AIBU to ask you about the tattoo I'm thinking of having?

[lemonyone]

At the ripe age of 45 I am thinking of having a snake tattoo on my wrist and writing on the inner part of my wrist. It will be quite visible.

Background:
I'm deadly allergic to nuts and a number of other foods.
I find it hard to wear a bracelet as the metal irritates my eczema, especially when my wrist gets wet. I'm in healthcare, so often washing hands and the bracelet gets trapped with a layer of damp under my gloves and i end up with a red cracked wrist.
Medical alert ecklaces are no good either, I get eczema on my neck when I wear them (I really should have been put down like a runt of the litter!)

I had a nut allergy scare yesterday, I had my kids with me but wondered what may have happened if I had collapsed and before I could tell the medics what the problem was.

Although i don't dislike tattoos, I'm not keen on them either. But I'm starting to wonder about having a tattoo of the medical alert on my wrist with what I'm allergic to on the inside of my wrist.

Has anyone else had a medical tattoo or know someone who has? Do you think this is a good solution? I'm worried about regretting it or the tattoo being itchy.

Thanks

Good idea! A decent artist will be able to design it in a way you like.

It's itchy healing.

I have no proper tattoo advice (I am considering my first at the moment as well).

With regard to medical alerts you would have to make sure people knew to look at it for medical information, maybe put a caduceus with it or something.

For non tattoo options you could also carry a medical information card in your purse, I have one for epilepsy information. Medical professionals are likely to look through your purse if you were unconscious to find out your name so it would be found.

Depending on what your phone is, you can sometimes set an 'In Case of Emergency' screen. On mine, you switch it on and you have the option at the lock screen to press 'In Case of Emergency', it then brings up my name, the medication I'm on, the condition and emergency contact numbers.

The tattoo sounds like a cool idea but if you're getting it small, I've heard that small, close together words can smudge and fade into each other after a few years, so it could end up looking like a squiggle rather than being useful? I've only ever had non-word tattoos though, hopefully someone will be able to give you advice on that.

Have you considered that you might be allergic to the tattoo ink? I would seriously look into this before you do it.

It will itch while it heals, so be aware of that.

I think a medical tattoo is a bit pointless, tbh. Most paramedics won't check you for tattoos - you'd be better off doing as Moomin says and having something on your phone or in your wallet, I think. But if you want it, go for it, just don't expect it to be particularly useful!

Assuming you mean a rod of Asclepius lilicat?
I think it's quite a good idea

Thanks Scots - I would be really nervous about finding someone really good to do it. I'd be prepared to throw quite a lot of money at it to ensure it would be well done.

Lili - that's hilarious - i always wondered what that wingy-thingy was called. Now I know Thanks!
Yes, I agree, the actual warning sign would be a prominent feature. I literally thought of having a snake on a pole (medical alert sign) on my wrist where a bracelet would go, with 'Anaphylaxis' written next to it in clear 'Times New Roman' type text. On the inside of my wrist I'd list the 6 things I'm allergic to (including latex).
Or should i be more inventive?

LEM - that is a very good point, I'd certainly look into it.

And thank you Moomin, that is a really great idea with the phone. I already have a card in my wallet, as well as my epipens etc, but that is another layer.

Googoo - I think what I was thinking was that if the tattoo is automatically in a place where they might check for a bracelet and quite obvious, perhaps it would be of use? If paramedics don't check for these things at all, is the 'medical alert' jewellery thing a a bit of a racket? That is a really good point to raise and why I should speak to a couple of paramedics and doctors before 'scarring' myself.

I think it wouldn't be spotted by paramedics unless you had a particularly eagle eyed one (and in an emergency, most paramedics are focused other things!)

a bracelet is different because they're distinctive to emergency response workers- a subconscious glance would tell them if you had an alert bracelet on whereas a tattoo would be unlikely to catch their attention as anything other than a random wrist inking

I don't think it would be spotted easily either.

You'd need the writing to be pretty big otherwise the ink will bleed over time and it wouldn't be very easy to read.

Can you have a medical alert necklace made from a metal that doesn't irritate your skin?

I'm not convinced the tattoo would be immediately recognised as a medical alert.

This is all really helpful. It was just an idea I had after seeing a diabetic tattoo somewhere. If it's not going to be seen, then there is no point!

SoupDragon - it's not so much the material the bracelet and necklace are made of, it's that the friction of things on my skin tends to make it break out. I have pretty bad eczema and many annoying things are my 'enemy' (tags in clothes, wool, tight waistbands, dampness etc.) I am quite feeble sounding, aren't I!

If they're looking at your phone for your ICE number , why not have your allergies listed inside your phone case ?

Have you seen those "Message In a Bottle" alerts? If an Ambulance is called to a house and they have the MIAB alert in the front door window or in the hallway, they know to look in the fridge for the medication list that is kept (hopefully up to date) in a small plastic bottle.
It's a circle with a cross (green/white)

Something like that in your phone case?

You can get the medic alert tags rather than a bracelet. You can clip it on things, so a necklace chain or your key-ring. Most likely bet is to clip it on your mobile phone case :)

I am quite feeble sounding, aren't I!

Yep :o

A tag might work better - one on your phone case, bag strap, coat lapel...

A tatto that is clearly medical, is eye catching and conveys the information would be tricky. The diabetic one you saw is fairly easy as it's just one word. I guess if you wanted to go down the tattoo route, you could just go for "anaphylactic" which, if spotted, would make them check elsewhere for further information.

A single word on the wrist might be more noticeable than a complicated design.

Great! seesense - I'll get one of those. Only problem is, I am the kind of fool who leaves their phone at home quite often, but I always have my wallet with me, so that can go on there as well.

