Found out homemade tattoo needles aren't worth the risk after a friend's infection

I was about to do a stick and poke on myself with a sewing needle and pen ink last week. Then my buddy who works at a tattoo shop showed me pics of a guy who did that and got a staph infection. The guy needed antibiotics for 3 weeks and still has a scar. Turns out proper tattoo needles are sterilized and single use for a reason. Anyone here ever tried using real tattoo supplies instead of homemade stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

harper9146d ago

Watched my cousin try to sterilize a safety pin with a lighter and some rubbing alcohol once before giving himself a tiny anchor on his ankle. It got all red and puffy within two days, and he ended up with this weird splotchy scar that looks nothing like an anchor (more like a weird blob, honestly). He finally went to a real shop after that and the artist told him the ink he used had some heavy metals in it too.

jakeb816d ago

Oh man, @harper914, that's rough but rubbing alcohol actually doesn't fully sterilize stuff like that.

adams.uma6d ago

My cousin used a sharpened paperclip and candle soot once, looked like a fuzzy blue caterpillar for months.