A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Swollen Red Ink

SumChic discovered after the fact that she’s allergic to red tattoo ink…

Comments

213 responses to “Swollen Red Ink”

  1. sheldo Avatar

    Thats a shame, it’s a nice tattoo, I hope it heals well for her (or can an allergic reaction not heal?)

  2. sheldo Avatar

    Thats a shame, it’s a nice tattoo, I hope it heals well for her (or can an allergic reaction not heal?)

  3. sheldo Avatar

    Thats a shame, it’s a nice tattoo, I hope it heals well for her (or can an allergic reaction not heal?)

  4. Victoria Avatar
    Victoria

    It’s probably been said here a bunch of times, but what is in the red ink that causes this with some people?

  5. Victoria Avatar
    Victoria

    It’s probably been said here a bunch of times, but what is in the red ink that causes this with some people?

  6. Victoria Avatar
    Victoria

    It’s probably been said here a bunch of times, but what is in the red ink that causes this with some people?

  7. aubergine Avatar
    aubergine

    Aww that’s really unfortunate 🙁 Great design actually…hope it gets better!

  8. aubergine Avatar
    aubergine

    Aww that’s really unfortunate 🙁 Great design actually…hope it gets better!

  9. aubergine Avatar
    aubergine

    Aww that’s really unfortunate 🙁 Great design actually…hope it gets better!

  10. Pidge Avatar
    Pidge

    It actually made for a nice aesthetic effect though i’m not sure if it’ll progress. Hopefully not.

  11. Pidge Avatar
    Pidge

    It actually made for a nice aesthetic effect though i’m not sure if it’ll progress. Hopefully not.

  12. Pidge Avatar
    Pidge

    It actually made for a nice aesthetic effect though i’m not sure if it’ll progress. Hopefully not.

  13. heather! Avatar
    heather!

    mine did that too! it sucked.

  14. heather! Avatar
    heather!

    mine did that too! it sucked.

  15. heather! Avatar
    heather!

    mine did that too! it sucked.

  16. Toothpaste Avatar

    Yuck. Good luck healing it!

  17. Toothpaste Avatar

    Yuck. Good luck healing it!

  18. Toothpaste Avatar

    Yuck. Good luck healing it!

  19. gillian gamine Avatar

    aww, ouch. do those heal?

  20. gillian gamine Avatar

    aww, ouch. do those heal?

  21. gillian gamine Avatar

    aww, ouch. do those heal?

  22. TeaDream Avatar
    TeaDream

    Yeesh. I have a big piece planed for some time in the next year which is going to have a fair bit of red and the whole red ink allergy thing has had me concerned for a while.

    I cant seem to find much info on what brands of inks or even what ingredients in the red that can cause reactions.

  23. TeaDream Avatar
    TeaDream

    Yeesh. I have a big piece planed for some time in the next year which is going to have a fair bit of red and the whole red ink allergy thing has had me concerned for a while.

    I cant seem to find much info on what brands of inks or even what ingredients in the red that can cause reactions.

  24. TeaDream Avatar
    TeaDream

    Yeesh. I have a big piece planed for some time in the next year which is going to have a fair bit of red and the whole red ink allergy thing has had me concerned for a while.

    I cant seem to find much info on what brands of inks or even what ingredients in the red that can cause reactions.

  25. stormy Avatar

    I really like the design of this..

  26. stormy Avatar

    I really like the design of this..

  27. stormy Avatar

    I really like the design of this..

  28. justin. Avatar

    I’ve got a lot of red work and have had off and on reactions to red ink. For me, it really depends on where on my body the work is done. My legs reacted terribly, but anything closer to my trunk healed quite well.

  29. justin. Avatar

    I’ve got a lot of red work and have had off and on reactions to red ink. For me, it really depends on where on my body the work is done. My legs reacted terribly, but anything closer to my trunk healed quite well.

  30. justin. Avatar

    I’ve got a lot of red work and have had off and on reactions to red ink. For me, it really depends on where on my body the work is done. My legs reacted terribly, but anything closer to my trunk healed quite well.

  31. Lauren Avatar
    Lauren

    teadream – the best thing to do is just have the artist do a test spot with the ink they will be using

  32. Lauren Avatar
    Lauren

    teadream – the best thing to do is just have the artist do a test spot with the ink they will be using

  33. Lauren Avatar
    Lauren

    teadream – the best thing to do is just have the artist do a test spot with the ink they will be using

  34. Corky Avatar

    I seem to be allergic only to Eternal’s Dark Red… I had two separate pieces done at the same time, and both of them had a terrible time healing (almost 3 months), and there are spots where i actually have divots in my skin… It’s really weird.

  35. Corky Avatar

    I seem to be allergic only to Eternal’s Dark Red… I had two separate pieces done at the same time, and both of them had a terrible time healing (almost 3 months), and there are spots where i actually have divots in my skin… It’s really weird.

  36. Corky Avatar

    I seem to be allergic only to Eternal’s Dark Red… I had two separate pieces done at the same time, and both of them had a terrible time healing (almost 3 months), and there are spots where i actually have divots in my skin… It’s really weird.

