Science of Tattooing
There is a lot to learn when it comes to getting and caring for a tattoo.
There are a lot of myths to debunk about tattooing. Since I have a background in education and health care, I want my clients to know everything they can about tattooing so they can make informed decisions — and also just learn about the wonders of the human body!
This is a diagram of your skin.
A frequent question is whether or not tattoos hurt, and they do because your skin is rich with nerves and other structures that contribute to sensation.
Another common question is where the tattoo ink actually goes, and the answer to that is a layer of the skin called the dermis. This is why tattoos are “permanent,” because the ink is deposited beneath the layer of skin that sheds — the epidermis. Cells in the epidermis are constantly regenerating, so the tattoo needle passes through this layer and deposits ink into the dermis.
There are many myths about tattoos, but one of the most important ones is addressing aftercare.
You may have heard that your new tattoo is an “open wound” and needs to be taken care of appropriately. While there are specific things you need to do to take care of your tattoo, this analogy is not quite accurate. Tattoos are actually much more comparable to sunburns from a biological perspective.
When it comes to caring for your new tattoo, there is a short period where bacteria can enter the skin (most tangibly during the actual tattoo — which is why sanitary practices are imperative). However, your skin immediately begins to heal itself because the process of tattooing triggers your immune response.
Getting a tattoo causes tissue damage. Your body sees the ink as a foreign entity and begins to immediately assemble its immune fighting crew to surround the new ink with specific cells and contain it. Here’s the scientific explanation:
“As with any type of trauma to the dermis, the first response of the body is to stop the resultant bleeding to form a clot. Then the skin tissue swells (edema) followed by a migration of immune system cells to the wound site (neutrophils and macrophages) in order to phagocytose foreign substances, cell debris and microbes. Any damaged collagen in the wounded papillary dermis is then repaired through the action of fibroblasts, ultimately laying down scar tissue.”
— https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4464189/
This is what your skin looks like under a microscope!
Skin tissue is stained with a certain dye to be visible like this under a microscope. The study of microscopic tissue is called “histology” and it’s the reason why we understand so much about the tattoo process. I took a course in histology back in my undergraduate degree and it was truly fascinating!
People who study histology have been doing interesting research around tattoos, including some interesting findings about the mechanisms of why tattoos last over time (while also fading).
The body has an amazing capacity to heal itself.
This is why aftercare is so important. But, aftercare is more than just making sure your tattoo stays clean and appropriately moisturized. A large part of the healing process is taking care of your entire body so that your immune response is at its finest. Being in good health and being responsible about your health is one of the best ways to guarantee your tattoo heals well and looks beautiful for decades to come.