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Medical tattoo


A medical tattoo is a tattoo used for indicating a medically relevant condition or body location. Medical tattoos can be used for a number of reasons:

A definitive beginning for medical tattooing is difficult to pinpoint, however there are records and evidence dating back to 3,300 BCE. A naturally preserved human body found in a snowfield in the Tyrolean Alps has tattoo markings with much speculation surrounding their intentions. The markings are located over the lumbar spine, the right knee, and both ankles. Radiographic studies performed on the corpse revealed that the man had osteoarthritis in these joints and scientists suggest “that the tattoos might indicate a form of stimulatory treatment similar to acupuncture.” Expert opinions from three acupuncture societies indicate that nine of the tattoos could be identified as being located directly on or within 6 mm of traditional acupuncture points.

Another well-preserved mummy found in the necropolis of Chiribaya Alta in southern Peru dates back to 400 BCE and also has unexplainable tattoos located in areas of therapeutic importance. The Scythian horseman has ornamental and non-ornamental tattoos; “the difference in the tattoos is so obvious that there is speculation about a possible therapeutic importance of the ones in the perivertebral and retromalleolar region." The marks are circular, of simple shape and run along the spinal column.

A crude practice of medical tattooing was performed by Galen in 150 CE. He tried to cover leukomatous opacities of the cornea by cauterizing the surface with a heated stilet and applying powdered nutgalls and iron or pulverized pomegranate bark mixed with copper salt. With the rise of Christianity, tattooing declined and eventually became banned by a papal edict in 787 CE.

It was not until the mid-1800s that the first papers to unequivocally document the medical application of tattooing appeared. A German physician named Pauli used tattooing with mercury sulfide and white lead for the restoration of the natural color to the skin in cases on congenital vascular nevi (6). Other instances include the cosmetic tattooing with mercury sulfide after plastic lip procedures recommended by Shule in 1850 or the modern method of corneal tattooing put into practice by Louis Von Wecker in the 1870s.

In recent decades, medical tattoos have come to be understood as markings that indicate the medical conditions or information of the person who bears them. During the Cold War, threats of nuclear warfare led several U.S. states to consider blood type tattooing. Programs were spurred in Chicago, Utah and Indiana based on the premise that if an atomic bomb were to strike, the resulting damage would require extremely large amounts of blood within a short amount of time. Very few efforts came to fruition.


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Wikipedia

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