A teenager who had a bad reaction to a henna tattoo while on holiday hid the wound from his mum because he’d heard ‘tattoos are supposed to hurt’.
Chloe Skee took her son Tyler, 13, and daughter Brooke, 10, on a £2,400 trip to Cyprus in October, and she let her children get henna tattoos on the last day of the holiday.
But it wasn’t until six days after the family returned home that son Tyler revealed he had been in pain the entire time as he had likely suffered an allergic reaction to the product.
The 20cm-long tattoo of a dragon on his hand and forearm had blistered and scabbed and Tyler was left with a rash over his ‘whole body’.
Chloe, 34, says her son, who is autistic, put up with the pain in the belief that tattoos are supposed to hurt, and his pain threshold is ‘really high’.
She added doctors believe the reaction was caused by paraphenylenediamine (PPD), a chemical commonly found in black henna, which is banned for use in skin products by the European Union.
Chloe, from Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, said: ‘If I knew then what I know now he would never have been able to get a henna tattoo.
‘Obviously I’ve done my research now, and I know that the chemical PPD is illegal to be used in the EU for the likes of henna tattoos.
‘Everybody who I see, especially friends who have just had young babies, I say if you ever go on holiday, don’t let them get a henna tattoo.
‘I would never do it again and warn other parents not to.
‘He had it on for a whole week before he actually said anything to us.
‘Tyler is autistic. He has a really high pain threshold and takes things very literally.
‘All the while, it had been burning Tyler’s arm but because he’s very literal and it’s a tattoo and I’ve got proper permanent tattoos, he knows that they do hurt.
‘In his mind, he must have thought that was normal so he never said anything to us.
‘It wasn’t until October 29 at my Gran’s for dinner and he said “Mam is this supposed to still be burning?”
‘It’s a nightmare Tyler’s been through, bless him. He’s had to be off school and everything.
‘He’s had loads of time off for numerous GP appointments. I’ve had to go into school and put creams on and take medications in when he has been there.’
After several GP appointments and courses of antibiotics, Chloe says Tyler’s wounds were weeping and sticking to his clothes.
Chloe says he then came out in a full-body rash, which doctors say was due to an autoimmune response to the infection, where his body started to attack itself.
Tyler was recently seen by a burns unit where he was given more steroid creams and antiviral medicine.
Chloe said: ‘It’s still not fully healed. [A plastic surgeon] said it’s gone past the point of it being a chemical burn. It’s now contact dermatitis because of the reaction his body has had.
‘Tyler’s been an absolute little trooper, he’s never once complained of being in pain. The only thing he’s complained of is being itchy, and that was more his body.
‘He’s got a few other [medical] tests going on, and with the whole thing with his arm on top of that, a few weeks ago he just broke down in tears, which isn’t Tyler because he doesn’t really show his emotions.
‘It was absolutely heartbreaking. I could have stood there and cried with him but I didn’t want to do that because I wanted to be strong for him.
‘It’s been horrible for his little sister as well because she’s got ADHD so she worries a lot.
‘At one point when it was really bad she had got it into her head that he was going to have his arm chopped off. She’s been an absolute mess as well.
‘It is actually looking a lot better now and the dermatologist thinks it won’t scar.
‘I’m still not convinced because his skin is healing and there are certain places where it still looks white.’
Chloe says she has reached out to the tattoo shop to alert them of the situation but is yet to receive a response.
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Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
