Mum's Warning After Son Suffers Chemical Burn From Henna Tattoo
A mum is issuing a warning to parents to not let their children have black henna tattoos during their summer holidays after her son suffered chemical burns that became infected and left a wound on his arm.
Lynne Humphreys, 42, went on holiday in Turkey with a group of friends last month when her 10-year-old son Caden Humphreys got a dragon henna tattoo on his arm.
The temporary henna tattoo started to irritate Caden's skin and became lumpy and warm to the touch 12 days later, when the family had already returned home.
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The mum-of-two removed the henna tattoo with makeup remover, hoping the problem had been rectified.
Unfortunately, Caden's problems had only just begun. The student had an allergic reaction to the black henna, which became infected and caused his skin to split and ooze yellow fluid. Blisters spread on his torso and up to his chin.
Lynne, from Anglesey, north Wales, said: "They do them in Turkey, Egypt - everywhere. When I Googled them after we came home because of Caden's reaction, it wasn't until then that I realised how bad they [reactions] are.
"If I'd have known then what I know now, there's not a chance that I would have let him have it done.
"I just wanted to make sure that no other child gets it really.
"Even though two of the party had no side effects whatsoever, next time we go back they would never be allowed to have one, just in case.
"They say to do a skin test but even if we'd have done it, it wouldn't have shown up until we'd gone home anyway because it took days for it to come out.
"For me personally, it's a risk I wouldn't want to take."
Lynne explained that Caden got the tattoo on the last day of their trip on 17 May. Everything was fine initially and the youngster was proud of his temporary tattoo.
Lynne said: "It started itching and irritating him [12 days later] and you could feel bumps under it, so we removed it with make-up remover.
"We thought that was OK and that we'd gotten away with just a light mark but then it just started getting worse after that.
"His reacted really badly. It became inflamed, raised, quite hot and angry, and then went bad from there and got infected."
Lynne recalled that on 8 June she had to collect Caden from school after his scar began 'weeping yellow fluid' through his clothes.
She feared that her son would contact sepsis and she first went to the chemist before the situation worsened. After three trips to the doctor, a course of antibiotics and two days off school, he has made a full recovery but has been left with a scar.
With only a few weeks left before the school holidays begin next month, Lynne - who works as a data processor - now hopes to raise awareness about the severe reactions that temporary body art can cause.
Greg Harris