Tattoos have become a growing fad with celebrities and commoners alike sporting descriptive murals on their body parts, depicting everything from their passions to dreams. But is going under the needle and ink really worth it?
According to a new study, getting a tattoo could come with a bizarre side effect. The researchers say that it could change the way one sweats.
American experts found people with tattooed skin produce less sweat compared to people with non-tattooed skin, and their sweat contained twice the amount of sodium.
Sweating regulates body temperature and not sweating enough can have dangerous consequences like the body overheating and suffering heat strokes.
And losing more sodium means that the body dehydrates quicker.
The study recruited 100 healthy men with tattoos on one side of their body to determine how tattooed skin sweated differently from their non-tattooed skin.
They used chemical patches that caused them to sweat, to measure perspiration and then the patches were swapped for new ones which absorbed sweat so it could be tested.
The researchers, from Alma College in Michigan, believe the difference could be down to permanent changes in the skin that happen after getting inked.
When a person gets a tattoo, the needle pierces the epidermis and goes as deep as the dermis, where the sweat glands are.
The study was published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
