Rules About Tattoos, Piercings and Giving Blood
Many people don’t know that the latest official health guidance highlights the safety of blood donations from those who received their tattoo from a state-regulated agency. If you were inked in a licensed facility in Oklahoma, Texas or Arkansas, you can donate blood immediately. However, if you received a tattoo from anywhere else besides a licensed facility, you need to wait three months before you can donate blood.
A note to those who have piercings: the same rules apply to you. You can donate immediately if the piercing was done in a licensed facility. Otherwise, there is a three-month waiting period.
Fun Facts About Tattoos
Now that we’ve busted the myth that getting or having a tattoo or piercing prevents a potential donor from giving blood, here are five fun facts about tattoos that you might not know.
- You can tattoo your eyeballs (the tattoo artist sprays ink under the surface of the eye with a needle, tattooing the white part).
- Tattooing dates back more than 5,000 years (this mummy had 61 tattoos)!
- The word tattoo comes from the Samoan word “Tatau.” The word mimics the sound of tools used during the process of tattooing.
- There’s a tattooed Barbie.
- A tattoo needle can vibrate up to 3,000 times a minute.