The body art of tattooing mainly involves the procedure of injecting one or more
pigments into the dermis, the layer of connective tissue that lies just below
the epidermis. After the pigment is injected into the skin, the immune system's
phagocytes get activated in the epidermis and upper dermis, swallowing up the
pigment particles. The result is that the pigment goes down, throughout a
homogenized damaged layer. As the particular body part undergoes healing
process, the damaged epidermis starts flaking away.
With the flaking of epidermis, the pigment on the surface of the skin starts
fading away. However, the deeper layers of skin experience the formation of
granulation tissue. In time, owing to collagen growth, they get converted into
connective tissues, mending the upper dermis. Since the upper dermis has pigment
trapped within fibroblasts, its healing leads to the pigment in the layer just
below the dermis/epidermis boundary. Soon, the pigment becomes stable and with
the passing time, engrains pigment deeper into the dermis, forming the tattoo.
Traditional Procedures
In the earlier times, all the societies and cultures made use of different
procedures for tattooing purposes. Some of these traditional procedures continue
till date. For instance, in some tribal societies, tattoos are created by
cutting designs into the skin and putting ink, ashes or other coloring agents
into the wounds. In other cultures, tattoo making involves beating ink into the
skin, using sharpened sticks or animal bones. Another tattooing method, mainly
used in Japan, is called tebori. In this method, tattooing involves hand poking
i.e. inserting the ink under the skin, with the help of non-electrical tools,
which are handmade and handheld and have needles made of honed bamboo or steel.
The Modern Method
Today, the most common method of tattooing comprises of the use of electric
tattooing machines. Apart from making the tattooing procedure much simpler, the
machines have also increased its ease. The machine comprises of a group of
needles that are soldered onto a bar. The bar has an oscillating unit attached
to it. In the modern method, the ink is inserted into the skin, through the
needles, which are repeatedly driven and out of the skin, somewhere between 80
and 150 times in a second.
The modern method of tattooing is much more hygienic as well as sterile as
compared to the traditional methods. The needles used for the purpose are
disposable in nature and come in individual packages. In the present times,
almost all the tattoo artists take care to wash their hands as well as the 'area
to be tattooed'. At the same time, they wear gloves and wipe the wound
frequently, to prevent any infection or allergy. Still, one cannot completely do
away with the risks involved with tattooing.
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