WARNING: Pictures and the video of this terribly infected tattoo will make you extremely queasy. We present this extraction of an infected tattoo not to gross you out but to serve as a cautionary example of why you should only get tattooed in sterile settings. This man’s skin literally crawls because his tattoo became extremely infected. Before getting a tattoo it is paramount that you check the surroundings. If you wouldn’t eat spaghetti off any of the surfaces in the surrounding area get the hell out of there and find a reputable tattoo shop or else this will happen to you.
As you will see in the video and the following still photos, this man’s ink was severely infected. You know those blackhead and puss removal videos that are all the rage (you must be a maniac to watch them) well the following video is 5,000 times worse. When a tattoo heals there is some scabbing and some sloughing off of skin layers but if the area around your tattoo is extremely itchy show a tattooer or a medical professional. Other signs that you may have contracted an infection include massive swelling of the tattoo and surrounding area of your body along with severe scabs. Again, it is normal to have discomfort in the healing process, but if you are in extreme pain, that’s your body telling you that something is wrong and you should have it looked at immediately. Infections are no joke and can result in dire heal circumstances, and at the most-severe, death.
Inked thinks it is important for everybody in tattoo culture to see this tattoo infection video and still photos taken from the video as sort of a “scared straight” tactic. We know it will be tough to watch—near impossible to make it through the whole thing—but we know that any person who watches the pain and the grossness that comes with tattoo infection will value cleanliness in their tattoo environments forever.
