Tattoo Color Research Articles (Page 1)

Background: Paradoxical darkening is a well-known complication with laser therapy for tattoos. However, there are limited reports of other color shifts after treating tattoos with laser. The aim of this study is to characterize cases of unusual eyebrow tattoo color change after laser. Methods: All cases of eyebrow tattoo color change after laser therapy from two dermatology clinics were reviewed. Results: A total of 10 females with unusual lighter color change after laser were identified. This was noticed by all patients within a few days after the first laser session. The color shift occurred after picosecond (PS) 755 nm (n = 5), PS 1064 nm (n = 4), and Q-switched 1064 nm (n = 1) laser therapy. The initial color shift was red or orange-red in eight patients and yellow in two patients. Treatment of color change was performed in six patients, with significant improvement. Two were treated with PS 755 nm laser and four were treated with PS 532 nm laser. After the first PS 532 nm laser session, the tattoo turned yellow in three patients. None of the patients developed paradoxical darkening of the light-colored tattoo after additional laser treatment. Conclusions: Some eyebrow tattoos might turn red, orange, or yellow after laser therapy. This color shift usually responds to subsequent therapy with PS 532 nm laser.

With nearly 50% of the population in the United States, Italy, and Sweden tattooed with at least one tattoo, the demand for its removal has risen by 32% since 2011. Traditional removal methods, such as Q-switched (QS) laser-based tattoo removal, can be lengthy, requiring up to 20 sessions. This study presents a retrospective clinical evaluation of seven short-pulsed QS, dual-wavelength Nd:YAG laser, as an efficient alternative, that can potentially reduce the number of sessions needed as calculated by a founded scale. The QS modality delivers high-intensity pulses in four wavelengths, ideal for removing multicolored tattoos, of which two were used.We studied 11 patients who underwent 3-8 treatments (average 5.09) every 2-3 months. Each tattoo was assessed using the Kirby-Desai scale, considering the following factors: location, Fitzpatrick skin type, ink amount, layering, scarring, tissue changes, and tattoo color. Follow-ups were conducted after 6 months and at 4-5 years following last session. The long-term follow-up presented a significantly higher tattoo removal efficiency than the short-term follow-up (p < 0.001), indicating a sustained process of ink breakdown and elimination. Notably, the actual number of treatments were significantly lower than that predicted by the Kirby-Desai scale (average 5.09 vs. 9.9, p < 0.001). No severe adverse events were reported. In conclusion, the QS Nd:YAG laser offers a safe and effective alternative for tattoo removal, requiring fewer treatments than initially expected.

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of a Nd:YAG laser with a pulse duration of 150 ps at different laser parameters. The effects on multiple-colored tattoos with such ultrashort pulses has not been previously described in the literature. In vivo experiments were conducted on porcine skin to analyze the fragmentation efficiency of five different tattoo colors using different wavelengths, pulse energies, and spot sizes. The results showed that the optimal tattoo clearance to safety ratio for blue, green, red, and yellow tattoos with a 532 nm wavelength was 0.96–2.39 J/cm2. The laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm demonstrated the highest efficacy in eliminating black tattoos, with positive results observed for green and blue pigments at a fluence of 3.02 J/cm2. The study provides valuable insights into the efficacy of laser treatment with 150 ps for removing tattoos of different colors using different laser parameters. This information can help dermatologists and practitioners perform more efficient and effective tattoo removal with fewer side effects.

Cosmetic facial tattoos have proven difficult to remove despite advancements in laser technology. Review safety and efficacy of picosecond laser removal of cosmetic facial tattoos. Retrospective chart review from January 2015 to January 2022 of patients undergoing tattoo removal of facial cosmetic tattoos. A total of 33 patients were included in the review. The average number of treatments to obtain satisfactory results was 3. Sixty 6 percent of subjects were rated as "very much improved" with 76% to 100% of the tattoo removed and 34% of subjects were rated "much improved" with 51% to 75% of the tattoo removed. Thirty percent of subjects experienced unexpected changes in the tattoo color after initial treatment with 1,064-nm picosecond laser. Picosecond laser is an effective and safe treatment for cosmetic tattoos, and it highlights the underreported unmasking of an orange color postlaser treatment that can be successfully treated with a 532-nm PS laser.

