Very important to read

[lorenzo]

https://www.nhs.uk/news/lifestyle-and-exercise/tattoo-ink-particles-can-spread-lymph-nodes/

 

Let me tell you a little about my story because I think it is important to share. I am not a doctor nor am I accusing anyone or anything for situation I am in. We discussed this in the past so now with this article I think its important I share it again.

As many of you know I have been fighting cancer for the last 5 years and had two bone marrow transplants and presently doing a trials as my cancer has returned for the third time.

I will make this quick and to the point.

2012 did SMP roughly 6 months later got Lymphoma

2015 did another session of SMP after being cancer free roughly 4-6 months later cancer came back.

At that time I did not put the possibility this could be connected but with time I started thinking this could be a possibility. I am not saying this caused my cancer but I can not say it did not. Talking with doctor many say this could be the case but it is impossible to prove because there are many reason people get cancer. In my situation there is not an obvious reason. .If I knew this could happen I would have still done SMP at the beginning but not once I already had cancer. Even if this is the case maybe the percentage is very low. Again I am not saying SMP caused cancer because I do not know but just wanted to share my story so people have as much information as possible.

[LT]

Lorenzo, I hope your doing ok with your fight against cancer. This is what concerns me about SMP. As you said it is hard to prove that SMP gave you cancer but what a coincidence it happened to you months after you got SMP done both times. Did you get permanent or temporary SMP?

 

I've already had permanent SMP put into 2 old strip scars but I'm very hesitant about getting my scalp done.

[MarkWestonHair]

Firstly, I am very sorry you are going through this. I would like to shed some light on this, however. In reading the study you posted, the researchers focused on inorganic toxic pigments for this study. Depending on the provider whom applied your SMP-MS (scalp micropigmenation multi-session), it is possible that they used conventional tattoo inks which in fact can contain toxins such as aluminium, chromium, iron, nickel and copper as mentioned in the article.

 

When you opted for your first application in 2012, this was a very dangerous year for scalp micropigmentation. How many "sessions" did you have? Hundreds of new companies were emerging rapidly due to the high profit margin in this field. Most had no previous experience in any form of tattooing and opted for cheap supplies and pigments off such places as EBay. I would suspect this is what could have happened to you. Someone with no knowledge of the proper pigments and their ingredients wanting to make a quick profit and you are the one suffering the consequences.

 

On another note, I have been a tattoo artist for over 40 years, learning the craft in Thailand and Hong Kong. In all these years, I have never had a customer with any type of reaction to any pigments and certainly no one that I am aware have developed Lymphoma. And yes, I tattooed with the old style tattoo inks that did contain heavy metals. Perhaps with your immune system, you could have had this reaction to pigments with metal toxins.

 

But then I developed my own organic line in 1989 when I started offering permanent cosmetics. These are the same base pigments that I have been using in my scalp micropigmentation system since 2009. 18 percent of our bodies are carbon, and my pigments are all carbon-based. None of my scalp pigments contain heavy metals. And again, no reactions.

 

When you opted again in 2015 for more SMP-MS, how many sessions did you have at that time? Was it the same company/person? If you can PM me with the name of the provider, I may be able to give you some more answers. But I certainly would not want you to post the name(s) of the providers here.

 

Again,I am sorry you are going through this. Scalp micropigmentation is completely safe provided one does their due diligence when seeking a properly trained and experienced tech. However, I am now seeing many problems associated with the multi-session applications developing scarring after application after application every several years. Many of these scalps are no longer able to accept pigment because of the scarring that has developed. I have a blog article specific to this concern on my website. Regardless of where it is on the body, a tattoo cannot be applied over and over in the same place after many years. This is why I developed my one-session, permanent application.

Edited November 30, 2017 by MarkWestonHair

[lorenzo]

Lorenzo, I hope your doing ok with your fight against cancer. This is what concerns me about SMP. As you said it is hard to prove that SMP gave you cancer but what a coincidence it happened to you months after you got SMP done both times. Did you get permanent or temporary SMP?

 

I've already had permanent SMP put into 2 old strip scars but I'm very hesitant about getting my scalp done.

