Tattoo and Body Piercing

This photo shows the earlobe of a 21 year old woman who presented to a clinic with a growing hard red nodule that was located where she had her ear pierced 5 years ago. She removed the earring after a few years because it never healed and was always inflamed.

A biopsy was done of the nodule and pathology showed a skin reaction with epithelioid histiocytes surrounded by a dense infiltrate of lymphocytes.

Apparently skin is not the only place that can be decorated with a tattoo. Tooth tattoos form the latest trend in India. How could I ever think - whiter the teeth, better they look?! I still don’t see the attraction to have designs on your teeth…it would just look like someone hasn’t brushed their teeth to me. But, many others do seem to like it.

Getting back to the article - The teeth tattoo is as easily put on as it can be erased. Very cool, huh?

The Boston Public Health Commission urges residents not to patronize unlicensed body artists who perform tattooing and piercing, after receiving several complaints recently of individuals operating illegally.

Boston has four licensed body art establishments, and the Commission encourages consumers to ask to see the shop’s permit and the artist’s license before allowing any work to be performed.

Women are more likely to remove their tattoos than men, finds the research, in other words tattoo removal is more common in women than in men, but why?

A team of researchers from Texas Tech University questioned tattoo removal clinics in Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Texas to understand who's removing tattoos and why. Researchers examined 196 patients visiting these clinics during 2006. Most of them decided to have tattoos at their ages from 16 to 23 and decided to remove them at their ages of 30.