Young and Inky

Autumn Dillon

English 101

Hubbard

6 October 2013

Young and Inky

            When you hear the word tattoo, what comes to mind? Maybe some motorcycle gang out west or an ancient tribe somewhere in Africa, but what about college students? Today more and more college students are finding their way to a tattoo parlor getting permanently injected with ink, paying crazy amounts of money, and enduring what some might consider excruciating pain.

            Tattoo ink, what’s in that stuff? Most of the ink contains organic materials and elements such as vegetable based pigments and even some plastic based pigments. So you’re probably wondering how does it stay under the skin and why doesn’t the immune system clear all that up. Everyone has about seven layers of skin divided into three different sections; the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis, which are mostly, fat. The needle should go into the dermis. If the ink is in the epidermis, the cells push themselves outwards, therefore the tattoo would fade away. If the ink is too deep, the hypodermis, the ink will just blend into the fatty tissues. Since the body is being damaged white blood cells are sent out to get rid of the foreign materials or the ink. "The reason pigment stays there is because the pigment particles are too big to be eaten by the white cells, so they just sit there."(Laumann). All this technical talk may not sound very inviting so let me put this into a better perspective. The tattoo needle goes down just about as deep as the roots of your hair, or if you look at your wrist and see the veins, the needle would be nowhere near them. In short, hopefully this has lightened your ideas of the fact that a needle is penetrating your skin, but it really isn’t that bad.

            Money isn’tcheap and neither are tattoos. You’ve probably heard that you pay by the size of the tattoo or where you get it at. A few of the things that really determine the price include the number of colors used, if it’s a custom design or not, the number of hours it takes to complete the entire tattoo, and if you go to a popular shop. Sometimes, you might even have to go back to get it touched up and that can cost anywhere between $50 to $100. What’s crazier than the price to get one is the price to it removed. Laser tattoo removal can cost anywhere between $200 and $1,000. To have one removed is not an easy process. First off, you want to be sure to find a good dermatologist. You want to make sure you are getting the proper care and treatment so the scaring isn’t too bad and so it doesn’t get infected. To be completely removed, it is going to take a few sessions, depending on the size and color of the tattoo. Some darker colors like navy blue and black will most likely not be completely gone. As mentioned earlier, the ink particles are too big to be absorbed by the body. So the laser is supposed to break down the ink into smaller particles therefore, the body can absorb the them. This explains why this process is so time consuming. You’ve probably heard or read that it hurts worse getting it removed than actually getting the tattoo done.  It wouldn’t hurt as bad as you might think. About the same pain as getting a rubber band snapped against your skin. Like most things it depends on your pain tolerance. As you could probably guess, laser removal does have its side effects. Infection, once again, could be a problem. The skin has now been exposed and is considered an open wound and should be treated as when you first got the tattoo. Since you’re getting a laser applied to your skin to break down ink particles, it can also break down your skin. Hypopigmentation is when the skin treated with the laser becomes lighter than the natural skin color and hyperpigmentation is when the treated skin becomes darker than the natural skin color. With the technology of today, it is becoming a safer and more painless procedure.

            Let’s talk pain. When you get a tattoo, your skin is getting punctured over and over again by a needle. Sounds kind of painful right? As I mentioned earlier, the needle doesn’t go down very deep, unlike a shot.. When your body detects it is in pain, the brain sends out endorphins. Endorphins are a set of hormones released when severe injury occurs, often abolishing all sensation of pain. Kind of like your own personal pain reliever. The brain also sends out adrenaline; another hormone secreted by the adrenaline glands located above the kidneys and by some nerve endings. Adrenaline increases heart contraction and is usually released in a dangerous or exciting situation. Some might say these hormones are the reason people get so addicted to getting tattoos. Endorphins and adrenaline make you feel invincible and give you a feeling of release and stress free. Moreover, the body has its own way of tolerating pain.

Tattoos are not just for motorcycle gangs out west or the ancient tribes over in Africa. They are becoming more and more popular among college students today. 36% of people between the age of 18 and25 have at least one tattoo, which is a good amount of the population. So let’s face it, tattoos are getting college student attention and that won’t be changing anytime soon.

http://www.d.umn.edu/unirel/homepage/09/tattoo.html
http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa121602a.html
http://www.inskinstudio.com/tattoofaq.html
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-06/fyi-what-makes-tattoos-permanent
http://www.findhowmuch.com/beauty/how-much-do-tattoos-cost/
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/laser-tattoo-removal?page=2
http://www.statisticbrain.com/tattoo-statistics/