March 20, 2010
This morning, my roommate got up early to have a portion of her tattoo filled in. She is working on her third tattoo, which is situated on her entire thigh and works its way up onto her hip and portrays the decay of love, agony of hope and emptiness of faith – so it’s a cheerful piece of art. Today’s question is: how deep does tattoo ink penetrate?
A:
There are three layers to the skin. The epidermis, which is the outer layer of skin, that is wonderful and soft to touch, and protects us from eternal elements. This is the layer that is easily shed and is constantly renewed. The second layer of skin is called the dermis. This layer contains blood vessels, nerves, hair follicles and sweat glands. The deepest layer is called the hypodermis, which is responsible for the body’s temperature control.
When someone gets tattooed, the ink is injected into the dermis, which is between 1 mm and 3 mm below the epidermis dependant on which area of the body is being tattooed. The ink is deposited in the dermis because skin cells shed at a much slower rate than the epidermis layers closer to the surface thus explaining why tattoos can remain in the skin a lifetime. Most tattoo artists know how deep to drive the needle into your skin, but not going deep enough will produce a ragged tattoo, and going too deep can cause bleeding and intense pain.
Sources:
Kids Health
Zimbo Magazine
No comments:
Post a Comment