified. Our studio doors are starting to re-open, so make your booking today .
