Security is skin deep

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While not legally binding, tattoos can serve as a reminder to hospital staff to check the patient's chart. (CHARLIE RIEDEL / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS )

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‘If I could have gotten the tattoo (when I was diagnosed) at age seven, I probably would have’ — Tanyss Christie, a 35-year-old mom of two from Chilliwack, B.C., who got this Type 1 diabetes tattoo on her inner wrist last April. (POSTMEDIA)

Having your medical condition publicly announced is rarely welcome, as anyone with an indiscreet pharmacist can attest. But for a growing number of Canadians, advertising illness can be a matter of life and death -- and they're choosing a decidedly permanent way of doing so.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal reported Monday medical tattooing "appears to be a trend on the rise," with people inking everything from chronic conditions to emergency health directives onto their skin.

But given the murky legal protocols, absence of standardized practices and the fact emergency personnel aren't trained to look for such markings, experts caution tattoos shouldn't yet be seen as a replacement for MedicAlert bracelets.

"This is a trend that's taking off, and we as physicians don't have a say in that," said Dr. Saleh Aldasouqi, an associate professor of medicine at Michigan State University. "But we do have to standardize and regulate it."

Aldasouqi, who has written a number of journal articles on the subject, emphasizes he's not promoting medical tattoos. But as they continue to pop up across Europe, the U.S. and Canada, he said he believes it's imperative health organizations address the implications.

Tanyss Christie, a mother of two from Chilliwack, B.C., got a Type 1 diabetes tattoo on her inner wrist last April. The 35-year-old said the idea simply made sense for her lifestyle, since she's never been a fan of jewelry and harbours unpleasant memories of playing volleyball as a kid while wearing a MedicAlert bracelet.

"If I could have gotten the tattoo (when I was diagnosed) at age seven, I probably would have," said Christie, who plans to give her own daughter -- also a Type 1 diabetic -- the option of medical ink when she's older. "It's just way more convenient."

According to the journal, health-related tattoos increasingly are being sought by Canadians who can't wear jewelry to work, find medical bracelets are too easily lost or broken, or simply prefer the look of ink. The journal cites cases across North America in which people have got medical tattoos that address everything from their blood type to do-not-resuscitate (DNR) wishes.

Kyla Gutsche, a restorative tattooist with Cosmetic Transformations, said she believes the trend will benefit from previous industry gains made with regard to post-operative areola pigmentation -- tattoos for women who've had breast-reconstruction surgery.

"Ten or 15 years ago, there was a paradigm shift in the medical community where (health professionals) realized, 'We can't stop people from getting this done, therefore we have to change our attitude toward it,' " said Gutsche, referring to the European regulations that emerged as a result.

She said she believes medical tattoos are the future when it comes to people protecting their bodies, noting a DNR symbol -- though not legally binding -- "is a reminder to hospital staff to check the chart."

Gutsche is lobbying for tattooing to be federally regulated in Canada, after experiencing its pitfalls firsthand.

After her lips lost colour following cancer treatment, the Peterborough, Ont., woman turned to a cosmetic tattooist to re-pigment them. But when the pigments used weren't medical grade, her allergic reaction was so severe she required six surgeries and 11 tattooing procedures (this time, with safe pigments) to repair the damage.

The CEO of the Canadian MedicAlert Foundation voiced similar safety concerns. But first and foremost, he noted MedicAlert -- which protects some 1.1 million people countrywide -- isn't just a few words on a piece of jewelry but rather an "entry point" to a complex, constantly evolving system.

"It's the electronic health information behind the bracelet that forms the core of the service we provide," said Robert Ridge. "The vast majority of our members' information changes over time, and a tattoo isn't conducive to changing information. It's rather permanent."

-- Postmedia News

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 15, 2012 A2