What Layer Of Skin Does A Tattoo Go Into?
– The tattoo needle punctures your skin around 100 times per second, with the aim of depositing the ink in a region of 1. 5 to 2 millimeters below the surface of the skin. The reason for this depth of penetration is to bypass the outer layer of the skin, or the epidermis.
This part of the skin constantly renews itself. Every day, thousands of epidermal cells are shed from your skin and replaced with new cells. Ink injected into the superficial skin layer would simply come off within 3 weeks.
In order to give the ink a permanent home in your body, the tattoo needle must travel through the epidermis into the deeper layer, or the dermis. Nerves and blood vessels are located here, which is why getting a tattoo hurts and your skin tends to bleed.
The bleeding is part of the skin’s natural defense against injury. The result is an influx of immune cells to the site of injury. Macrophages are specialized immune cells, whose job it is to engulf foreign particles and clear them from the tissue.
But this process is only partially successful when it comes to tattoo ink. Some macrophages loaded with ink particles remain in the dermis, while other pigment particles are taken up by the main dermal residents, which are called fibroblasts. Clumps of pigment particles have also been found to stick between the dense collagen fibers of the dermis.
- Although every new tattoo will display some pigment loss, the majority of the ink will stay in the skin;
- A study in mice reported that 42 days after tattooing, 68 percent of the dye was still located at the injection site;
But where is the rest of the ink?.
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What layer of the skin does tattoo ink go through?
When you look at a person’s tattoo, you’re seeing the ink through the epidermis, or the outer layer of skin. The ink is actually in the dermis, which is the second layer of the skin.
How do tattoos get in your skin?
Instagram/iamlilbub Getting a tattoo is a notoriously painful process but that doesn’t stop all that many people from getting their skin inked. Luckily for them, tattoo machines have come a long way from the tools used in the past. Smarter Every Day grabbed their slow-motion cameras and headed into to a tattoo parlor to find out how tattoos work. Here’s what they discovered. In order for a tattoo to be permanent, ink has to get into the dermis, the tissue just underneath the outer layer of your skin, called the epidermis.
This is done by making thousands of tiny pricks in the skin. To do that, a tattoo artist uses a handheld machine that has a needle affixed to it. The artist dips the needle in the ink, turns on the motor that moves the needle, and applies the moving needle to the skin.
The sharp needle pricks the skin quickly and repeatedly, dragging the ink clinging to it down into the dermis. Smarter Every Day The tattoo needle is actually one piece of metal that has several ends to it. A needle can have three ends or as many as 25. Each type of needle can achieve different effects. Needles with fewer ends are used for outlining, while needles with more ends can be used for shading or coloring. Smarter Every Day Tattoo artist Leah Farrow told Smarter Every Day that the two most common machines are the rotary and the coil. The two different machines work differently but do essentially the same thing — moving the needle. The rotary machine’s motor moves a rotating circular bar, which moves the needle up and down. Smarter Every Day The coil machine uses a direct electrical current to move the needle. The tattoo artists steps on a foot pedal, which shoots a current into the coil, turning it an electromagnet. The now magnetized coil pulls down the metal arm that’s attached to the needle, which pushes the needle out. But as the metal arm touches the coil, another thin piece of metal loses contact with a circuit screw, breaking the current and causing the coil to lose its electromagnetic force. Smarter Every Day Smarter Everyday also got some macro lens to see the machines in slow motion action. Smarter Every Day Smarter Every Day Seeing these tattoos in slow motion can undermine just how fast they work. According to a TED video, modern tattoo machines pierce the skin at a “frequency of 50 to 3,000 times per minute. ” It wouldn’t do much good to distribute the ink just on the epidermis because these outer skin cells are continually dying and sloughing off.
The return spring pulls the metal arm back to its original place, pulling the thin piece of metal back into contact with the circuit screw and reconnecting the current that magnetizes the coil. This process happens over and over again as the tattoo artist holds the foot pedal down.
The tattoo would disappear in just a few weeks. For tattoos to last a whole person’s life, the machines have to pack enough punch to get the ink down into the dermis, the tissue just below the outer epidermis. This dermis is “composed of collagen fibers, nerves, glands, blood vessels, and more,” according to the video. Claudia Aguirre/TED Education Some large ink particles are dispersed in the “gel-like matrix of the dermis,” and others will be gobbled up by fibroblasts, a type of dermal cell that plays an important part in healing wounds. Cladia Aguirre/TED Education Because tattooing is essentially making thousands of tiny wounds in the skin, the body’s immune system goes into overdrive, sending special blood cells called macrophages to the site of the tattoo to engulf the foreign ink particles. This is part of the body’s attempt to clean up and it’s also the reason tattoos fade over time, but it also plays a part in making tattoos permanent. Once a macrophage consume an ink particle, it goes back through the lymphatic highway and brings the consumed particles to the liver for excretion.