Permanent makeup (PMU) is a descendant of tattoo ink products and used with the intention of giving the face more advantageous contours. PMU makes it possible to condense eyelashes and eyebrows with fine lines or to visually correct them with cleverly placed contour lines. Even the correction of most subtle irregularities on the skin is possible through skillful pigmentation. Microblading describes a special technique in which the skin is carved with a certain "needle blade." The ink is then applied on the fresh wound and massaged into the cuts in order to depose the pigments in the skin. The field of medical tattooing belongs to PMU as well. Hence, PMU can be regarded as versatile as classic tattooing. Investigating online advertisements, the frequent use of the terms biological-organic or mineral pigments is notable. In opposition to the claim of being permanent, the cosmetical tattoo is often considered temporal. Web-based statements claim the use of special pigments for PMU, 100% free of heavy metals and therefore not aging to reddish, bluish, or greenish altered marks after healing. Statements are made to convey safety to consumers. Facts are mixed with fiction. This review will deal with the general structure of tattoo colorants and explain the differences and parallels to PMU ink. Certain raw material groups will be clarified further, and possible risks linked to certain material groups shall be listed and explained as well.

Spay/neuter identification tattoos and ear-tipping are simple and cost-effective methods to minimize the likelihood of unnecessary anesthesia and surgery in companion animals or the misidentification of sexually intact animals. This study assessed training of sterilization identifiers in US and Canadian veterinary schools and practitioner compliance with guidelines for identifiers via surveys conducted in 2019. Faculty in all 34 schools responded to the survey, reporting that curricula included sterilization identifiers in 31% of lecture-based training, 75% of spay/neuter laboratory-based training, and 38% of clinical practice-based training. A total of 425 facilities performing spay/neuter reported frequency and technical aspects of sterilization identifiers in client-owned and unowned (shelter, rescue, trap-neuter-return) animals. Facilities encountering large numbers of animals of unknown background, performing a high number of surgeries, or with specialized spay/neuter training were significantly more likely to use identifiers. Only 5% of private practices tattooed all owned animals, and 21% tattooed all unowned animals. In contrast, 80% of shelters and 72% of spay/neuter clinics tattooed all owned animals, and 84% of shelters and 70% of spay/neuter clinics tattooed all unowned animals. Green was the most common tattoo color (97%); the most common placement was near or in the incision for female cats (99%), female dogs (99%), and male dogs (92%), and ventral abdomen in male cats (55%). Enhanced training and implementation of best practices described in professional guidelines for sterilization identifiers are needed throughout the veterinary industry to protect animals from unnecessary procedures and to prevent unintended litters in animals misidentified as previously sterilized.

Millions of people have tattoos. The systemic effects of tattoo colorants (TCs) are mostly unknown. Several tattoos are on the market, which contain carcinogenic compounds such as poly aromatic hydrocarbons compounds or carcinogenic aromatic amines. Using the concept of the EPA for the risk assessment for compounds present in the environment, we estimated an additional lifetime cancer risk of 4.5 per 10000 people with a tattoo of pigment yellow 14. Such a lifetime cancer risk is comparable to the cancer risk estimated for meat consumption.

Reactions to tattoo may simulate common dermatosis or skin neoplasms. Histopathology allows diagnosis and helps determining the level and degree of inflammation associated, consequently orientating treatment. To describe the histological features found in biopsies of cutaneous reactions to tattoo. This study was designed as a multicenter case series. All consecutive histopathological samples of tattoos referred from 1992 to 2019 to the Hospital General de Catalunya, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, and a private practice, all in Barcelona, Spain, and from the Kempf und Pfaltz Histologische Diagnostik in Zurich, Switzerland were retrieved from the files. The inclusion criteria were all cosmetic/permanent makeup, artistic/professional, and traumatic tattoos associated with either inflammatory reactions alone and/or with tumors and/or infections. Exclusion criteria were cases without any associated pathologic finding in the place of the ink, amalgam tattoos, and medical or temporary tattoos. In all patients, clinical features (age, sex, location, tattoo color, and presentation) were recorded. Histological features evaluated included ink color, associated tumors or infections, and inflammatory reaction pattern. Inflammation was graded in low to moderate or severe. From 477 biopsies diagnosed as tattoos, 230 cases from 226 patients met the inclusion criteria. Samples corresponded to 107 male and 120 female subjects and 3 of unknown gender. Median age was 39 years (ranging from 9 to 84 years). Fifty-three samples were referred from centers in Spain and 177 from the center in Switzerland. The series was analyzed in 2 parts: tattoos associated only with inflammatory reactions (117/230) and tattoos associated with tumors or infections (113/230). The most common form of inflammatory pattern associated with tattoo was the fibrosing reaction (79/117, 68%), followed by granulomatous reaction (56/117, 48%), lichenoid reaction (33/117, 28%), epithelial hyperplasia (28/117, 24%), pseudolymphoma (27/117, 23%) and spongiotic reaction (27/117, 23%). Combined features of 2 or more types of inflammatory patterns were seen in 64% cases. Our series confirms that cutaneous reactions to tattoos are polymorphous. Inflammation tends to present with combined patterns. Infections are tending to decline, and pathologic findings are not specific to ink color or clinical features.

