Tattoos were once the preserve of sailors, piercings of fetish clubs. Today, the young and famous can’t get enough of either.

So illustrated are the bodies of David Beckham and Robbie Williams that they could be exhibits in an anatomical art gallery. Peaches Geldof reportedly had her ninth tattoo done recently, Madonna has her belly button pierced and Zara Phillips once had a tongue stud.

Little wonder that the number of tattoo and body art parlours has soared from 300 seven years ago to around 2,000 today. Even Selfridges has opened a tattoo and piercing concession, called Metal Morphosis, in its store in Oxford Street. But as the trend has grown, so have the number of warnings from medical experts about its dangers.

Earlier this month, Jessica Collins, a student from Cardiff, almost died when her belly-button stud tore through her stomach, narrowly missing her spine, in a car accident. She needed a three-hour operation to treat the serious internal injuries.

Before that incident, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) had urged people to avoid piercing and tattoos, to stem the rise in blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis B (which has doubled in the past ten years) and hepatitis C. Both have been linked to substandard body art procedures. Reports also show that body art has caused allergies, bacterial infections, speech deformities and dental problems.

Dr Sarah Jarvis, a spokesperson for the RCGP, says that physical problems are not the only potential side-effects. “The psychological implications of these procedures can be immense,” she says. “Very few people consult a doctor for advice before having them, yet we get hundreds of people coming to ask how they can be treated when they get infected or how to get tattoos removed. They have this done on a whim and don’t think through the consequences.”

Indeed, a study in the British Journal of Dermatology showed that three quarters of people who get tattoos end up regretting it. So what are the risks?

Body piercing

How it’s done: The most common site is the earlobe, which, in beauty salons, is pierced using a single-use, sterilised piercing gun that inserts an earring and clasp.

On other body parts – the eyebrow, belly button, nose and nipple are popular – the practitioner usually pushes a hollow needle through the skin before inserting the jewellery into the hole.

The risks: As with tattoos (see below), there is a high risk of blood-borne diseases including tetanus, hepatitis B and C and HIV being transmitted through unclean needles and equipment.

In 2005, a coroner issued a warning about the dangers of body art following the death of a 17-year-old teenager who died from blood poisoning two months after having his bottom lip pierced in Sheffield.

Swelling, pain and pus-like discharge are signs that the site of piercing has become infected.

This is particularly risky in the upper ear (where there is more cartilage, less flesh), Jarvis says. And because cartilage doesn’t have its own blood supply, antibiotics are unable to reach the infected site. The result can be serious cartilage damage and permanent ear deformity. In all body piercings, bacterial infections can cause cysts if left untreated.

Play it safe: Beware of allergic reactions to cheap jewellery, especially those made from nickel or brass. “Remember that body piercing is a highly invasive procedure that needs time to heal, just as surgery does,” Jarvis says. On average the healing of a pierced ear takes three to four months, navel one to 12 months and nose two to three months.

Oral piercing

How it’s done: The practitioner usually pushes a hollow needle through the skin before inserting the jewellery.

The risks: Most dental authorities, including the British Dental Association, advise against any kind of oral piercing such as those to the lips and tongue. Problems can arise when food debris gathers around tongue studs, causing bacterial infection, and lip rings or studs can cause speech deformities. More serious problems are not uncommon. One study in the Journal of Peridentology found that wearing barbell-type tongue jewellery (the most popular type) increases the risk of gum recession and tooth-chipping. Researchers at Ohio State University college of dentistry found gum recession in 50 per cent of people who had been wearing barbell tongue jewellery for two years or more. Almost half of those wearing them for four years also had chipped teeth, a result of habitual biting of the barbell.

Play it safe: Replace metal barbells with plastic ones. Keep your mouth clean. Healing time for a pierced tongue takes about two months.

Tattoos

How it’s done: By injecting pigments into the skin which become surrounded by collagen to leave wording or an illustration that last a lifetime.

The risks: Tattooing involves breaching the body’s main protective barrier – the skin – and, as such, can leave you prone to a number of infections. Dirty equipment can lead to infection with serious blood-borne diseases such as the herpes simplex (linked to cold sores and the Epstein Barr Virus that causes glandular fever), hepatitis B and C, tetanus, and HIV. “The hepatitis B virus is 100 times more infectious than HIV, can live on the end of a razor blade for a week and is easily transmitted via dirty equipment,” says Penny Wilson-Webb, co-ordinator of the Hepatitis B Foundation. In 2003 a tattoo parlour in Dundee was closed amid fears of hepatitis B infection when officials found equipment smeared with blood. Pamela Anderson, the actress, claims that it was through having tattoos that she became infected with hepatitis C.

Some people suffer an allergic reaction to the ink in tattoos, and red ink is thought to be particularly allergenic. In mild cases this can cause itchy rashes and dermatitis. But others suffer more serious side-effects. Two years ago, the Swedish football player Freddie Ljungberg, who played for Arsenal at the time and is now at West Ham, revealed how a tattoo of panthers on his back almost wrecked his career.

