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Deadly Marks


I admit that well-designed tattoos can be very pleasant to the eyes (see this photo as an example). But that does not remove the fact that getting yourself tattooed just anywhere can be risky. And if you do tattooing in your more personal areas, that can be disastrous.

There are many known causes of Priapism, a potentially painful medical condition wherein the penis does not return to its flaccid state, even without physical and psychological stimulation, within four hours. The low-flow type involves the blood not adequately returning to the body from the organ. This type represents 80-90 percent of all cases.

The less common high-flow type involves a short-circuit of the vascular system along the organ. It can result from physical injury, urinary tract infection, and other causes that involve the nerves and other non-blood conditions. Treatment for priapism is considered a medical emergency.

Priapism is diagnosed with high oxygen and low carbon dioxide contents in the penile blood. It can also result from a tattoo done on the muscles of the penis.

Four researchers from the Rhazes Center for Research in Family Health and Sexual Medicine (Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran) reported Priapism in a 21-year-old male, which continued for three months after he had a tattoo 15 months earlier.

In The Journal of Sexual Medicine (3 January 2012), lead investigator Javaad Zargooshi disclosed that the young man had a tattoo on the upper surface of the penis. The tattoo reads “borrow be salaamat,” a Persian phrase that translates as “good luck with your journeys”) and on the glans (the helmet-shaped portion), an English letter ‘M’ was also tattooed, the first letter of his girlfriend’s name. The tattooing was performed using a handheld needle.

The American Academy of Dermatology classified the tattoo as a “professional tattoo using traditional methods.” The procedure caused bleeding deep into the penile tissue, making the tattooing very complicated.

Tattooing becomes a vogue in Cebu City lately. In fact, after the Sinulog, I seem to find many people brandishing tribal designs in their arms and legs, all in black ink, almost everywhere—among jeepney commuters, pedestrians in roadsides, etc. A street urchin had himself “tattooed” with a ballpen. One young lady even had her uppercase-letter tattoo on right surface of her neck. Whose name that letter represented? I had no way of knowing.

The dangers of Priapism cannot be overstated; and a tattooing can worsen the prospects. Any tattoo needle can carry infectious organisms such as viruses (herpes simplex, hepatitis, or HIV), bacteria (tetanus-causing, tuberculosis-causing), and fungi. Nickel in an ink pigment can also result to a common metal allergy. 

A fling with the exotic can have social rewards. However, when life is on the line, perhaps the exotic is not worth the price. [Email: zim_breakthroughs@yahoo.com]


This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 28 March 2012.

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