My father is considering getting his first tattoo. Fact of the matter is, his tattooed freak of a son is going to pay for him to get it as his Christmas gift this year if his sack drops and he actually goes through with it. I have my doubts, he’s been talking about it since I got my first one seven years ago, but I’m gonna give him the benefit of a doubt and take him to see my guy next week or the week after.
The biggest stumbling block for him though is his health. He’s got dilated cardiomyopathy, a damaged fourth chamber of his heart, and has survived more heart attacks than you can shake a stick at. Also survived four or five bouts of cancer. The brain cancer they said was terminal, but five years later they said it was gone. Not in remission, straight up gone.
Point is, the only reason he’s alive is that the bastard’s too mean to die. The Grim Reaper doesn’t even show up when he has a heart attack any more–Dad’s burned the ole bone bag one too many times.
Thing is though, I haven’t been able to find any information in my research that’s directly on point for my question:
Does anyone know if it’s safe for him to get inked? Or at least as safe as it is for him to do, well, anything?
Doing the obvious and asking a doctor doesn’t seem like a good idea–I have yet to meet even one that was okay with the idea of a patient getting a tattoo on general principles.
Love. Peace. Metallica.
Hi KH
Whilst it is possible for him to get tattooed it is not ‘safe’.
The dilated cardiomyopathy means that the weakness of the heart and ventrical can in theory result in the following problems;
Too much strain put on the body caused by the pain of tattooing or the stress in general – causing the heart to reach into the overstretched cardio range (beating too fast).
Infection – a major issue as the blood struggle around the body the immune system can be sometimes weakened by this and so infection on cuts is always an issue.
Blood clotting – The main issue is that any excess stress can lead to blood clots in the heart chamber which can result in the heart attack or stroke.
I know this because I suffer a similar condition.
That said if it is under control and with plenty of thiamine supplements he should manage a normal size tattoo I would just not recommend huge ones or if he does keep the sittings short 1-2 hours and leave plenty of recovery time.
Matthew
Although your doctor may not like or approve of tattoos, he/she should be able to answer your question without bias. If your doc won’t give you a straight answer, you can point out his lack of professionalism and find a new one. It is a doctors job to give you the best information for you to make an informed decision, not to impose his will or beliefs on you.
Just my $0.02
Just my $0.02
Completely agree. Doesn’t change the fact that the last three times I went to the clinic I saw three different doctors, and all three’s first answer to my being there were “HEY! YOU GOT TATTOOS! You obviously have a bloodbourne disease, let’s do a blood panel!”. The last one straight out refused to give me an STD panel unless I also allowed her to test me for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and tetanus due to my tattoos. I wasn’t even sick, it was just precautionary.
My sister, who has a bad ass autoimmune disease, ran into the same issue when she was trying to get it diagnosed. She saw dozens of doctors before they figured it out, and they all insisted on blood tests due to her tattoos.
Doctors, in general, hate tattoos and assume every artist is a scratcher. Maybe it has something to do with them cleaning up scratchers’ messes so often.
Hey, Lord Hull, thanks man. Looks like he’s not getting ink. You couldn’t describe my father’s condition as “under control”. I kinda figured that was going to be the answer, but he asked me to research it anyway, and web M.D. wasn’t any kinda help. I really appreciate your help man.
Love. Peace. Metallica.
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