The circus and freaks

[j.sabourn]

The standards and word descriptions have changed during our life span, for example the word freak was used in circus jargon as a means of advertising certain side shows. Query would today this word be acceptable to the PC brigade ?. The fat lady, the tallest man, Siamese twins, and various others were put on display. One of my favourites was the tattooed lady she was really ugly. I would imagine she would be out of business today as most of her female spectators could probably match her tattoo for tattoo and come out on top. My query on putting this in the health box, is, has there ever been any public warnings against injecting coloured inks into ones skin or is it considered not hazardous to a persons health.?? JS

[robpage]

Tattoos breach the skin, which means that skin infections and other complications are possible, including:

Allergic reactions. Tattoo dyes — especially red, green, yellow and blue dyes — can cause allergic skin reactions, such as an itchy rash at the tattoo site. This can occur even years after you get the tattoo. I saw a reaction to the temporary henna tattoo that mean't a young holidaymaker in Greece would possibly have permanent scarring

Skin infections. A skin infection is possible after tattooing.

Other skin problems.

Sometimes an area of inflammation called a granuloma can form around tattoo ink.
Tattooing also can lead to keloids — raised areas caused by an overgrowth of scar tissue.
Bloodborne diseases. If the equipment used to create your tattoo is contaminated with infected blood, you can contract various bloodborne diseases — including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
MRI complications.

Rarely, tattoos or permanent makeup might cause swelling or burning in the affected areas during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams. In some cases, tattoo pigments can interfere with the quality of the image.

Medication or other treatment might be needed if you experience an allergic reaction to the tattoo ink or you develop an infection or other skin problem near a tattoo.

so for me , no thanks

[j.sabourn]

It might be that I have never looked , but have never heard of any medical advice, such as the early ones for smoking where it said smoking can damage your health. Today everyone seems to sport a tattoo, without any information on such. Too late for the tattooed lady though. JS.

[happy daze john in oz]

John, I do believe the term, 'freak' can still be used and is regularly used under parliamentary privilege by one MP to describe another,
But in all honesty they are all bloody freaks in my mind.