Victoria Privett believes all seven of her tattoos have meaning, but she has now removed one. It’s not because I deleted my tattoo, it’s because of my health.
Victoria got the hair dye, which she has used many times, tattooed on her lower back, a month after getting a large, ornate phoenix tattoo on her lower back. “Within minutes of applying the hair dye to my head, my scalp started to tingle, followed by a burning sensation,” she recalls.
Victoria, 33, a content creator who makes horseback riding videos for social media platforms, brushed it off and didn’t think anything of it. But two months later, the same thing happened. This time it was more intense.
“The burning sensation was unbearable,” she says. “It was instantaneous and very painful. I had to stop early and wash it off.”
Afterwards, her scalp felt angry and sore for days on end. A few weeks later, she went to get her eyebrows dyed.
“I’ve done this before, too, and it always works out well,” she says. “But this time, my eyebrows were swollen, itchy enough to bleed, and scabs formed. They were swollen for days. It didn’t make sense. I always dyed my hair and dyed my eyebrows. Why did I suddenly have this reaction?
The answer was in her tattoo.
In fact, according to London-based consultant dermatologist Dr Jonathan Kentley, tattoos commonly cause allergies to hair dye and the tattoo itself.
This is because “the tattooing process permanently places chemicals in the dermis (a layer of the skin that is closely monitored by the immune system) that the body recognizes as foreign.”
Victoria had an allergic reaction to the large phoenix tattoo on her lower back and the tattoo on her back. The tattoo is written in Elvish, a language invented by Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien.
Victoria, 33, is a content creator who creates horseback riding videos for social media platforms.
“In some people, the immune system may recognize the ingredients in the ink as harmful and cause an allergic reaction.”
This is usually a late-onset allergy, he adds, “which means it may not show up right away, and even if you have a tattoo, you won’t necessarily react.”
“Reactions can develop months or even years after getting the tattoo, and can also be caused by factors such as sun exposure, infection, trauma, or changes in immune status.”
Not only can this cause a reaction to the tattoo, but the permanent presence of the tattoo on the skin means that your body can become sensitized and react if it comes into contact with the ingredients in the tattoo dye.
And the more tattoos you have, the more likely this is to happen.
Dr Kentley, who is also a spokesperson for the British Skin Foundation, explains: “For people who are already allergic to tattoo pigments, any amount of ink can cause a reaction.”
“However, the more pigment delivered to the skin through a large tattoo or multiple tattoos, the greater the risk of becoming sensitized to the allergen and thus developing an allergy.”
The likelihood of developing an allergy depends on the color of the tattoo.
Dr Jonathan Kentley, Consultant Dermatologist based in London
“Red ink is the most notorious,” says Dr. Kentley. “Historically, red pigments often contained mercury sulfide, and while modern inks may no longer use mercury, many still rely on complex dyes and metal-based compounds that can stimulate allergic reactions.
“As a result, red tattoos are disproportionately associated with chronic itching, swelling, scaling, and raised lumps, which can last for years.”
This is a statement backed up by a 2020 study published in the journal Contact Dermatitis, which found that red ink tattoos are “more likely to cause” an allergic reaction. The findings came from an analysis of more than 100 skin biopsies from people with tattoos.
Black tattoos are also commonly thought to be associated with delayed allergic reactions, as they contain more paraphenylenediamine (PPD), a chemical dye commonly used in hair dyes and black henna tattoos.
“While not all black tattoos contain PPD, it is a very common allergen, often found in hair dyes and temporary tattoos, and people can develop an allergy despite multiple past exposures,” says Dr. Kentley. “This is why patch testing is usually recommended.”
“People who are sensitized to PPD appear to be at higher risk of later reacting to certain tattoo pigments, although this can also occur from repeated exposure to hair dyes.”
On the other hand, yellow and orange inks can also cause reactions, especially those that are photosensitive, which are exacerbated by exposure to sunlight, Dr. Kentley says.
“This is usually associated with cadmium sulfide, which is a yellow pigment. When exposed to light, it can become phototoxic, meaning it produces compounds that can damage skin cells and cause inflammation.”
“Some people may also be allergic to metals such as nickel, cobalt, and chromium, which are found in tattoo ink pigments,” Dr. Kentley added.
All of this may come as a surprise to millions of tattooed Brits, with a quarter of Britons having a tattoo, according to a 2022 YouGov poll.
However, many people are unaware of the risks when starting to get a tattoo. Victoria, who lives in Hampshire with her husband, got her first tattoo when she was 18.
“I loved it and it meant something to me, and within two years, by the time I was 20, I was seven,” she says.
Victoria, who lives in Hampshire with her husband, got her first tattoo when she was 18.
It was several months after Victoria’s reaction to her eyebrow tint that she discovered from a friend that it could be related to her tattoo.
Her last tattoo was particularly intricate and took three days to complete. It was made with a large amount of red ink.
It was several months after Victoria reacted to the tint of her eyebrows that she discovered from a friend that it could be related to her tattoo.
“My head was still swollen, itchy and painful, so I wore a hat,” Victoria said. “My friend asked me why I was wearing a hat, and I explained what happened, and she said, ‘Did you know that tattoos can cause hair dye allergies?’ I had no idea. ”
Victoria believes the large amount of ink used in the design may have triggered her allergies. “This was the last tattoo I got and the one that took the longest, so I can only assume that it triggered the allergy,” she says.
Dr. Kentley said that treating allergies caused by tattoos is “difficult” because the allergens cannot be easily removed from the skin.
Mild reactions may respond to topical steroid creams that reduce inflammation and itching.
More persistent cases may require steroid injections into the affected area or a short course of oral anti-inflammatory drugs.
“Unfortunately, some reactions are resistant to treatment and continue to recur intermittently,” says Dr. Kentley.
“Laser tattoo removal is also controversial when it comes to allergic tattoos, as it can worsen reactions by breaking the pigment into smaller pieces.”
In some cases, a tattoo may need to be surgically removed, but “this is a last resort and is generally only viable for small tattoos,” says Dr. Kentley.
“For large tattoos that cause allergies, a skin graft may be required to cover the area after removal surgery.”
Victoria is in the process of having a large tattoo removed with a laser to prevent further allergic reactions, but that will take time.
“I don’t regret the tattoo because it had a meaning,” she says. “I wish I could dye my hair and get my eyebrows done. My signature thing is long hair, and I loved getting it colored.
Meanwhile, Dr. Kentley added that tattoos aren’t the only cause of allergies; “tattoo ink can cause a variety of other skin problems.”
“These include infections and especially granulomatous reactions (where the immune system recognizes the dye as a foreign body and attempts to wall it off). It usually appears as a hard lump or bump within the tattoo, which may be red or flesh-colored.”
Tattoos can also cause recurrence of medical conditions such as sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis is a rare condition that occurs when the body’s immune system becomes overactive and causes small lumps of inflammation in areas such as the skin, eyes, and lungs.
Another condition, lichen planus, occurs when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the skin, causing itchy bumps. Alternatively, it recurs in areas of the skin after it has been damaged, such as the site of a tattoo, a phenomenon called koebnerization.
“Tattoos can hide skin cancer and delay detection,” says Dr. Kentley.
In June 2024, a survey of approximately 12,000 people in Sweden found that people with tattoos Increased risk of certain types of lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, by 20 percent.
“However, this is just one study, and there is still much research needed in this area,” says Dr. Kentley.
Victoria hopes laser removal will end the allergic reactions that have plagued her for 10 years.
“It’s frustrating not being able to dye your hair, but I can’t take the risk,” she says. “We hope that laser tattoo removal will stop these allergic reactions.”
– @endurancewithdarcey