Tattooing

What Happens in the Skin When You Get a Tattoo?

Tattooing is the process of placing tattoo ink into the deeper layer of the skin, called the dermis, using rapidly moving needles. This applies to both decorative tattoos and permanent make up, which uses the same biological principle.

Tattoo ink is the liquid mixture that is injected into the skin. It contains tattoo pigments, which are tiny solid, insoluble particles that give the tattoo its color. The liquid carrier is gradually broken down and removed by the body, but the insoluble pigment particles remain in the skin. These solid particles are what make a tattoo permanent.

Why Does a Tattoo Stay in the Skin?

When the pigment particles are deposited in the dermis, the body immediately recognizes them as foreign material. This activates the immune system.

Special immune cells called macrophages move into the area. Their job is to “clean up” foreign substances. They engulf and store the tattoo pigment particles inside the cell.

For many years, it was believed that tattoos last because these pigment filled cells simply stay in the skin forever. However, research has shown that this is not the full story.

Macrophages do not live forever. When a pigment containing macrophage eventually dies, it releases the pigment particles back into the surrounding tissue. New macrophages then move in and take up the pigment again. This ongoing cycle of capture, release, and recapture explains why tattoos can remain stable for decades, even though the individual immune cells are constantly being replaced.

A tattoo is a popular form of body art and has increased significantly in popularity over recent decades. We also see an increasing number of other applications of tattooing, such as permanent make-up and medical tattoos.

A tattoo is a unique form of body art, and the reasons for getting a tattoo vary widely. A tattoo may simply be aesthetically pleasing, but it can also symbolize an experience, victory, loss, or the closing of a chapter in life. The positive and emotional value of a tattoo differs from person to person and can be very important to some individuals.

In certain cases, tattoos also serve a medical purpose. Examples include tattoos used as markers for radiotherapy, for camouflaging skin or hair conditions, or nipple–areola tattoos following breast reconstruction after breast cancer.