[notadoc]

A close friend of mine is dealing with a variety of health issues due to heavy metal poisoning from their tattoos.

Personally, I have never seen a case where tattoos improved someone's health, or appearance for that matter.

[mlyle]

> Personally, I have never seen a case where tattoos improved someone's health

My dad had small fiducials tattooed onto his body to index where radiation was being delivered, which resulted in the cure of his prostate cancer.

Medical tattoos are also used in reconstructive surgery.

The issue is with poor health and safety controls.

[WillAdams]

Relevant XKCD:

https://xkcd.com/933/

[wongarsu]

Tattoos are certainly something where you have to be extra careful because of the potential health effects of bad needles or bad ink. And it's difficult to vet these things.

Aesthetically it's a matter of taste, but I've certainly seen tattoos where I thought they improved the person's appearance. Though Sturgeon's law does apply.

[hooverd]

Tattoos are like haircuts. I've seen some amazing tattoos and some awful tattoos. I think they look good on either gender if the composition is good.

[guywithahat]

Also, similar to haircuts, the popular styles change every 10-20 years

[echelon]

> Personally, I have never seen a case where tattoos improved someone's health, or appearance for that matter.

This is subjective. "Health" here might be taken to include mental health, in which case there could be many positive benefits.

That said, there are some objectively bad health outcomes that can come from getting tattoos [1, 2]. Not that they necessarily will.

[1] infections, autoimmune response, etc: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jocd.14498

[2] lymphoma: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/tattoos-may-increa...

[nerdjon]

> This is subjective. "Health" here might be taken to include mental health, in which case there could be many positive benefits.

100% this. I have a tattoo on my forearm that just makes me happy to look at. It is nearly always partially in my vision while working due to its location. If I am having a bad day I can just look at it and smile. It reflects an important part of me.

The mental health benefit of that, has been incredibly noticeable in my day to day.

Could I have done something similar with a picture on my phone or something? Sure. But this clearly has a huge impact on my mental health so why not get it tattooed. Also my 5th tattoo so it wasn't a crazy idea for me.

[therein]

Looking at the lymph nodes of tattooed individuals post-mortem is all anyone needs to see, and it is one Google search away.