Tattoos and Diabetes

Tattoos and Diabetes

I was recently asked a question on our website that I thought deserved a lengthy answer.
J.C. of Buffalo, NY asks: "I have diabetes and I take insulin. Is there any reason I should be concerned about getting a tattoo?"

So, J.C, you're thinking about getting a tattoo, but you have diabetes. Is this a good idea? Well, in most cases it's not a problem. But there are some things you should be thinking about before during and after the inking process.

During my 18 years in podiatric practice I thought I had seen everything, that is until one day I was called to the emergency department for a consultation. A 45 year old female diabetic patient decided to get a tattoo on the top of her foot. She said she thought nothing of it at the time. It was a rendering of her late cat whom she loved so much. About 3 days after the inking she began to develop some redness around the site. She followed the directions given to her, but the redness got worse. She applied more ointment but now she could see the redness spreading away from the tattoo. She consulted her tattoo artist who intuitively had her call her physician who sent her immediately to the emergency department.