Thanks. I did temporary but after 5 years it is still there. Again I am not sure what caused my cancer but only saying this could be a possibility.

 

When you opted for your first application in 2012, this was a very dangerous year for scalp micropigmentation. How many "sessions" did you have? Hundreds of new companies were emerging rapidly due to the high profit margin in this field. Most had no previous experience in any form of tattooing and opted for cheap supplies and pigments off such places as EBay. I would suspect this is what could have happened to you. Someone with no knowledge of the proper pigments and their ingredients wanting to make a quick profit and you are the one suffering the consequences

 

There used a temporary ink that was used by Milena in Italy for many years. Many places use her ink.

[MarkWestonHair]

Lorenzo, yes, Beauty Medical has been around although I know very little about them. I am not aware of any problems associated with those pigments. Who did your permanent application into your strip scars? There is no proven permanent application other than my patented System. SMP-MS companies claim "permanent," but in fact only last 5-7 years. To me, that is not permanent; permanent is lifetime.

 

I have also applied my System to many cancer/chemotherapy patients without any repercussions or reports of their cancer returning. I honestly believe it may be a coincidence coupled with your particular immune system. Again, I am sorry.

[lorenzo]

Mark I am only sharing my story. I am not blaming anyone. From what I have heard Beauty Medical is great company with no issues. I have met both Giorgio and Milena on a few occasions and they are great. Mine is temporary but after 4-5 years it is still there. That is the issue with temporary SMP you can not predict how long it last. My friends SMP only lasted 1 month.

If I read that SMP had a small chance of cancer before I did it, I would have still done it. This in no way is an attack on any company or on SMP but I think it is important to share my story.

[Triotrex]

How they detected your cancer? I mean did you randomly go for scans ? Any symptoms ?

[lorenzo]

Triotrex

My right side of lymph nodes became enlarged to the point I could no longer eat or talk.

After two failed bone marrow transplants I am doing a trial and have Pet Scan and Cscan every six weeks.

[home1212]

Lorenzo, thanks for sharing your story and so sorry to hear about your cancer battle. Wishing you the very best for a successful outcome with your treatment and upcoming trials.

[hsrp10]

Hey Lorenzo, I wish you a speedy recovery and hope everything works out for the best.

 

Again thanks for getting your story out there, whether or not there is definitive evidence of a direct link or not I think it's important to put this information out for caution's sake.

[lorenzo]

Thanks home1212 and hsrp10

Let me tell you a funny story almost two years ago. After all the crap I had been through in the previous 3 months against all odds I was approved to have my second bone marrow transplant. Part of the protocol was to have 12 session of full body radiation to completely destroy my bone marrow. Before this started I had a meeting with the radiologist (Lady doctor doing the radiation). All my hair had fallen out (from 3 months of chemo) and all that was left was smp dots from 2.5 years earlier (I had SMP prior to getting cancer but after I was diagnosed I have full SMP as I was bald from chemo)

The doctor looked at me and said I hate to tell you this but you have really thick head of hair and it will not be the same after radiation. I did not say anything but all she was seeing was my SMP dots. She was right my hair never came back as before and it is very thin now

[MarkWestonHair]

Mark I am only sharing my story. I am not blaming anyone. From what I have heard Beauty Medical is great company with no issues. I have met both Giorgio and Milena on a few occasions and they are great. Mine is temporary but after 4-5 years it is still there. That is the issue with temporary SMP you can not predict how long it last. My friends SMP only lasted 1 month.

If I read that SMP had a small chance of cancer before I did it, I would have still done it. This in no way is an attack on any company or on SMP but I think it is important to share my story.

 

I recently had an oncologist as a client that came to me for my scalp micropigmentation application. This oncologist is a doctor with the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, they are second only to Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. I showed him a copy of the article from the link posted regarding tattoo ink spreading into lymph nodes.

 

I will quote what the onocologist advised me "That the source of this particular article is not recognized as a reputable source in the oncology community and is no different than a mere editorial or heresay of someone's opinion and is not supported by true facts."

 

So who in fact are the "researchers" referred to in this article? There has been nothing published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA or any other recognized medical journal regarding this particular subject.

[Rashid36]

I agree there is no clear evidence but is there any possibility of a link?

