Expert: Sasha Merritt - Professional Tattoo and Cosmetic Artist - 5/25/2009

Question
I got my 4th tattoo last August, and now (May) it still appears to be leaking ink. It does not really leak out, but its more like the black ink leaves a light black stain on the skin around the actual tattoo (like when you first get it done and excess ink is around it before they wipe it off completely). I ran into some random person today who said that it was ink poisoning and i should go the hospital immediately. It doesn't hurt at all, and there is no irritation what so ever.Any ideas?

Answer
Morgan-

Sometimes ink doesn't stay in the boundaries of the tattoo.  Tattoo healing is not entirely understood (who would let researchers take samples of their healing tattoo?) so it isn't always possible to say for sure what happened here.

One of the things we do know is that when the ink is healing, the body absorbs and flushes out the medium (the distilled water, witch hazel, etc that the ink particles sit in).  This leaves only the particles of ink.  Blow out is when it goes too deep and the ink particles don't stay in a nice line.  The halo could be part of the blow out, or it could just be that the tiniest ink bits have floated around the tattoo.

I've not heard of ink poisoning with regard to reputable tattoo ink.  And certainly if there is no irritation or pain I'd just think it is the way it healed and not worry.  Of course, if it gets red or has discharge consult your health care provider, but I don't expect it to have any trouble.
 
Good Luck,
Sasha Merritt
www.dragonflyink.com