New concerns about medical complications from tattoos have caused several Canadian doctors to warn pregnant women about the dangers of tattoos on the lower back.
This area of the body is the location where needles for epidural procedures are injected, carrying painkilling medicine to ease labor pains.
Although no studies have yet been conducted, isolated cases have occurred that suggest microscopic pieces of skin stained with ink from the tattoos could get caught at the tip of the needle and be carried to nerves deep in the back, causing sensitivity, pain and burning.
Concerns that the metal in tattoo ink can cause burning during a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure are also supported by recent cases of injury (Rachel Zimmerman, "Why Some Expectant Moms Are Worried About Tattoos," The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 18, 2007).
