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fwutocns t1_iwr4z2w wrote

A tattoo on my lower back (right side) is the only one that itches and gets raised every so often. Once, what seemed like a hardened ink grain came out of the tattoo when I was lotioning it (i thought it was a hive)... ! Am I allergic to something? I had existing tattoos with no reaction before getting this and have gotten more after this with no problem.

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laughlines t1_iwra07a wrote

Practical non medical advice here, my wife owns a tattoo shop. In our experience with both of us being allergic to a lot of environmental things, you’re not likely allergic to the ink itself (that has a very ugly and very noticeable look) but probably having a general inflammation response from something else. Like being allergic to cats or dust. That kinda thing.

Different inks also use different ingredients to keep the pigment stable. Some use plastic, some use tree resin, some don’t use anything. Anecdotally those carriers do keep the lines looking significantly sharper over 5-10 years.

Last on the ink grain - totally possible, especially if it had a plastic carrier. My wife has very thin skin on her hands and the black ink on her knuckles caused her some pain with pressure. So she cut it open with an xactco, and managed to squeeze out a nice lil piece of black plastic. Kinda freaky eh?

The raised itchy lines are very common though. I don’t know if anyone with significant coverage that doesn’t have the issue. It can also be confused for scarring - especially on the lines where people are more heavy handed - the raised pieces can be scar tissue. If you were to get it lasered you would still have raised, scar colored lines left behind.

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YoungPatrickBateman t1_iwrfygu wrote

>> The raised itchy lines are very common though. I don’t know if anyone with significant coverage that doesn’t have the issue.

I’m like a 30% covered and have been fortunate enough to have no raised skin reaction to any of my tattoos.

My partner though - has one tattoo and it looks like it’s all scar tissue.

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fwutocns t1_iwrpn0d wrote

WOW. Our body microplastics have congealed into a macroplastic. GREAT! Thank you for the antecdotal evidence, I feel better.

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intengineering OP t1_iwr5j7d wrote

I'm not a medical doctor so I can't say for sure but it sounds like you are having a reaction to something in the tattoo and should maybe talk to a dermatologist. Since we don't know what causes allergic reactions in some tattoos it's entirely possible that you are allergic to some pigment in the problem tattoo and that the pigment is present in other your other tattoos. However, that's only speculation on my part. -JRS

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