I'm in a different country 70isa, but I will look into getting something like that. These are all great ideas.

My problem was yesterday, I was out and about with my bag which had my epipen etc, but my DS wouldn't have been able to fully relate what is happening and I didn't have the bracelet on. Stupid, stupid ice cream mistake when we were out and about. I just finally scrolled through all the problems I've ever had with medical alerts and just though actually writing it on my body in a very obvious place in red might be the end of all the ways of having to remember to put warnings on yourself!

I don't know really OP.

When you consider the millions of people who have tattoos with writing on, I can't imagine paramedics rolling up people's sleeves and reading through them, just in case they've listed their allergies.

They'd spend much of their time reading a whole list of 'Mum' 'Dad' 'Grandma', various scriptures and the birth dates of children I expect.

However, if it became a 'thing' that lots of people did then I expect they'd know to look out for tattoos if that makes sense?

If you have an iPhone it's worth making use of the Health app. It's like what another poster said where on the lock screen where you go to enter your pass code the Emergency button gives the option to show Medical ID. I'm not sure if paramedics would know to check this but I filled it out anyway just incase. You can add emergency contacts too. Otherwise maybe get a clear phone case and slot your card in the back so they're able to see

Excellent idea Glitz! I'll do that. Clear cases are cheap - love that idea.

Worra - I think that is what put me onto this idea. It seems that medic alert tattoos are now a 'thing'. I just would love to know from a paramedic as to whether they are such a 'thing' as to be useful.

All I would have mainly visible (if I were to have it) is the medical alert sign and 'Anaphylaxis' underneath in bold letters. This is all I have on my bracelet too - as it doesn't matter, in many ways, what i"m actually allergic to - it's the diagnosis that is important.

On my wrist I'd have my list of allergies, but that would almost be more to show people when I'm telling them what I can and can't eat at their homes! I have a list that they photograph with their phones at the moment. I wasn't too sure about having this tattoo part though, it was more of a musing.

Lemonyone my DH is a tattoo artist and I used to work in a tattoo studio. So here's a bit of info to take into account:

In regards to design, in order to have any writing it needs to be a certain size as to make sure it doesn't end up a blurred blob. This is worth considering if you need a fair amount of information.

Whilst healing it is very itchy and can sometimes make exzema and psoriasis flare up. DH suffers from guttate psoriasis and it does it every time.

Washing your hands isn't an issue but whilst you are healing you shouldn't get soap or perfumes on the tattoo. Clean it with warm water and apply cream, Bepantham baby cream is good or a tiny bit of Vaseline.

My DH is also allergic to nickle and has never had any issue with inks however customers have been known to have reactions to certain colours, reds mainly. So I would advise you to pop down to a studio and ask them to do a patch/ spot test. Basically the artist will put a full stop size ink spot on you to check how you would react. Also you could ask for information regarding ingredients in the ink. We have quite strict rules regarding inks but worth a check for you and give you peace of mind.

Any reputable studio will help you design a tailor made piece of art and provide any advise or answers you need.

Also a big one, please research the studio and artist.

Medical tattoos are not that uncommon to be honest, he has done a few in the past including tattooing a spot on customers who are having chemo (I think or it could have been radiation therapy).

Not sure any of this will help but if you want anymore advice you are more than welcome to ask and I'll ask the DH.

Also age is only a number my DH has had customers in their 70's!

Lemon, My BIL was/is a paramedic and said he would take note of the tattoo and if there was a clear meaning to a medical tattoo (i.e like a HIV one) he would act accordingly to said warnings although he's never seen one relating to a nut allergy if he saw one that could have a medical meaning he would go to all lengths possible to establish if there is an allergy (and would likely find your card very quickly)
could be handy I suppose!

FWIW on my recent first aid update we were definitely told to check for medicalert bracelets, necklaces and in wallets; obviously with priority given to trying to keep the casualty alive.

I would go straight past a tattoo - which is a shame, as in principle it is an excellent idea.

can you get the item as a badge? Pain to change it for different clothing every day, but perhaps you could have several?

A friend of mine has a diabetic tattoo on his inner forearm which has saved his life on 2 occasions as he always used to forget his medical alert bracelet and had a few blood sugar issues whilst with a group of people that didn't know about his diabetes.

I think if it clearly has a medical symbol in a place you would usually find a medical alert bracelet most paramedics etc would pay attention to it. If it isn't clearly medical ie a lot of writing etc it's likely to be overlooked.

Strawberry - thank you so much for posting such useful information. I appreciate the time you spend writing all that!

Ugh - that's interesting to hear about an actual paramedic's opinion.

Special - I think I am pretty haphazard about the idea of a badge, which is why I wondered about just making the bloomin' information permanent. But again, it's good to know from the point of view of a firstaider what you'd be looking for.

MummaV - I think that's a great deal of the problem. I know that i'm the same as your friend in that just because you are ill with something life threatening, doesn't mean that you'll automatically always be fantastic about carrying information about it.

I already have a ventolin, epipen, antihistamines on me, so it should be pretty obvious what the problem is. But what if I'm at the beach, or by a swimming pool and a few meters away from my bag?

I guess I've been fine up till now, I'll definitely use all this wonderful information you've all given me and perhaps wait another 5 years or so and see if medical tattoos have become mainstream enough to be an automatic thing to look for and therefore be really useful.

Thanks all

If it's nickel that's causing you the problem there is a new man made metal that is hypoallergenic. DH had earrings out of it made for me and I can wear them with no problem for days - anything else I react to in minutes, although I get swelling, itchiness and eczema, not more severe stuff.