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Attenuated Sweating Responses in Tattooed Skin During a Passive Whole‐body Heat Stress
Author(s) -
Pizzey Faith K,
Parupia Iqra M,
Allen Dustin R,
Huang Mu,
Luetkemeier Maurie J,
Davis Scott L
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.lb746
Subject(s) - sweat , laser doppler velocimetry , medicine , skin temperature , perspiration , heat stress , thermoregulation , vasoconstriction , blood flow , skin conductance , vasodilation , anesthesia , biomedical engineering , zoology , psychiatry , biology
Tattoos have increased in popularity in the last 10–15 years among individuals between the ages of 18–40, with a high prevalence in athletes and members of the military. The tattooing process involves repeated needle insertions (50 to 3,000 times per minute) to permanently deposit ink at a depth of 3–5 mm into the dermal layer, potentially damaging and impairing thermoregulatory mechanisms (i.e., eccrine sweat glands and cutaneous vasculature). The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that reflex increases in sweat rate (SR) and cutaneous vasodilation are blunted in tattooed skin (TAT) compared to adjacent healthy skin (CON) during a passive whole‐body heat stress (WBH). Four individuals (2M, 2F) with a substantial area of tattooed skin participated in the study. Skin blood flow (laser‐Doppler flowmetry; LDF) and SR (capacitance hygrometry) were continuously measured during normothermic baseline (34 °C water perfusing a tube‐lined suit) and WBH (increased core temperature 1.0 °C via 48 °C water perfusing the suit). LDF and SR were assessed in areas not exposed to direct heating. Cutaneous vascular conductance (%CVC max ) was calculated from the ratio of LDF to mean arterial pressure and normalized to maximal responses obtained by local heating at 42 °C following WBH. Results indicated that the laser‐Doppler measurement technique is clearly affected by tattooing not allowing for an accurate measurement of skin blood flow in TAT. The accumulated sweating responses throughout the duration of WBH (area under the curve) were attenuated in TAT relative to CON (TAT: 19.06 ± 13.20 vs CON: 24.34 ± 15.61 mg/cm 2 , p=0.04). The attenuated thermoregulatory reflex increases in SR in TAT could be due to the accumulation of ink within the dermal layer, damage to the sweat gland from repeated needle insertions, or some combination therein. Further research is warranted to assess whether attenuated sweating responses in tattooed skin translate to increased risk of heat‐related injury especially when tattooing covers a higher percentage of body surface area.