Tattoo Ink and The Skin

As we mentioned, the ink is transferred into the skin via a tattoo needle, at a rather high speed. However, the vacuum that the needle creates isn’t enough to hold the ink alone.

First of all, the ink is placed in the skin layer called the dermis. Now, the outer skin layer is known as the epidermis. The needle goes through the epidermis, where it reaches the inner layer or the dermis. This is the perfect placement for the ink because, if it were placed in the epidermis, it would just leak out. Now, because the vacuum environment is created inside the skin, the ink will stay there and have a really hard time leaking out.

Now, we also have to mention that because of this, a tattoo looks less vibrant once it heals. There is basically a layer of epidermis over the tattoo that makes it look less fresh and vibrant, which is totally okay. But, we have to mention this, especially when we talk about the permanence of tattoos and the way they look as we get older.

Tattoos and The Body Reaction

Now, while you’re being tattooed, the tattoo needle basically creates small wounds inside the skin. The puncturing damages the skin, which is why a newly done tattoo is considered to be a fresh wound.

Now, your body doesn’t like damage. It then has to transfer all the attention to the area of damage so that it could promote its healing as fast as possible and prevent infection. Because of this, the body sends white blood cells or macrophages to the wounded area.

Macrophages (Greek for ‘big eater’) are a type of white blood cells that are responsible for removing dead cells and foreign bodies. Because the ink is considered a foreign body, the WBC attack the ink engulfs it, and processes it so that you can get rid of this potentially toxic foreign body, as the body interprets it.