Background: With the increasing diffusion of tattooing, the photolability of tattoo inks has become a critical issue, as available data indicated that several tattoo colorants are unstable under sunlight, generating potentially toxic photodegradation products. Therefore, it is desirable to enhance the photostability of coloring agents contained in tattoo inks. Aims: Lipid microparticles (LMs) highly loaded with Acid Red 87 (C.I. 45380), a colorant used in tattoo inks, were evaluated for their effect on the colorant photoinstability. In addition, the capacity of the LMs to retain the incorporated C.I. 45380 colorant after their intradermal administration in excised porcine skin was investigated. Methods: LMs loaded with C.I. 45380 were prepared using glyceryl tristearate as the lipidic material and phosphatidylcholine as the surfactant. Non-encapsulated C.I. 45380 or the colorant-loaded LMs were irradiated with a solar simulator for photodecomposition studies or introduced in the excised porcine skin mounted in Franz diffusion cells for stability evaluation in the dermal tissue. Results and Conclusion: The colorant content of the microparticles was 17.7%, and their size ranged from 25 to 170 μm. The light-induced degradation of C.I. 45380 was significantly decreased by its incorporation in the LMs from 20.2 ± 5.8% to 1.9 ± 2.1%. Moreover, after intradermal injection of free or microencapsulated C.I. 45380 in the excised pig skin, the LMs reduced by 93.7% (from 24.6 to 1.5%) the quantity of the colorant diffused and hence lost in the Franz cell receptor fluid. Hence, the LM carrier efficiently retained the entrapped C.I. 45380 following incubation in the dermal region of the isolated porcine skin, which is in favor of a long-lasting tattoo. Based on these data, the incorporation of C.I. 45380 in the LMs could represent a potentially useful strategy to reduce the photodecomposition of the tattoo colorant and its harmful interactions with the skin tissue.

Tattoos are a common practice in the 21st century. Although most modern pigments are organic and made of vegetable or plastic compounds, they still sometimes elicit an adverse reaction in the skin. Identifying the tattoo pigment in such biopsies is not always an easy task. To study how tattoo inks appear in the skin, we injected 14 different colors of commercial tattoo ink into normal skin obtained from a mastectomy specimen. One unstained section was obtained from each case, as well as one section stained with hematoxylin-eosin from each case. All sections were observed under the microscope. Stained and unstained sections were also examined under polarized light. We did not observe any modification of the ink color with the staining process with hematoxylin-eosin. However, some pigments appeared differently in stained and unstained sections than in the vial. Pink was the most difficult color to identify from the eosinophilic tissue. None of the colors showed any birefringent particles. However, in some unstained slides under polarized light, the color of the pigment appeared more similar to the one in the vial than in the stained slide.

Chemical hazard of tattoo colorants

Ten to 30% of the population is currently tattooed. This trend does not spare athletes and sports medicine specialists may have to manage tattooed athletes. The purpose of this study was to review the possible issues associated with tattoos among athletes. Overall, tattooed athletes are exposed to the same complications as anyone, mainly healing issues, skin infections and allergic reactions to a tattoo color. Besides, the main pitfall in sports medicine remains invasive gestures such as puncture or infiltration, as they must be avoided at all cost if the tattoo is recent and under healing. Issues associated with imaging are rather limited (artifacts, visible calcification). Burns during magnetic resonance imagining may occur but they are rather rare. Local neuromuscular complications attributable to tattooing are exceptional. Whether tattoos may have a "systemic" impact on the prevalence of unexplained symptoms in athletes (fatigue, distant tendon or musculoskeletal wounds) remain unknown.

