Fashion: Tattoo Problem

Tattoos on lower back problematic during childbirth

Large tattoos on the lower back and buttocks can lead to problems for women during childbirth, as the marking could prevent doctors from applying a local anaesthetic, reported the German medical journal Arzte Zeitung.

Tattoos are frequently positioned on the lower back, precisely where doctors inject the painkiller along the spine. Injecting through tattooed skin carries the risk of transmitting allergens or poisonous pigments into deep tissues, leading to irritation.

The study was based on work by a researcher at the University of California in San Diego. Doctors have been encouraged to use a different, more complicated method of providing anaesthesia to women with such tattoos.