By Ashley Wills

Using ink to mark medical conditions

May 15, 2012 | 5:00 PM

Marking your medical condition boldly in ink is a growing trend in tattoo shops around the country.

“It's an interesting alternative, instead of having the (MedicAlert) bracelet, to just have a cool tattoo,” said Lauren Suchan, with the Canadian Diabetes Association in Saskatoon.

A recent report from Canadian Medical Association Journal found the practice is on the rise with people inking everything from severe allergies to Do Not Resuscitate on their skin.

For Suchan, it's something she's noticed on younger people.

“I would say teenagers mostly, and they are getting tattoos on their wrist to represent their MedicAlert bracelet for their diabetes.”

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Whether it's a first-timer or a customer covered in ink, tattoo shops around Saskatoon are booking clients for medical tattoos.

“They'll just say what medical condition they have and bring in some art reference and that sort of thing,” said Jill Cawood, manager of Rites of Passage.

The shop had a dozen requests in the past year, with the latest booking only a few days ago where a client wanted his peanut allergy tattooed on his wrist.

“He's been coming here and getting work done for years. He just thought it was a new kind of way to put it out there,” Cawood said.

news@panow.com

by Ashley Wills

Using ink to mark medical conditions

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