The darker side of body tattooing is the possibility of contracting diseases when you let yourself be tattooed at the wrong place and by the wrong artist. Admittedly, getting tattooed is a fun and unforgettable experience. However, if you are not careful enough, you may choose the wrong tattoo artist or tattoo shop to do the work for you.
A major consequence of getting tattooed by irresponsible artists or tattoo shops is when you contract serious diseases such as HIV. If you only deal with reputable tattoo shops and very mindful tattoo artists, this will never happen to you. If you want to get tattoos and enjoy your new body markings without worrying about getting sick, here are a few tips on how to avoid diseases caused by tattooing. The tips are very easy to remember and are very effective in helping you avoid diseases caused by tattooing, so make it a point to carefully read, remember, and follow these rules whenever you get a tattoo.
Look for Certifications and Permits
To avoid diseases caused by tattooing, you should only get a tattoo job from a licensed, certified, and health inspected tattoo salon. It is not really ideal to hire a tattoo artist to do the work at home. You have no way of finding out if the tattoo artist is certified and very hygienic when doing the job. To ensure your safety and avoid diseases caused by tattooing, get the job done at a licensed tattoo salon with certified tattoo artists and inspected tattoo equipment and facilities.
Always Conduct Ocular Inspections
If you want to get a tattoo, don’t just pick a tattoo salon at random then immediately enter and ask for a tattoo job. A good thing to do to avoid diseases caused by tattooing is to choose a few tattoo salons in your area and then visit each shop to conduct an ocular inspection. While making inquiries at their front desk or speaking with their head tattoo artist, look at the area: are the floors gleaming? Does the area smell sterilized? Are the artists wearing proper attire while attending to clients? Do they use gloves? Is their bathroom clean and well-scented? If yes, you can tell that the salon people know how important hygiene is and they are doing the best they can to ensure the safety of their clients. If you answered “no” to at least one question, give a good excuse and leave the premises to look for a better tattoo shop.
Ask for Sterilized, Brand-new Needles
The best way to avoid diseases caused by tattooing is to directly ask your tattoo artist if he/she is using sterilized and brand-new needles. Request the tattoo artist to open the fresh pack of sterilized needles in front of you so you would know that the set is, indeed, brand new. The tattoo artist would not take offense in your request if he/she knows that you are only doing it to avoid diseases caused by tattooing.
Schedule an Immediate Check-up with Your Doctor
A week after getting your tattoo, make an appointment with your doctor to assess how your tattoo is healing. Any suspicious body reactions can be detected after a week, so it is a good time to get a check-up. If you are overly-protective of yourself and want to avoid diseases caused by tattooing such as HIV, you can request for anti-HIV vaccines that will help minimize the risk of you contracting the disease. Remember that the old rule still applies when trying to avoid diseases caused by tattooing: prevention is better than cure.