Doctors carried out two weeks of medical tests on an inflamed hip before realising that he had suffered a reaction to the ink in his tattoo which caused a lymphatic gland to become inflamed and press on a nerve in his side. There are few regulations governing inks used in British and American tattoo parlours. A preliminary study of tattoo inks at Northern Arizona University found that many contained dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals such as nickel, copper, lithium and lead. According to the researchers, this could potentially lead to blood poisoning and nerve disorders in sensitive people.

Play it safe: Make sure that the parlour is affiliated to the Association of Professional Tattooists – if you are unsure, check with your local authority or ask for proof of a certificate. Remember that tattoos can take several days to heal. Scabs should not be touched as this can cause scarring and increases the risk of infection.

Henna tattoos

How it’s done: By applying pure henna dye – an extract of the plant lawsonia intermis – to the skin. Madonna became a fan a few years ago. Henna tattoos are not permanent but can take months to wear off.

The risks: Pure henna dye used in traditional Indian applications as well as in reputable beauty parlours rarely causes problems. However, inferior dyes often contain para phenylene diamine (PPD) to make it look darker, which can set people up for a lifetime of skin sensitivity. Just 10 per cent of PPD added to henna will trigger a reaction in up to 80 per cent of people, according to Allergy UK. This is more likely to happen in developing countries where standards are lax. Because PPD is present in hundreds of cosmetics and household cleaning products, an allergy triggered by henna tattoos can recur often on exposure to the chemical.

Play it safe: Visit a salon only where pure henna is used and ask for a patch test beforehand. There are alternatives to permanent tattoos, including transfers that typically last five to seven days, and airbrushed tattoos (which last three to five days). The latter are done in a way similar to airbrushing a T-shirt, using airbrush machinery and paint – most artists use stencils, although some use freehand. Some tattoo artists claim to offer semi-permanent designs (aka temptoos) that last anything from six months to five years and apparently use special ink that doesn’t breach the top layer of the skin. However, recent studies have shown that these tattoos do not disappear completely in many cases.

Tattoo removal

How it’s done: Being etched and inked is never going to be as laborious a procedure as undoing it. One of the most effective options is laser treatment, which works by emitting intense beams of invisible light into the tattoo in rapid bursts. This breaks the large particles into small pieces that erupt from the skin and disperse naturally in the body. It can be a drawn-out and expensive procedure (up to several thousand pounds) with some people requiring as many as 12 sessions over a year to lighten a tattoo. In some cases, doctors can surgically remove a tattoo by cutting it out and stitching the skin back together.

“It’s worth bearing in mind that tattoo removal is never likely to be available on the NHS,” Jarvis says. “It is considered a cosmetic procedure and a personal choice. Only in rare cases, if it is deemed to cause psychiatric distress, might it be considered. Otherwise people have to have it done privately.”

The risks: Even a high-tech laser procedure is not enough to eradicate some tattoos totally. While black tattoo ink absorbs all laser wave-lengths, making it easier to erase, green, orange and yellow are difficult to remove. In 5 per cent of cases there is a risk of permanent scarring after laser tattoo removal.

— Additional reporting by Eleanor Harding

What’s in and what’s out

Piercings: Piercing is as “in” as it used to be, though the places to be pierced have probably changed. Like most of my friends, I have a tongue stud and eyebrow ring, which I had done in my gap year 12 months ago. We had to wait until we had left school to do it, though a lot of friends had it done during their first year at university.

Mostly, my peers do it for fun, rather than because they are influenced by celebritites. Belly button piercings are passé, and tongue and nipple piercings are in. Lots of boys say they think its sexy. Some friends are piercing their lips and inner ears – and in extreme cases, putting dumb-bells on the side of their wrists. It’s all mainstream now; a new piercing shop has even opened near my campus.

People aren’t that concerned with safety. You go to the cheapest place rather than the cleanest, which is a hut at the side of the road if you’re in Thailand, as I was. They had clean needles, but they didn’t have the prepackaged disposable kind. My friend’s tongue was swollen for ten days and she had to see a doctor.

LUCY EWING, 20, Leeds University

Tattoos: I don’t have a tattoo, but many mates are getting them done on gap years and at university. There are more girls doing it than boys, and guys say it is sexy, especially on the hip – as long as you have a flat stomach. The designs are usually subtle and for girls the most popular place at the moment is on the wrist, the foot or the hip. A lot of people opt for stars, or their names in Chinese. We don’t worry about being older with a tattoo, as we all have them, so we will all be in the same boat. Most peers make sure they get their tattoo done in a clean salon, but a lot have done it when drunk, which, especially if you are abroad, is dangerous. My friend’s tattoo on her foot got infected when she was in Asia, but that could have also been because she was walking in bare feet after it was done.

ROSE SHAW, 19, Bristol University

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