Tattoos proclaiming rebellion through weird sketches or simply love for a sweetheart with a heart and arrow, you are now able to wear your heart on your sleeve, literally. Tattoos allow you to get in touch with the playful, creative side of your personality; they even given you a platform to vent your angst. Do they have relevance in contemporary society? You bet. Just think about it. If you have ancestry dating back to the aboriginals in Australia you actually get to flaunt your legacy. How cool is that?
Tattooing helps to camouflage bad skin and baldness, it is also known to hike self-esteem (especially in women) and bolster confidence. In addition, it helps foster a spirit of sorority or belongingness. Yet, tattooing is not without its hazards. Tattooing has been held as the number one culprit for spreading the deadly hepatitis C virus, just to quote one instance.
Most tattooists aren't aware of the toxic levels of the dyes and chemicals in use during the tattooing process. Sure, your tattooist may be routinely sterilizing his needles and putting on disposable gloves but he may not be necessarily addressing the toxicity of the dyes in use. Please be warned that 'untreated' dyes and colors can cause HIV infection, leprosy and melanoma, not to mention ulcers and a host of skin problems.
When you walk into that popular tattoo parlor in your neighborhood you will need to ensure before-hand that its owners follow the health and hygiene regulations to the letter. Or, even better, you can go in for temporary tattoos.
Just think about it: do you really need those heavy bandages restricting your movement even as you long to scratch those forbidden, itchy spots? Do you really need the anxiety of not knowing what disease you may have contracted because of the foreign element that has just entered your body?
Consider another fact: the permanent tattoo of your ex girlfriend may hardly be a pleasant sight to your current love interest. Worse, you could be rejected for a coveted job just because your interviewer does not approve of the flashy markings on your arm. More alarming- certain insignia may be misinterpreted in other cultures and before you know it you could become the needless victim of a hate crime. What do you do in such cases? Go in for an expensive and extremely painful laser removal solution? Or the even steeper intense pulsed light therapy?
The good news is that there are cheaper and painless alternatives available. These go by the name of temporary tattoos. As the name suggests, temporary tattoos do not have a lasting effect on the skin. Because the dyes used are deployed over the epidermal surface, tattooing becomes a painless exercise. Temporary tattooing is also considered safer compared to the real thing although reservations have been expressed in certain quarters. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found, for instance, certain dyes that cause allergic reactions. But, by and large, putting paint over the skin is infinitely safer than injecting chemically suspect dyes under it.
No comments:
Post a Comment