Article from "HEALTH" magazine 

September issue 1997

WHEN A TATTOO IS TRULY SHOCKING 
(TORONTO, ONTARIO)

Tattoos may be all the fashion on the streets, but in the doctor's office they could be a pain in the .....side. Or worse.

Recently a 24-year-old woman complaining of back pain was admitted to Scarborough Grace Hospital.  The doctors ordered magnetic resonance imaging, putting her in the tunnel-like machine that photographs the body's insides.  But as soon as the contraption started up, the woman cried out, saying she felt a burning pain. When doctors asked her where exactly it hurt, she pointed to a tattoo on her left hip, a small rose entwined with black thorns.

Recently a 24-year-old woman complaining of back pain was admitted to Scarborough Grace Hospital.  The doctors ordered magnetic resonance imaging, putting her in the tunnel-like machine that photographs the body's insides.  But as soon as the contraption started up, the woman cried out, saying she felt a burning pain. When doctors asked her where exactly it hurt, she pointed to a tattoo on her left hip, a small rose entwined with black thorns.

The pain stopped immediately, and the slight swelling subsided in 12 hours. But Michael Kreidstein a plastic surgeon at the hospital, wondered what had gone wrong. He requested tattoo inks from a supplier, then tested each to see if it could be affected by a magnetic field like the one used for MRI.

Two of the inks, one black and one brown, contained so much iron oxide that droplets of dye could be pulled across a plastic sheet with a common horseshoe magnet.  This ingredient may pose a hazard in an MRI machine, since magnetic metals can convert its radio-frequency pulses into electricity. What the young women felt, Kreidstein surmises, was either a weak electric current coursing through her skin or the pigmented skin being tugged from her body by the MRI's magnetic pull. Ouch.

It's known that women with permanent eyeliner, which may contain metals, can suffer swelling and pain from MRI's. But until now no one has thought to worry about the legions of tattooed hipsters who sooner or later are going to need a scan.  There  likely  fate? Before her next trip into the MRI, the 24-year-old patient had to have her tattoo removed.

I had permanent makeup 3 months ago and I wasn't aware of any conflicts that could occur when permanent make up is used, actually when I went to have it applied at a friendly shop near home there was no paperwork or literature  we only spoke of how procedure is done and she would do as I requested or very close to what I wanted, actually I am very happy with my results until few days ago I went to Dr and need a MRI and my Dr at Kaiser HMO or the x-ray crew stated they couldn't do MRI do to under liner I had done and they had me verify if Iron Oxide was in makeup which it is and they can't do procedure do to this, I can't believe it is only my knee that needs MRI but they won't do, they will have to find other x-rays they can do.  Quest:  Why isn't there laws we be notified of ALL info that needs to be looked at when having this procedure done (Permanent Makeup) what can actually happen if MRI is done if they weren't aware if patient had permanent makeup do to accident?  Please help me to understand this,  Is Kaiser HMO just making big deal over this? Or is this serious info I need to know and never get MRI in future? Please if you can't help on this advise me to someone who can give info if you know of anyone.  
Thank you,
Cathy T.    

I asked about iron oxide and what would happen with the MRI.  I was told that only happens with tattooing. That they use iron oxide in their pigments, but it is totally safe.

I have a friend who was one of the first maintenance men for the MRI.  He told me once he had a small pocket knife in his pocket and forgot he had it in there.  He described it as being about an inch and a half and very thin about quarter inch wide.

He was working on the MRI installing it when someone turned it on to see if it worked.  No one looked to see if he and his worker was in there.

To make a long story short, a screw driver and this pocket knife almost killed them both.  The pocket knife was torn from his pants so quickly that he stood in shock.  The spinning action was so intense with revolution that they could not get away from the two pieces of metal.

He said he had been told about this, but with this experience, knew the MRI would not only pull out the metal, but it would send it through the body again and again and a person coming out of the process would probably look like hamburger when done.

Okay am done for right now have to practice and then go to language class.

M.