Tattoos are considered to be more popular and socially accepted nowadays. Tattooing is a trend that started growing during the early 90’s. According to a recent study, more than 36% of Americans and Europeans have at least one body tattoo on them. Medias play a great role in increasing the popularity of tattoos through reality shows and magazines with the photographs of celebrities with tattoos on them. Many feel that, beautifying their body with permanent ink helps them to profess their individuality. If you are really interested in getting a tattoo, it will be better to study up on the risks associated with this particular form of body art, and take necessary precautions before going for it.The biggest risk in getting a tattoo is the selection of your tattoo artist. Consider the following hints before choosing your tattoo artist;Go to a professional tattoo artist and try to avoid home-made tattoos, especially made with Indian ink.Take a look around the tattoo parlour to conform whether the place is clean, hygienic and brightly lit.Make sure that the artist uses new sterilized equipments for each client or thoroughly cleans and sterilizes the equipment using autoclaves.Make sure he uses standard safety precautions to prevent infections and he wears rubber gloves.Never go to a parlour with less sanitary conditions to get an inexpensive tattoo. Your health matters more than money.Make sure that the tattoo artist has credentials, a license and experience.As tattooing requires the breaking of the skin barrier, it may cause various health risks, including infections and allergic reactions. Getting a tattoo at an accredited professional tattoo parlour is comparatively risk free, but, still it puts you into the following risks;As needles are inserted under your skin for tattooing, there is an increased risk for the diseases like HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. There are no reported vaccinations against HIV and Hepatitis C. But, you can take vaccinations against the contracting Hepatitis B.In addition to these viral infections, there is a risk of bacterial infections and allergies to dyes and needles. Some infections may be mild and treatable. But some may turn sever.Infections that can be transmitted due to the unsterilized equipments or contaminated ink includes tetanus, tuberculosis, herpes simplex virus, staph, fungal infections, some forms of hepatitis, HIV etc.It may cause skin infections such as impetigo or school sores.Long-term skin diseases like psoriasis, dermatitis and even tumors have been reported as a result of tattoos.Thick scars called keloids are more likely to appear among dark skinned people.Mental distress due to regret after getting a tattoo. This is reported as one of the main risks after getting a tattoo.Occasionally, when a blood vessel gets punctured during the tattooing procedure, a bruise or hematoma may appear.Allergic reactions due to some metals present in the ink, especially colored inks, have been medically documented. Nickel present in the ink, mainly caused the metal allergy. Other metals that cause allergies include mercury in red cinnabar, cadmium sulphite, cobalt blue, lead, lithium, copper etc.In some temporary tattoos like henna, problems have been reported. Henna tattoos contain a dark brown dye; para-phenylenediamine (PPD) that causes delayed allergic reactions. The reactions include skin necrosis, scarring and hypo-pigmentation. By analyzing some henna dyes, toxic chemicals used in textile and hair dyes has been found in addition to PPD.Some hospitals and testing centers will refuse to do MRI scanning of the person with tattoos as there are metal particles in the tattoo which causes a burning pain for them.Even if you wish to remove a tattoo, some colors like yellow will breakdown into toxic chemicals and spread in your body.If you are still planning to get a tattoo, then it’s imperative you follow the proper safety precautions. Make sure you are getting a tattoo in a place away from food, hazardous waste and other unsanitary conditions. Finally, after receiving your tattoo, get proper aftercare procedures from your artist and be sure to follow it.

Tattoos are perhaps the most popular way for young people to make a style statement. A few years back, the tattooing arena was quite small, with common patterns and the inscription of names being the only designs or the most popular designs. However, there has been a significant change in the styles and tattooing techniques that have given tattoo enthusiasts as well as designers a bigger platform. Tattoos have also become unique.Style, they say, is something unique/ special/ personal to every individual and everyone has personality traits or a certain lifestyle that they want should reflect in the tattoo designs they sport on various parts of their body. Following the designs/ patterns that have been on the scene for a long time, or blindly copying the tattoos of your favorite celebrities or football stars, is no longer the way. The latest trend is therefore custom design tattoos.A custom design tattoo, as the name itself suggests, is a tattoo that you can customize to suit your personal preferences and tattoo ideas. The changes or alterations that you can effect in a design go far beyond simple color changes or its placement on your body. You can go for something that comes to mind and let the experts customize it to suit your looks. For example; you may want to have the initials of your kid/kids names incorporated into a tattoo design of your choice.Online tattoo design sites have the option of providing one with a very original tattoo idea after asking for very few specifications from the client. Basic questions like where you want to place the tattoo, size of the area available, skin color, your main objective for getting the tattoo, whether you have any other tattoos on your body, etc. are asked. Based on this information, an experienced designer creates the best design for his/her client.So, before you go about having a custom design tattoo, you should have some idea about the design and be very clear on what you want in a tattoo. The work thereafter becomes fairly simple. The designers that work with these sites are all individuals with a high quotient of creativity, and handpicked only after their flair in the tattoo designing field has been stringently tested. They understand exactly what the clients are looking for and can come up with an original design in a reasonably short period of time. Even though the price is a little higher than the regular ones that one gets in pattern books, they realize that clients wanting to get a custom design care more about exclusivity.Now, you must be wondering as to how one can be sure that the design provided by the designer really suits them. Well, for every client who signs up to have a custom design tattoo, the tattoo design is not finalized until the client approves it. The rough drafts are made and are shown to the client, and are finally made only once they say a yes. So there is no chance of worrying about losing money over something you don’t like. Once the design is finalized, it is mailed to you along with a list of names and addresses of tattoo designers who will help to get it tattooed onto you.You can choose from the various categories like tribal art, butterflies, celestial motifs, ornamental and flowery patterns etc. If you wish to inscribe a name or a word, there are a wide range of fonts to choose from. So, go ahead and get yourself a beautiful custom tattoo design that reflects who you are.