advice: does tattoo ink linger inside me?

tattoo enthusiasts may be more preoccupied with what’s going on their skin than what’s happening under the surface. but some may be surprised that research suggests there’s more to body art than skin and self-expression, with tattoo ink showing up in lymph nodes and elsewhere in the body.

it’s normal to be concerned about what this might mean for your health, but dr. alexandra easson, a breast and melanoma surgeon at mount sinai hospital and princess margaret cancer centre , suggests that pigmented lymph nodes caused by tattoo ink is not that unusual.

the reason for this is simple. tattoo ink penetrates well past the epidermis or what’s known as the top layer of the skin, and the needle that contains tattoo ink travels deep into the layers of the skin, where nerves and blood vessels are located.

this causes bleeding and pain and it also sets off another reaction in the body — it activates specialized immune cells that are supposed to get rid of any foreign particles, such as tattoo ink from the tissue. but because the ink needle sinks about two millimetres into the skin, these specialized cells are unable to get rid of most ink particles, which is what makes tattoos permanent.

and it’s not just the lymph nodes that may be affected — the ink may also travel to other parts of the body, such as the liver . this may be unsettling when you consider that the lymphatic system plays a critical role in the immune system, and that the liver helps to remove toxins from the body. still, there is no research available on the long-term impact of tattoos on the body, but there is also no evidence to suggest that tattoo ink can be hazardous to your health.

while this is good news, getting inked isn’t totally risk-free either. tattoo-related infections can show up immediately or afterwards, and can range from a simple rash to an abscess, which may require medication and surgery to treat. it’s important to do your research and understand how to care for your tattoo . remember, it’s a wound that needs to cared for like a wound. that includes proper bandaging, cleaning and knowing when to see a doctor.

the potential risks of tattoo ink garnered some attention after a report that was published in the annals of internal medicine about a woman whose doctors suspected had lymphoma after finding swollen lymph nodes under her arms and in her chest. the inflammation was actually a result of a reaction to the ink from an old tattoo. pigmented lymph nodes have also been mistaken for melanoma — the most serious type of skin cancer — but according to easson, such a mix-up would be unlikely.