Have you heard the rumor that having lower back tattoos prevents people from receiving epidurals? If you have a lower back tattoo or are thinking about getting one, you may want to first consider the consequences.
The controversy has led women, tattoo artists and doctors to question the safety of administering epidurals to pregnant women who have lower back tattoos.
Keeunsha Burreil, psychology major, heard the rumor, but proceeded to get a tattoo on her lower back.
“It’s just a rumor,” Burreil said. “I still wanted to get the tattoo.”
Although epidurals are administered to patients with spinal injuries, such as herniated disks and spinal diseases, they are more commonly used on women to alleviate pain during childbirth.
A large, hollow needle injected into the spinal canal, an epidural administers medication to the patient.
Sophomore English major, Michelle Anderson, said her girlfriends have all heard the rumor that lower back tattoos limit a patient’s choice to receive an epidural.
In June 2003, Anderson visited a tattoo parlor in Northern Virginia and asked if the rumor was true. She said two tattoo artists at the parlor could neither confirm nor deny the rumor. They told Anderson it was her decision whether to get a lower back tattoo or not.
“Because of that, I did not get one on my back,” Anderson said.
River City Tattoo artist, Max Wetzel, said people ask him a couple of times a week if a lower back tattoo would prevent them from getting an epidural. People have told him they were refused an epidural because of lower back tattoos, he said.
“There’s nothing in the ink that’s harmful,” Wetzel assured.
Wetzel uses powdered, food-grade pigment, known as ink, for his tattoos. Black ink, which he said is the safest color to use, is made up of carbon and water.
“It’s completely harmless,” Wetzel said. “I tattooed a doctor who said there’s no medical reason not to give an epidural.”
But some doctors disagree.
Chippenham and Johnston-Willis Hospital anesthesiologist, Dr. Martha Mitchell, said the issue has been raised in physician meetings.
“Some anesthesiologists on my team feel strongly that an epidural should not pass through dyed pigments,” Dr. Mitchell said. “It may pose an opportunity to sustain injury.”
She explained that any type of debris, like fat cells or tattoo pigments, can be dragged forward into the epidural space. The foreign material may stick to whatever it comes in contact with, such as nerves or fat particles, causing possible infection, inflammation, or tumors, she said.
Dr. Mitchell acknowledged that she is aware of no scientific evidence that supports the dangers of administering an epidural through a tattoo. One of 25 physicians at Commonwealth Anesthesia Associates, she explained that a physician can make their own professional choices if they feel the procedure would put a patient at risk.
Her personal practice, she said, is to make her patients comfortable while trying to avoid putting a needle through a tattoo.
“Our effort is to do the right thing,” said Dr. Mitchell. “I try to use virgin skin because I don’t want to violate the artwork.”
Despite that, Wetzel said there are some doctors that will administer epidurals on tattooed lower backs.
For instance, Dr. Bumanis, attending anesthesiologist at St. Mary’s Hospital, said he would administer an epidural to a patient with a lower back tattoo as long as it’s a well-healed tattoo.
“I’ve speared Tweety Bird right in the head with an epidural needle,” Dr. Bumanis said. “The only time I won’t administer an epidural is if the patient has scar tissue, an infection or is a hemophiliac.”
Burreil said her friend, who has a lower back tattoo, had a baby at Henrico Doctor’s Hospital and doctors told her she could receive an epidural.
Red Dragon Tattoo owner, Robbie Villalpando, has been tattooing clients since 1987. Tattoos completely cover her arms and back.
“I’ve had three epidurals with a full back piece and the doctors never had any concerns about giving me an epidural,” Villalpando said.
Doctors see tattooing as a mysterious and misunderstood art form, she said. Villalpando said her clients should be more concerned with the quality of the tattoo and the sanitation of the studios.
Villalpando said the lower-back tattoo trend took off after the release of the Sports Illustrated issue which featured on its cover a model revealing a lower-back tattoo. The front bikini area, she said, was the most popular place for women to get a tattoo before the lower-back trend began.
“I’m glad the trend has changed to the back area,” Villalpando said, “because pregnancy will ruin the front bikini-area tattoos.”
Dr. Mitchell named other options available to women to ease the pain of childbirth besides an epidural, such as ingesting a pill.
When tattoo clients ask Villalpando and Wetzel about the controversy of lower-back tattoos and doctors’ refusals to administer epidurals, they offer similar advice.
Villalpando tells her clients to “find another doctor because they (the clients) have been misinformed.”
Wetzel said, “I tell people to talk to different doctors to get their opinion and research different doctors’ opinions.”