 

I respect doing smp is someone's livelihood as well as making a huge difference to many but the safety side needs to be discussed,

 

So from the way I see it,

 

the moment the ink is put on etc in the body it is recognised by the body as foreign and it starts to work against it/ to get rid of it

(even if it takes x no of years).

Then it goes thru your body, cells, bloodstream, clearing process by the body, does this have any type of effect as it is defiantly not natural.

 

Many people seem to be getting cancer now all these environmental things we have brought upon ourselves.

 

Please correct me as I have low donor supply and a large hair loss area.

My family history is nw7 so been around nw6 does not give me any confidence to risk ht/s.

 

Smp would be a great option for me if only it is safe...

 

Thanks

[MarkWestonHair]

I agree there is no clear evidence but is there any possibility of a link?

 

I respect doing smp is someone's livelihood as well as making a huge difference to many but the safety side needs to be discussed,

 

So from the way I see it,

 

the moment the ink is put on etc in the body it is recognised by the body as foreign and it starts to work against it/ to get rid of it

(even if it takes x no of years).

Then it goes thru your body, cells, bloodstream, clearing process by the body, does this have any type of effect as it is defiantly not natural.

 

Many people seem to be getting cancer now all these environmental things we have brought upon ourselves.

 

Please correct me as I have low donor supply and a large hair loss area.

My family history is nw7 so been around nw6 does not give me any confidence to risk ht/s.

 

Smp would be a great option for me if only it is safe...

 

Thanks

 

Only if the pigment is inorganic and not carbon-based may it be rejected. Our bodies are made up of 18% pure carbon, so there is no rejection of any carbon-based pigments. As many SMP-MS companies utilize inks that contain heavy metals, yes, these in fact can be rejected by the body. My pigments are carbon-based with no possibility of rejection, that's why I researched and engineered them for my System. I cannot, however, speak for other companies. Any provider you may consider, make sure they advise you of the ingredients. I say over and over, RESEARCH the company you may be considering and don't fall for a sales pitch. Look for good, solid information that is provable. And hopefully, they will tell you the truth. You are more than welcome to contact me at info@markwestonhair.com and send photos.

 

We are no longer in simpler times and many environmental conditions now cause cancer and other diseases.

[lorenzo]

MarkWestonHair

I recently had an oncologist as a client that came to me for my scalp micropigmentation application. This oncologist is a doctor with the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, they are second only to Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. I showed him a copy of the article from the link posted regarding tattoo ink spreading into lymph nodes.

 

I will quote what the onocologist advised me "That the source of this particular article is not recognized as a reputable source in the oncology community and is no different than a mere editorial or heresay of someone's opinion and is not supported by true facts."

 

So who in fact are the "researchers" referred to in this article? There has been nothing published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA or any other recognized medical journal regarding this particular subject.

Mark I do not have an financial gain or loss sharing my story. Just to let you know I have a cousin and her husband (head of department) that are lymphoma specialists at the Mayo Clinic, so believe me I have asked alot of questions. I am not going to get into the details.

I got cancer soon after my smp, went into remission got smp again and the cancer returned. Now this could be coincidence but for me it is IMPORTANT to share my story. People can do whatever they want, to me it does not make a difference. As I stated before I have nothing to gain or lose.

Let me ask you a question. Do you guarantee on a contract your clients signs that SMP does not cause cancer? Probably not because nobody knows for sure and if someone get cancer after your SMP it could have nothing to do with it. I understand this is your living and you want to protect your investment. My intentions are not to hurt anyone or tell anyone not to do SMP. I said it before it was reading the same story by someone else and had never had cancer, I would get SMP done because I would say even if the odds are low, it could never happen to me. :confused:

[lorenzo]

I agree there is no clear evidence but is there any possibility of a link?

 

I respect doing smp is someone's livelihood as well as making a huge difference to many but the safety side needs to be discussed,

 

So from the way I see it,

 

the moment the ink is put on etc in the body it is recognised by the body as foreign and it starts to work against it/ to get rid of it

(even if it takes x no of years).

Then it goes thru your body, cells, bloodstream, clearing process by the body, does this have any type of effect as it is defiantly not natural.