  37. Caen Avatar

    yup, i had quite a bad red reaction [it didn’t get too infected, but the skin just dissolved and fell off].

    try a cycle of anti-histamine, anti-bacterial and skin-healing creams [tattoo goo can be good, or sudacrem etc.]. use one each day, or for half a day as they all only help fix one aspect of the problem [allergic reaction, infection or skin healing].

    i had a colour-test done with a full dange of colours in two different brands [two rainbows right at the top of my thigh] and found out i’m allergic to pretty much all red pigments in both brands. damn…

    the problem tattoo healed eventually [it took 2 weeks just to dry up, 3 months to heal fully], though faded and with big holes where the skin came off entirely. so yeah, they do heal, just not as nicely as they should!

  38. Caen Avatar

    yup, i had quite a bad red reaction [it didn’t get too infected, but the skin just dissolved and fell off].

    try a cycle of anti-histamine, anti-bacterial and skin-healing creams [tattoo goo can be good, or sudacrem etc.]. use one each day, or for half a day as they all only help fix one aspect of the problem [allergic reaction, infection or skin healing].

    i had a colour-test done with a full dange of colours in two different brands [two rainbows right at the top of my thigh] and found out i’m allergic to pretty much all red pigments in both brands. damn…

    the problem tattoo healed eventually [it took 2 weeks just to dry up, 3 months to heal fully], though faded and with big holes where the skin came off entirely. so yeah, they do heal, just not as nicely as they should!

  39. Caen Avatar

    yup, i had quite a bad red reaction [it didn’t get too infected, but the skin just dissolved and fell off].

    try a cycle of anti-histamine, anti-bacterial and skin-healing creams [tattoo goo can be good, or sudacrem etc.]. use one each day, or for half a day as they all only help fix one aspect of the problem [allergic reaction, infection or skin healing].

    i had a colour-test done with a full dange of colours in two different brands [two rainbows right at the top of my thigh] and found out i’m allergic to pretty much all red pigments in both brands. damn…

    the problem tattoo healed eventually [it took 2 weeks just to dry up, 3 months to heal fully], though faded and with big holes where the skin came off entirely. so yeah, they do heal, just not as nicely as they should!

  40. mikesch Avatar
    mikesch

    I had a lot of red put into my elbow a couple of years ago. It took forever to heal, but also caused some red that was put in a couple of sessions earlier (small amounts) to swell up along with some red that was done a couple years prior that I’d never had a problem with. All of my other tattoos were fine.

    My ribs were done mostly red a couple of years after that with what I guess is a completely different type of pigment and I haven’t had any problems with that, but sometimes the stuff in my arm will still swell up and get itchy when my skin is irritated by something else.

  41. mikesch Avatar
    mikesch

    I had a lot of red put into my elbow a couple of years ago. It took forever to heal, but also caused some red that was put in a couple of sessions earlier (small amounts) to swell up along with some red that was done a couple years prior that I’d never had a problem with. All of my other tattoos were fine.

    My ribs were done mostly red a couple of years after that with what I guess is a completely different type of pigment and I haven’t had any problems with that, but sometimes the stuff in my arm will still swell up and get itchy when my skin is irritated by something else.

  42. mikesch Avatar
    mikesch

    I had a lot of red put into my elbow a couple of years ago. It took forever to heal, but also caused some red that was put in a couple of sessions earlier (small amounts) to swell up along with some red that was done a couple years prior that I’d never had a problem with. All of my other tattoos were fine.

    My ribs were done mostly red a couple of years after that with what I guess is a completely different type of pigment and I haven’t had any problems with that, but sometimes the stuff in my arm will still swell up and get itchy when my skin is irritated by something else.

  43. Jorel Avatar
    Jorel

    I had the same reaction as Corky, spots where the healing was so had I’ve got the skin divots. Lame. You’d think they could make a hypo-allergenic ink.

  44. Jorel Avatar
    Jorel

    I had the same reaction as Corky, spots where the healing was so had I’ve got the skin divots. Lame. You’d think they could make a hypo-allergenic ink.

  45. Jorel Avatar
    Jorel

    I had the same reaction as Corky, spots where the healing was so had I’ve got the skin divots. Lame. You’d think they could make a hypo-allergenic ink.

  46. Yuli Avatar
    Yuli

    How long would it take for an allergic reaction to appear? (i’m planning an all red tattoo, and i’d like to do a test spot as i’m very sensitive and allergic to many things.)

  47. Yuli Avatar
    Yuli

    How long would it take for an allergic reaction to appear? (i’m planning an all red tattoo, and i’d like to do a test spot as i’m very sensitive and allergic to many things.)

  48. Yuli Avatar
    Yuli

    How long would it take for an allergic reaction to appear? (i’m planning an all red tattoo, and i’d like to do a test spot as i’m very sensitive and allergic to many things.)

  49. Jay Avatar

    awesome that these red ink reactions are being posted a week after I get my red big red tattoo 😉
    oh well

  50. Jay Avatar

    awesome that these red ink reactions are being posted a week after I get my red big red tattoo 😉
    oh well

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