Has anyone here ever dealt with a tattoo allergy?

[dale90]

For some reason I'm having an allergic reaction to grey shading. The surface of the skin is fine, however there is swelling below the skin. The entire area is red and slightly puffy, but when I squeeze the skin there's barely any ink there. It's as if my body has rejected the ink.

It would be nice to hear about anyone else's experience with tattoo allergic reactions. Like what worked, what didn't, and does it ever settle down?

[Hogrider]

If you look at the scientific literature, documented allergic reactions to tattoo ink are EXTREMELY rare. Have you been to a dermatologist? That sounds like an infection.

[Gpots]

I had a reaction to some red ink in my feet. The rest all healed perfectly but the red was bumpy, inflamed and painful for nearly 3 months. I ended up applying steroid cream which helped settle it but made the black healed parts react instead - got little pimple like bumps all over. Luckily both reactions went away after I stopped the creme and now it's all good.

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[Wolf13]

I would personally be led to believe it's one of the following: 

a.) Possible infection - if the symptoms of this still persist, speak to a doc
b.) Skin trauma - this can be caused by over-working the skin thanks to poor technique
c.) Poor application - for example, the ink hasn't hit the skin layer where it should be and has 'pulled out'
d.) Cheap/knock-off ink - the horror stories on this are endless (I've witnessed a fair few)

Either way, I agree with Hogrider and would suggest seeing a dermatologist - or maybe go back to the artist who did the work and show them what's happened. The most common allergic reactions with inks/pigments come from Red - if that does happen, in some cases the onset of rejection is almost instant. Some skin can take it, some can't - sadly, it is what it is - everyone's skin is completely different. 

I hope you're doing well and have been fixed up - keep us updated. 

All the best, 

Wolf