Gone are the days when tattoos were only worn by sailors, bikers or convicts and the designs were mainly anchors, skulls or pin-up girls. Tattoos nowadays, are a popular form of body decoration for many people. They express themselves with their own personalized symbols and many other designs such as Kanji, tribal and Celtic tattoos. Popular designs for women are flowers or butterflies but many are much more adventurous opting for larger designs like stars, roses and tribal tattoo designs on the lower back or abdomen.
If you are thinking about getting a tattoo, there are a few things you may need to know.
What is a Tattoo?
A tattoo is made by penetrating a needle deep into the skin and injecting ink into the area to create a design. Tattoos are permanent because the ink is injected into the dermis, the second, layer of skin, which does not continue to produce and shed as does the top layer of skin (the epidermis).
Most tattoo shops use a handheld electric instrument. On one end is a sterilized needle, which is attached to tubes that contain ink. A foot switch is used to turn on the machine, which moves the needle in and out while driving the ink under the surface of the skin.
Choosing a good tattoo artist is of the utmost importance, not only from a sterile point of view but a professional tattooist knows exactly how deep to drive the needle into the skin. Too deep can cause bleeding and intense pain and not going deep enough will produce a ragged tattoo.
Does it Hurt?
Getting a tattoo can hurt, but the level of pain can vary. This depends on how good the tattoist is and whereabouts on the body the tattoo is being placed. It is least painful on fleshy parts where normally it can be described as a tingling sensation but it depends on a person's pain threshold.
Are There Alternatives?
Having a tattoo done on your body is not for the fainthearted and a lot of thought has to go into it. If you are both wary and intrigued at the same time by tattooing, you could choose to have it temporarily done. Henna, which is from the Lawsonia Plant, can be used to draw a tattoo on the body and this lasts for a few weeks. The real thing is done by stencils, rub-ons or by free-hand painting, which apparently is more challenging and gives more unique results.
Body art opens up a whole new world, one that is nonetheless exciting, creative and individualistic.
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