The bizarre way getting a tattoo could affect how you SWEAT (and how they could even be dangerous)
Sweating, while a bit grim, is a vital bodily process, helping control our temperature
TATTOOS - especially big ones - are all the rage with celebs like David Beckham, Cheryl and Harry Styles covered in body art.
But before you go under the needle and ink your bod, it might be worth heeding this warning.
Getting a tattoo could come with a bizarre side effect - it can change the way you SWEAT, a new study suggests.
American experts found people with tattooed skin produce less sweat compared to people with non-tattooed skin.
And their sweat contained nearly twice as much sodium.
Sweating helps us control our body temperature.
So not sweating enough can lead to dangerous consequences, causing you to overheat and suffer heat stroke - which can be deadly in extreme cases.
And if you are losing more sodium than you normally would you are likely to become dehydrated quicker, and suffer cramps, which can hamper your best efforts in the gym.
The researchers recruited 10 healthy men with a tattoo on one side of their upper body to determine how their tattooed skin sweated differently from their non-tattooed skin.
They used chemical patches that caused them to sweat, to measure perspiration.
The patches were then swapped for new patches, this time to absorb the sweat so it could be tested.
The researchers, from Alma College in Michigan, believe the difference could be down to permanent changes in the skin that happen after getting inked.
When you get a tattoo, a tiny needle filled with dye pierces the epidermis, or outer layer of the skin, up to 3,000 times a minute.
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The needle goes as deep as the dermis, the inner layer of skin, where the sweat glands are.
So the experts believe an inking could disrupt the ability to sweat.
And while not sweating doesn't sound like such a bad thing, it can pose serious health problems, especially for athletes, firefighters or runners.
Dr Ollie Jay, a professor of thermoregulatory physiology at the University of Sydney, told "It is certainly very conceivable that tattoos impair local sweating responses, but the overall impact will be determined by the proportion of surface area covered by tattoos."
More research needs to be done to check the theory on more people, before any formal warnings for those considering a tattoo.
The study was published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
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