Tattoo colorants decompose under solar radiation and when exposed to laser light for their removal, leading to the accumulation in the dermis of toxic products. Aim of this study was to develop lipid microparticles (LMs) loaded with the colorant, Acid Red 87 (C.I. 45380) used in tattoo inks, and to investigate the effect of this system on the photostability of the colorant under simulated sunlight or laser irradiation. LMs loaded with C.I. 45380 were prepared by melt emulsification using tristearin and phosphatidylcholine as excipients. They were characterized by optical microscopy, laser diffraction, X-ray diffraction and release studies. Free C.I. 45380 and the colorant-loaded LMs were irradiated with a solar simulator or a Q-switched laser. Irradiation with a solar simulator demonstrated that photodecomposition of C.I. 45380 was markedly reduced by incorporation of the dye in the LMs, from 20.5±4.6% to 1.3±1.8%. Conversely, the laser-induced degradation of the colorant (30.1±6.6%) was not significantly influenced by encapsulation in the LMs (the encapsulated C.I. 45380 loss was 27.4±5.5%). Incorporation of C.I. 45380 in lipid microparticles enhances the photostability under sunlight of tattoo inks containing this colorant, without affecting its laser-induced degradation and hence laser removal efficiency.

Cosmetic tattoos use dyes with carcinogenic potential. Skin cancers arising in tattoos have been reported. We investigated whether risk of early onset basal cell carcinoma was related to the site and colors of cosmetic tattoos as part of a population-based case-control study of cases (ages 25-50 years), identified from a state-wide surveillance system, and age- and gender-matched controls, selected from driver's license records, randomly assigned an anatomic site of the cases. One hundred fifty-six cases (17%) with early onset basal cell carcinoma and 213 controls (26%) reported cosmetic tattoos. Among those with tattoos, the adjusted odds ratio of basal cell carcinoma at the tattoo site compared to another site was 1.8 (95% confidence interval = 1.0, 3.2). We observed the strongest associations for yellow and green tattoo colors. Our preliminary findings support the possibility of an enhanced risk of early onset basal cell carcinomas at the site of cosmetic tattoos.

Although, the pulse width should be shorter than the thermal relaxation time of the target, nanosecond laser pulses are not short enough for tattoo removal. Complications are common, such as hyper or hypopigmentation, textural changes, and scarring. Moreover, patients with darker skin types are at a higher risk of complications from tattoo removal using these lasers. Picosecond lasers were developed to overcome the limitation of nanosecond lasers. We did a comparison study of a 532/1064 nm picosecond laser vs a 532/1064 nm nanosecond laser to evaluate the clinical efficacy and complications of multi-color tattoos in Asians. Eleven Asian patients with 37 professional tattoos were enrolled in the study. Each patient was treated with a 532/1064 nm nanosecond laser and a 532/1064 nm picosecond laser. The spot size that was used with each laser was 3 mm. Four treatments were performed, with four week intervals between each treatment. Patients were examined a week after the first treatment and 3 months after the last treatment. All patients tolerated the treatments well. The efficacy of the 1064 nm picosecond laser for black tattoos is significantly better than the other studied lasers. The efficacy of the 532 nm picosecond laser is significantly better than the other studied lasers for red tattoos. The efficacy of the 532 nm picosecond laser is significantly better than the 532 nm nanosecond laser and better than the 1064 nm picosecond laser for green tattoos. Mild to moderate post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation was observed in 35.1%, 24.3% 27.0%, and 21.6% of the tattoos treated with the 532 nm nanosecond laser, the 532 nm picosecond laser, the 1064 nm nanosecond laser, and the 1064 nm pico-second laser, respectively. Paradoxical darkening (5.4%) was observed equally with each type of laser. There was no scar formation in any of the tattoos treated. The 532/1064 nm picosecond laser is more effective than the 532/1064 nm nanosecond laser in the treatment of multi-color tattoos in Asians. The 532 nm picosecond laser is more effective than 1064 nm picosecond laser in every tattoo color, with the exception of black. Paradoxical darkening was observed, even the use of picosecond lasers.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Decorative tattooing involves the introduction of exogenous pigments and/or dyes into the dermis to produce a permanent design.Areas covered: This review provides an overview of the current aspects of cutaneous complications associated with permanent tattooing and permanent make-up based on the previous reviews of interest, case series, and case reports of interest. References for this review were found through a search of PubMed by use of the terms ‘tattoo’, ‘tattoos’, or ‘tattooing’.Expert opinion: Complications include primarily infections, allergy to tattoo pigments, benign, and sometimes malignant tumors arising on tattoos and the localization of various dermatoses to tattoos. Immunocompromised patients and individuals with chronic conditions should be able to discuss with their physician and ask advice before getting tattooed. Tattoo color allergy still remains an unsolved issue. The identification of current culprit failed. It is most likely a byproduct that appears in situ in the skin during the life of the tattooed bearer. Studies involving expert centers are warranted to establish the best treatments for tattoo allergy. The risk of tattoo associated cancers appears to this author as largely overstated. However, case controls studies on large on cohorts of individuals with or without tattoos could help to evaluate whether tattoos have a possible in role in cancers.