But other macrophages don’t make it back to the lymph nodes. Instead, these blood cells stay in the dermis, and the ink particles they’ve eaten continue to remain visible. Destin from Smarter Every Day tries out the needle to see how much it hurts.
Check out the rest of the video, uploaded to YouTube. If this gave you inspiration to get inked, choose carefully. Removing tattoos isn’t as easy as you may have heard..
How do tattoos work?
Not too long ago, most Americans associated tattoos with sailors, bikers and sideshow artists. But tattoos have become more popular in recent years, and the people who get them are as diverse as the styles and designs they choose. And some people who would never think of tattooing pictures or symbols onto their bodies use permanent makeup — a type of tattoo — to emphasize their eyes and lips.
- In this article, we’ll look at how the tattoo process works and examine the safety and legal issues surrounding it;
- Artists create tattoos by injecting ink into a person’s skin;
- To do this, they use an electrically powered tattoo machine that resembles (and sounds like) a dental drill;
The machine moves a solid needle up and down to puncture the skin between 50 and 3,000 times per minute. The needle penetrates the skin by about a millimeter and deposits a drop of insoluble ink into the skin with each puncture. The tattoo machine has remained relatively unchanged since its invention by Samuel O’Reilly in the late 1800s. Modern tattoo machines have several basic components:
- A sterilized needle
- A tube system, which draws the ink through the machine
- An electric motor
- A foot pedal, like those used on sewing machines , which controls the vertical movement of the needle.
When you look at a person’s tattoo, you’re seeing the ink through the epidermis , or the outer layer of skin. The ink is actually in the dermis , which is the second layer of the skin. The cells of the dermis are far more stable than the cells of the epidermis, so the tattoo’s ink will stay in place, with minor fading and dispersion, for a person’s entire life.
- O’Reilly based his design on the autographic printer , an engraving machine invented by Thomas Edison;
- Edison created the printer to engrave hard surfaces;
- O’Reilly modified Edison’s machine by changing the tube system and modifying its rotary-driven electromagnetic oscillating unit to enable the machine to drive the needle;
Next, we’ll look at how artists actually create tattoos, from preparation to finishing touches.
What type of tissue is used for tattooing?
How Tattoos Relate to Skin Anatomy – You probably already know that a tattoo is a puncture wound, made deep in your skin, with injected ink. What makes tattoos so long lasting is the depth in with they penetrate the skin – the ink isn’t injected into the epidermis (top layer of skin) the ink is injected into the dermis (second layer of skin).
- Dermis cells are very stable, so the tattoo is practically permanent;
- Ink is inject about 3 millimeters into the skin, look below for perfect visual of this;
- 2 Layers of Skin;
- Our Skin is made up of 2 basic layers, top and bottom;
read on to learn about these layers. #1: Top Layer of the Skin Name: Epidermis Structure: The epidermis is made up of five layers. Stratum corneum- This is the top layer of the epidermis. It is made of dead cells and is used as a barrier to protect tissue. Stratum lucidum- This is a thin, clear layer made of dead cells. This layer determines skin color. Stratum granulosum- This is a thin layer that is used for hydration.
- Stratum spinosum- This layer is sometimes called the “prickle-cell layer;
- ” It is used to synthesize fibrilar proteins;
- Stratum basale- This layer is one cell thick of stem cells;
- These cells are involved in light touch sensation;
Function: The epidermis creates your skin tone, is a waterproof barrier for your tissues and organs, and has mechanical resistance for your body. #2: Bottom Layer of the Skin Name: Dermis Structure: The outer protective layer, Epidermis, is firmly attached to the inner layer, the Dermis. Embedded in the dermis are: Sweat, Sebaceous and apocrine glands, hair follicles, blood vessels and nerves. Made mostly of collagen, elastin and fibrillin, it gives the skin its flexibility and strength. Functions: Sweat glands:- Produce sweat in response to heat and stress Sebaceous glands:- Secret sebum (an oil that keeps the skin moist and soft and acts as a barrier against foreign substances) Hair follicles:- Have a portion that contain stem cells capable of regrowing a damaged epidermis. Blood vessels:- Provide nutrients to the skin and help regulate body temperatures And also, we all know that our body’s have FAT !!! Fat Layer: Below the dermis lies a layer of fat that helps insulate the body from heat and cold, provides protective padding, and serves as an energy storage area. The fat is contained in living cells, called fat cells, held together by fibrous tissue. The fat layer varies in thickness, from a fraction of an inch on the eyelids to several inches on the abdomen and buttocks in some people. Tissues Epithelial tissue is used in the Epidermis.
Heat makes the blood vessels enlarge (dilate), allowing large amounts of blood to circulate near the skin surface, where the heat can be released. Cold makes the blood vessels narrow (constrict), retaining the body’s heat.
This tissue is used to form the outer layer of skin. This tissue effects tattooing because tattoos are on your top layer of skin. Connective tissue is in the Dermis. This tissue gives shape to organs and holds them in place. Nervous tissue is in the Dermis.
