So, you finally got inked. You chose a design, picked out a parlor, and “sat” like a champ. (That’s tattoo artist-speak for grinning and bearing it through hours of pain.) Then you spent a few weeks diligently washing and moisturizing it while it healed. Now, save for moments you catch a glimpse of the design in the mirror, you usually forget the whole thing happened. What’s done is done, right?

Not always. In fact, skin irritation or a full-blown condition can develop months, years, even decades after the initial tattooing process.