Ten days have passed since patient N.T.M (36 years old, HCMC) went to a spa near her home to get her areola tattooed pink. After the tattoo, the patient felt a lot of pain. After a few days, the tattooed area continuously oozed yellow fluid and some areas had honey-colored scabs and more pain, so the patient went to the HCMC Dermatology Hospital for examination.
After examination, the doctor diagnosed the patient with infected dermatitis and prescribed oral antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs and topical medications. After 1 week, the tattooed area dried up and the pain and burning sensation decreased.
Or 2 months ago, a 14-year-old male patient in Dong Nai province listened to an advertisement on social media and hired a "tattoo artist" to come to his home to tattoo his chest.
One month after the tattoo, the patient saw white spots appear in the tattooed area and then spread more. Seeing the condition getting worse, the patient went to the Dermatology Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City and was diagnosed with molluscum contagiosum after tattooing.
According to doctors, molluscum contagiosum is one of the complications caused by viruses after tattooing. Currently, the patient has been treated by scraping the skin lesion and after 1 week, the skin has healed well.
MSc. Dr. Le Thao Hien - Department of Dermatology, Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital said that complications after tattooing are a complicated problem and difficult to treat. Complications are divided into two types: acute and chronic. Acute complications often appear a few days to a few weeks after tattooing and are divided into groups such as: post-tattoo inflammatory reactions including allergic contact dermatitis; photodermatitis; outbreaks of some inflammatory-autoimmune skin diseases (psoriasis, vitiligo, lichen planus), infections (bacterial, viral, fungal) and the most serious is systemic infection-intoxication.
Meanwhile, chronic complications appear several months to several years after tattooing and are divided into groups such as: typical or atypical tuberculosis infection; papulonodular rash; granulomatous reaction; scars (keloids, pitted scars, ugly scars) and even skin cancer.
The cause of infectious complications is due to the tattoo process not following the principles of sterility, the skin after tattooing is not properly cared for. Complications due to inflammatory reactions are mainly due to the body's allergic reaction to the material and color of the tattoo ink, some cases are due to the body already having autoimmune inflammatory skin diseases that have not been treated well such as psoriasis, vitiligo... In addition, scars after tattooing are due to the tattoo artist tattooing the ink too deep into the skin, the existing keloid constitution of the tattooed person.
“How to prevent complications after tattooing includes choosing a licensed tattoo shop, not getting too many ink colors, avoiding colors that can easily cause allergies (red, orange, purple), treating autoimmune inflammatory skin diseases to stabilize before getting a tattoo. In addition, after getting a tattoo, you need to apply anti-inflammatory drugs, skin recovery drugs, and avoid exposure to sunlight for at least 1-2 months after getting a tattoo,” Dr. Thao Hien emphasized.
