Hospital full of idiots!

[PITBULL]

My wife, aka MOM is still battling some kindey isues. She went to the hospital today fro some bloodwork and some ditzy nurse told her that she couldnt draw blood because the tattoo MOM has would cause an infection. Then they proceded to treat her like a lepper!!!! This turned into a big ordeal with MOM almost getting arrested....Stay tuned for another upcoming rant

[Freebird]

Really sorry to hear that she is still having problems. Sounds like she has been through enough lately. Let her know that we are thinking about her.

[Snaggletooth]

Some how I get the feeling this story is going to end up on the Viking website. I'm gonna stay tuned for this one since I have such a great love for hospitals myself.

[BuddyRich]

Don't know if this will help or not

 

 

Unfortunately, depending on the physician or anesthetist, you may or may not be able to have a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) or an epidural if a tattoo is covering the region of your lumbar spine (i.e. between L3-L5) where the needle would go because of the still strong (though unproven) belief held by some physicians (and anesthetists) that doing so could track dye into the central nervous system, and that unknown complications could arise because of neurotoxicity. Tattoo "dyes" are not lead paint ... they're pigments. Anyway, during the healing process, these pigments are incorporated by macrophages a tattoo. Of course, no health professional would inject over a *fresh* tattoo (because of the higher risk of infection) unless there was an absolute need.

 

There is *no* evidenced based literature to support this, but still, some physicians refuse to do LPs or provide epidurals to people with lower back tattoos.

 

There is absolutely no reason blood can't be taken, IVs placed, or people otherwise injected in areas covered by tattoos. I've started numerous IVs and given numerous injections through skin covered by tattoos because I don't believe there is a risk (if it was so risky, why would tattoos be allowed in the first place?)

 

The pigments in tattoos are inert (despite what you might find on the internet ... they are not vegetable dyes either (they're mainly metal salts) ... but they are safe. It scares me how scared some people can be of *chemicals* ... it boils down to ignorance.

 

It's a myth ... look it up on PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) or check http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lower-b... http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/tatt...

 

Not all injections go in to veins (e.g. intramuscular (IM) and subcutaneous (SC) ones). Tattoos themselves are the result of intradermal injections.

 

To those posters who state the reason is because of some sort of visual hindrance to the vein, veins do not have to be seen to be *hit* (natural skin tone can mask veins as well as any pigment from a tattoo).

 

• 5 months ago
  

Source(s):

 

RN (I also have a degree in chemistry)

[PITBULL]

I know its a myth! I was a professional tattoo artist for 14 years. I know all abouth the skin, pigmentation, and the whole shootin match. I wrote the body art laws for Colorado...yes I can prove it. So for them to come off with that BS just really twists my pickle. And YES this will end up on the Viking site LOL....you know hair dye companies tell tattoed people that they can have allergic reactions because of their tattoos????? Thats funny Wifey is a licensed cosmotologist and has never heard that. Yeah I think tattoos and peoples perception of tattooed people would make a good rant. Mybe I should write a tamer version for the magazine but then again thats like preachin' to the choir.

[MAINEAC]

I got a few Tats and I never heard of that crap before and I give blood regularly... That sounds like the Mickey Mouse Hospital we have here in Maine... I went to the ER with a Gall Bladder attack and was told by the ER Doctor I was constipated... Lucky for me an Internist was in the house...

[cowpuc]

Now wait a minute here,,,, its ok for a nurse/doctor/anestesiologist to inject dye directly into my blood stream or into my spinal fluid for testing purposes but getting it on the my skin is cause for them to squak??? This sounds like another one of those ignorant insurance company mandates that doctors have to live by...

[cmiles3]

Unfortunately, even myths hold up in court. Lots of docs don't do the smart thing because of the risks of lawsuits. Any problem, not related to the tattoo, could be blamed on this.

[IH Truck Guy]

I got a few Tats and I never heard of that crap before and I give blood regularly... ..

 

I do too.The only thing they ask is if the tat is older then one year.If it is,then they are more then happy to take your blood...:)