Weak immune system Tattoos can sometimes lead to severe pain

Be careful with tattoos if you have a weakened immune system

Just a few decades ago, there was a widespread prejudice that a tattoo is only for prisoners and sailors. However, tattoos have become fashionable in younger people and more and more people can be tattooed. Researchers now warned that people should not be tattooed if they have a weakened immune system. This could lead to health complications.

The physicians at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow found in their current study that complications can occur when people with a weakened immune system get tattooed. The experts published the results of their study in the English-language journal "BMJ Case Reports".

With a weakened immune system, tattooing a tattoo is not a good idea because it can lead to severe pain lasting months or even years. (Image: belyjmishka / fotolia.com)

Affected woman developed severe pain in the leg

The doctors' warning is based on a case in which a woman with cystic fibrosis and a lung transplant developed severe thigh and knee pain after having a tattoo on her leg. When people take so-called immunosuppressive drugs, they should take precautionary measures if they plan to get tattooed, explain the doctors. Immunosuppressants are often given following organ transplantation or for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease (a chronic inflammatory bowel disease), lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. But people with chronic long-term illnesses such as diabetes can have a weak immune system, which also increases the risk that they develop various complications through a tattoo.

Which interventions increase the risk of infection?

These individuals are at an increased risk of infection with each procedure, whether it's a scheduled surgery, a tattoo or a piercing, the experts explain. Therefore, sufferers should carefully consider whether they can be tattooed. Such people should talk to their doctor before tattooing and be educated about possible health dangers. It should also be ensured that the tattoo artist is adequately qualified and follows all practices to keep his work environment truly sterile, say the doctors.

Woman developed swollen knee and severe pain

In the case described in the journal "BMJ Case Reports", the 31-year-old woman developed a swollen knee and pain in her leg ten months after a tattoo on her thigh. The pain was so severe that it even affected the sleep of those affected.

Sufferers had to take large amounts of painkillers

Although the woman had already received a tattoo on her other leg a few years ago, she developed the pain already mentioned a week after the new tattoo. This pain became so severe that she had to be treated with the synthetic opioid analgesic tramadol. In addition, the sufferer also got paracetamol and the painkiller Nefopam. In addition, the woman took immunosuppressants to manage the consequences of her lung transplants and she used insulin for cystic fibrosis-associated diabetes, the experts explain.

What were the investigations?

Blood tests and x-rays showed nothing unusual. Examinations of the fluid from the knee showed no signs of infection by bacteria or fungi, explain the doctors. However, MRI scans revealed that one of the thigh muscles was inflamed. A biopsy of the muscle also showed no signs of infection, but confirmed the muscle inflammation.

What triggered the inflammation in the muscle?

In most cases it is not known what has caused an inflammation in the muscle. It could be bacteria or it could be a reaction to a toxin, such as the ink used, the medical profession speculates. The woman received physiotherapy and finally, after a year after the tattoo, the situation improved again, but it was not until three years after the tattoo that the patient was again free of muscle pain.

Doctors should consider tattoos during examinations

Doctors should educate patients about the potential risks of tattooing, and tattoos should be considered when diagnosing pain or disease, experts suggest. Muscle inflammation of the woman could not be the only case of this kind. This case could simply be a rare event, or there may be an underdiagnosis for patients with similar symptoms and tattoos, the authors add to the study. (As)