Tattoo Health: April 2009 Archives

Fresno, Calif.  (KMPH News) - It's a case that's gone to the top of the Fresno Police Department Child Abuse Unit.  Investigators are looking for a man they describe as a Bulldog gang member and who they say forcibly tattooed a gang symbol on his 7-year old son's stomach.

Fresno Police Department spokesman Jeff Cardinale says the second grader was spending Spring Break with his father, 26-year-old Enrique Gonzalez, when he took the boy to a friend's house to get his son tattooed.

"The boy did not want to have the tattoo put on, but the father forcibly restrained the boy, pinning him to the ground while his friend who is a 20-year-old validated bulldog gang member put a Bulldog paw print on the young boy," said Cardinale.

Travis Gorman was taken into police custody on Tuesday at a home in Central Fresno.  Tattoo paraphernalia was also found and confiscated.

"The tattoo artist was positively identified by the young child as being the one who put the tattoo on him," said Cardinale.

The child was placed in his mother's custody after she filed a police report on Monday, April 20th against Gonzalez for having their son tattooed.  Police say Gonzalez also goes by the name Henry Gonzalez.

James Conway, a Tattoo Artist at 30/30 Tattoo in Fresno says not only is it illegal to tattoo a minor, there are also other dangers that come with what he calls 'backyard tattooing.'

"Most of them will use the same needles and there's cross contamination.  You can spread the Hepatitis virus, AIDS, HIV all that kind of stuff so it's very dangerous to go get tattoos in basically somebody's backyard," said Conway.

The Fresno Police Department is offering to remove the Bulldog dog paw at no cost using a tattoo removal machine issued by the Mayor's Gang Prevention Initiative.

"But, keep in mind, anybody who's had a tattoo removed will tell you, it's very painful to have a tattoo put on and then to have a tattoo removed is even more painful.  So, this young man has had to endure a lot of mental scaring and quite honestly some physical scaring as well because of this despicable act by his father and his father's friend," said Cardinale.

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You may have the steps to healing a tattoo down to a science but there are some things you need to consider before getting a new tattoo as well.  There are steps that must be taken in order to give your new tattoo the best chance of healing properly and looking its best.

If You're Sick, Reschedule

If you feel run down or under the weather in any way, it's a good idea to reschedule your tattoo appointment.  When you are sick your natural immune system is not performing at it's peak.  Adding the undue stress of a new tattoo to the list of things the immune system needs to deal with is not good for your general health or the healing of a new tattoo.

If you are feeling sick your best bet is to put your new tattoo on hold until your bug has completely subsided.

Don't Get Tattooed If You're Pregnant

Most tattoo shops will not tattoo you if they know you're pregnant.  The reason for this isn't that your body can't take the tattoo but it will cause unneeded trauma to the unborn baby which could  easily cause complications.  A woman's body also goes through many physical changes during and after pregnancy which could potentially affect the look of a new tattoo.

It's Not Good To Be Drunk

Not only is it a bad idea to drink the day of your new tattoo, you'll want to quit a few days before in order to assure that your blood is not thinned out.  Alchohol is a natural blood thinner and besides bleeding more, it will take your new tattoo longer to heal with a build up of alchohol in the body.

It's also a good idea to avoid using asprin or pain relievers for a few days before your new tattoo, which also thins out the blood.

Load Up On Vitamin C

Vitamin C will not only make you healthier, it will also benifit your new tattoo. Vitamin C will give your body more energy allowing it to heal quickly.

If you don't like orange juice, a muti-vitamin will do you good.

• Remove bandage after 2 hours (do not rebandage)

• Wash tattoo with your hand (make sure hand is clean) using warm, soapy water. Rinse with cold water. Don't over soak your tattoo. Keep out of the direct spray of the shower. Pat dry, DO NOT rub with towel.

• For 3 to 5 days or until tattoo is healed, apply Vitamin A&D Ointment or Bacitracin or Zinc Oxide Ointment 3 to 4 times daily after washing tattoo. Keep tattoo moist. If allergic to these ointments, use a water based lotion such as Curel.

• Tattoo will flake. DO NOT pick at the flakes or you may pull the color out. Try not to let clothing rub on your tattoo while it is healing.

• NO swimming or suntanning until healed. Apply a high SPF sunblock to tattoo after healed to prevent fading.

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It is every tattoo aficionado's nightmare. That first ever, poorly designed and executed, tattoo can become an embarrassment once the glory of new and expertly done tats adorn your body - or what happens when Billy Joe is out and Brad is in? Well, you have your tat painfully lasered off and because that does not completely remove the old tat, you have a new tattoo made over it.  That's if your name is Angelina Jolie, of course.
I've been thinking about this after all the horror stories I have heard of abrasive and invasive methods used to remove old and unwanted tattoos. While, it is possible to work a new tat over an old one and thus efface its message, this is not always a perfect match and if that is not possible then it leaves you with the choice of skin peeling or laser work, neither of which particularly appeals. The tattoo doesn't always come away completely, which is a problem also and therefore calls for the new tattoo as a solution. Not quite the way I want to be designing my body art.

Now however, there is a new tat saviour in the works. It is a method called Tattoo Erase and there are clinics popping up all over the place offering this new and innovative method of tattoo removal. This unique method from Germany apparently uses a natural substance injected into the tattoo which causes the inks to eject from the body over a number of sessions until the tat has disappeared completely. I haven't managed to find out what the substance is but it promises that skin damage is minimal and I presume it is non-toxic.  It appears that the tattoo inks hide from your immune system by lurking just under the skin surface. What this new method of tattoo removal does is call the ink's bluff by merging with it and calling the immune system to come deal with it. By allowing your body to recognise the foreign material, your body is given the opportunity to expel the tat pigments and return your skin to its original state.

Obviously this is not instantaneous nor it is cheap as it can take several sessions to completely fade a tattoo and the treatment is pay per session. The treatments also need to be well spaced out, perhaps 8 weeks between sessions. But as therapists promise that the tattoo will be erased over a number of sessions and that the treatment is only as painful as  having the tattoo done in the first place, both costs (time and money) seem well worth the trouble and definitely worth looking into a little more!.

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