subject: Sterile Tattoo Needles [print this page] Tattooing looks like such a fascinating thing to do. But in reality it requires alot more attention and knowledge to get a tattoo right. A tattoo artists skill is obviously the most important thing in getting a beautiful tattoo done. But something equally important is the needles used in the making a tattoo.
There are certain threats of tattooing that cannot be bypassed if you compromise with the needles used for tattooing. The professionals as well as the beginners should be aware of the threats of tattooing. Only the use of sterilised needles can avoid all of threats. But while selecting a needle, you have to examine the policy on needle sterilisation.
When a tattoo artist assures you that he is using a sanitised and a disinfected needle, it means that he reducing or completely removing the chances of any pathogenic organisms on the needle. This needle comes in contact with blood and other fluids. So if the same needle is used on more than one person then there are a lot of chances that the second person will get infected. These infections are transmitted due to the use of unsterilised tattoo needle. Due to the use of such an unsterilised needle, you may fall into get infected by the herpes simplex virus, tetanus, staph infection, fungal infection, hepatitis, tuberculosis and in worst cases HIV. There are several parts of the country that have reported cases of HIV due to use of the same tattoo needle on more than one person.
The best way to evade the occurrence of any infection is by the use of sterile tattoo needles. The tattoo artist should exclusively use only one time use tattoo needle. He should open the package in front of the customer so that he is assured that a used needle is not reused on him. It is advised to the tattoo artist that he breaks the needle in front of the customer only and toss them in a suitable container. There are a few tattoo shops that reuse a tattoo needle by sanitising it in an autoclave. An autoclave is a pressure cooker used for sterilising medical equipments. A temperature of about 246 degrees is required to sterilise a needle when kept in an autodave for atleast 30 minutes. You can always ask the tattoo artist for the spore test which is used to check if the autodave is working properly. Make sure that the spore result is not more than two months old. Else try some other tattoo shop.
