Health
Ink’n it up
Senior Dana Delafield has eight tattoos on both of his arms. Tattoos ranging from bible verses to nicknames and his grandma’s name are now permanently embedded into his skin.“The praying hands meant the most to me. It tells me that if I put my trust in God that he will make everything in life better,” Delafield said.
None of Delafield’s tattoos were done by a professional, however he was not worried about the quality of his tattoos.
“I saw all of the artist’s previous work, so I was not worried,” Delafield said.
Delafield not only trusted this artist’s talent but sterilization risks were also not a factor to him.
“He showed me all the needles and equipment,” Delafield said.
Delafield has no regrets about his tattoos; he would simply just like to add to his nickname “Fresh” (left arm).
“I would like to make it look less empty,” Delafield said.
Junior Amanda Mount has also been tattooed by an amateur artist. Like Delafield, Mount was not worried about her health risks.
“He opened and cleaned everything right in front of me,” Mount said.
Mount’s tattoo is on her left wrist. It reads “La Belle Vita” which means “The beautiful life”.
“It is to remind me that my life is beautiful,” Mount said.
Mount did not feel comfortable getting her tattoo done unprofessionally.
“It was scary,” Mount said.
Professional Tattoo artist Paul Nycz at Iron Heart Tattoo and Piercing studios has been getting tattooed since he was eighteen. Nycz is educated on the health risks of getting tattoos.
“In general, there’s always risk of infection. We try to keep it minimal by sterilization,” Nycz said. “Most people don’t even know about correct sterilization.”
Nycz is completely against people getting tattoos from amateur artists.
“It’s stupid, our putting ourselves at risk for a hepatitis out break, its a horrible idea in general,” Nycz said.