Tattoos and Medications

Q: I am getting a tattoo soon but I have to have my wisdom teeth removed by an oral surgeon. I've heard the antibiotics from that can have a negative affect on a new tattoo. Does anyone know how long I should wait after getting the tattoo to have my teeth removed?

Sleopard81

A: The antibiotics would more likely be beneficial to your healing tattoo, providing further protection against infection. Although something can be said about trying to heal two processes at the same time. I still say there's no risk.

Albert

Q: My husband wants to get a tattoo but he takes 3-4 mg. Of Coumadin a day. Coumadin is a blood thinner that keeps the blood from clotting properly. The tattoo artist who does my work is worried that that the tattoo won't heal properly, of course. My husband cannot go without his meds for even a day or too. Hope you can help.

Steve…..:~)

A: Well, Steve, Coumadin will not likely interfere with a tattoo, but there are limitations. Having a large boomer clientele, I have tattooed lots of people on blood thinners and they have no problems in healing. They cannot, however, take long sessions, I usually have to call it quits by the first 60-90 minutes. People who drink large amounts of alcohol or take blood thinners bleed a little more than most people. Generally the longer someone is being tattooed, the more the skin is irritated and they bleed more after a long session, pushing the pigment back out in spots. This does not apply to small tattoos (under 1 hour) or to black and gray tattoos.

Albert

Another note I would like to make is that many people on blood thinners may have heart problems. Magnetic fields have been shown to affect pacemakers and even kill people wearing them. A tattoo machine is an electromagnet and I do not recommend anyone with a pacemaker be tattooed.