Nipple-areolar complex tattooing often completes the breast mound reconstruction process after cancer surgery. However, there have been few studies evaluating patient satisfaction with this technique. To assess patients' esthetic satisfaction with the results of tattooing performed by nurses. Ninety-eight women participated in the study. Overall satisfaction with reconstruction and satisfaction with the tattoo's color, dimension, position, and form were determined using questionnaires completed by patients and a professional jury. 97% of patients reported overall satisfaction with the results of nipple-areolar reconstruction. The satisfaction rate with the tattoo's color was 67%, with dimension 96%, with form 95%, and with position 94%. The satisfaction rates of the jury were as follows: nipple-areolar reconstruction 79%; color 52%; dimension 77%; form 75%; and position 69%. On the whole, the patients were satisfied with the results one year after tattooing and their satisfaction rate was higher than that of the jury's. Only 6.1% of women required a second tattoo because of discoloration. Nipple-areolar complex tattooing has a high rate of patient esthetic satisfaction and can be performed by a trained nurse without the need for hospital admission.

Tattooing has become very popular worldwide during the past decades, and millions of people have one or many tattoos at different anatomical sites. The color of tattoos is mainly black, followed by red, green, blue, and other colors. A part of the tattooed people regret tattooing or have permanent problems with tattoos and therefore seek for tattoo removal. Tattoos consist of solid pigment particles in the skin. Thus, tattoo removal requires fragmentation of these permanently incorporated particles. The gold standard of tattoo removal is laser therapy. Short light pulses at high intensities are applied to the tattooed skin surface. The laser light penetrates the skin and is selectively absorbed in the pigment particles. The absorbed laser light leads to heat-up and fragmentation of the particles. Due to the complex chemistry of the various tattoo pigments, the efficacy of this fragmentation process is frequently unpredictable. Due to the short and intense pulses, nonlinear effects of light and thermal properties of tattoo particles may play a role, and the assumptions of selective photothermolysis may not reflect the real process of tattoo particle fragmentation as a whole. In case fragmentation occurs, the concentration of pigment particles in the skin decreases, yielding a fading of the tattoo color in the skin. Laser therapy is most effective in black tattoos and less effective for colored tattoos. The rate of side effects is low due to the selectivity of the treatment. Laser light may change the chemistry of the tattoo pigments and hence provoke toxic decomposition products.

To the Editor The article by Carson1 stimulates several questions. The differences between the three groups (persons with no tattoos, those tattooed with nonnegative messages, and persons tattooed with negative messages) are significant in age of death. The author concludes that the comparatively shorter life spans for those with tattoos having negative messages may be explained by more frequent deaths from nonnatural causes in this group. Including illicit drugs and alcohol use contributed. However, the difference between those with tattoos without negative content and those having no tattoos must be understood from other aspects. We propose that the biochemical, toxic, and immunologic aspects of the different compounds in tattoo dyes should be further studied. A market survey examined 14 different metals in 56 tattoo colors.2 Except for metals, tattoo ink also contains carrier substances, some of which may not be safe. Localized reactions in the tattoo area are well known.3 Patients with such tattoo complications have reduced quality of life and often have itching.4 However, there is a …

During tattooing, high amounts of tattoo colorants, which usually contain various substances, are injected into skin. The major ingredient in tattoo colorants is the coloring component, which can be assigned to two different groups. First, amorphous carbon particles (Carbon Black) are found almost exclusively in black tattoos. Second, tattooists use azo and polycyclic pigments to create nearly all colors of the visible spectrum. Due to their different chemistries, those tattoo colorants usually contain various compounds, such as by-products and impurities. Professional tattooists inject the colorant mixture into skin using the solid needles of tattoo machines, and studies have shown that about 2.5 mg of tattoo pigment is injected to stain about 1 cm(2) of skin. Animal experiments revealed that about one-third of that amount disappeared from skin within weeks after tattooing, and this finding was confirmed by pigment extraction from long-existing tattoos. It is assumed that some of the tattoo colorants stay in the skin because the pigment particles are insoluble and too large to be transported. The other part of the tattoo colorants shows up at least in the lymph nodes located next to the tattoo. To date, no investigations determining whether and to what extent tattoo colorants can be found in any other organs of the human body have been performed. Thus, tattooing of colorants into skin entails a complex reaction of the skin that triggers the immune system and launches manifold transport processes, which might pose additional health risks not only to skin but also to other organs of humans.