 

Many people seem to be getting cancer now all these environmental things we have brought upon ourselves.

 

Please correct me as I have low donor supply and a large hair loss area.

My family history is nw7 so been around nw6 does not give me any confidence to risk ht/s.

 

Smp would be a great option for me if only it is safe...

 

Thanks

 

Thanks I agree. http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/tattoo-health-1.4288837 interesting article.

 

Tattoo ink has been known to leak into lymph node as the picture shows. There could be many reasons for this but this is a possibility. It is not known if this causes cancer or not. There is no need to me to discuss this more since I have already shared my views and story.

[MarkWestonHair]

MarkWestonHair

 

Mark I do not have an financial gain or loss sharing my story. Just to let you know I have a cousin and her husband (head of department) that are lymphoma specialists at the Mayo Clinic, so believe me I have asked alot of questions. I am not going to get into the details.

I got cancer soon after my smp, went into remission got smp again and the cancer returned. Now this could be coincidence but for me it is IMPORTANT to share my story. People can do whatever they want, to me it does not make a difference. As I stated before I have nothing to gain or lose.

Let me ask you a question. Do you guarantee on a contract your clients signs that SMP does not cause cancer? Probably not because nobody knows for sure and if someone get cancer after your SMP it could have nothing to do with it. I understand this is your living and you want to protect your investment. My intentions are not to hurt anyone or tell anyone not to do SMP. I said it before it was reading the same story by someone else and had never had cancer, I would get SMP done because I would say even if the odds are low, it could never happen to me. :confused:

 

I was just trying to submit additional information. I am not a doctor and cannot guarantee about the conventional SMP not causing cancer as I do not offer "SMP-MS." We all appreciate you sharing your story, as unfortunate as it is. The most important thing above all, is your health and hopefully remission.

[Rashid36]

One of the problems is it's a new treatment and until we get enough number of people who had it done over x number of years,

I guess we will not know for sure.

 

Mark - I'm based in the U.K and cannot travel at the moment, thanks,

You say your inks are different many people say similar things I'm not disputing with you but how are we supposed to know what is safe and what will not cause us further harm...

 

Lorenzo - just to clear would you have smp again or recommend it, from your opinion?

[lorenzo]

Lorenzo - just to clear would you have smp again or recommend it, from your opinion?

After all that I have been through I will never do SMP again. As for recommending it I would tell the truth. I would share my story and then give them my opinion about SMP. This what I believe

1) I am very happy with how my SMP looks or looked. I still have SMP and in some places, it has been there for more than 5 years, I did not think this is normal

2) If done by the right person or company SMP looks very natural and great. I have seem some photos from Marks work and it does look top notch.

3) At no fault of the tattoo artist but sometime even with the best, SMP can fade very quickly (less than a month). This has alot more to do with the person than the SMP company. Again I am talking about top SMP companies.

I have enclosed some picture after I lost my hair during my second fight with cancer. All there is on my head is SMP, the side were done more than three years before the top was done a few time , last time I believe 10 month earlier.

I will tell you a funny story. I was seeing my radiologist shortly after these photos to discuss my full body radiation. She told me your hair looks very thick but I have to tell you that it may not come back that thick. She did not know I had lost all my hair with chemo and all she was seeing was SMP.

[matt3480]

I had considered SMP years back until I saw Lorenzo's post from a few years ago about his situation.

 

It might be a coincidence....but this is cancer, I am not taking any chances with that over some SMP. Would never consider it now. I still feel the whole SMP thing is rather "new" in the grand scheme of hair treatments.....too many unknowns.

 

Doesn't matter where one gets their ink from.....EVERYTHING is being knocked off these days, a lot of it unknown to even the people selling it.

[MarkWestonHair]

One of the problems is it's a new treatment and until we get enough number of people who had it done over x number of years,

I guess we will not know for sure.

 

Mark - I'm based in the U.K and cannot travel at the moment, thanks,

You say your inks are different many people say similar things I'm not disputing with you but how are we supposed to know what is safe and what will not cause us further harm...

 

Lorenzo - just to clear would you have smp again or recommend it, from your opinion?

 

Rashid36: I have been tattooing for over 40 years. I learned in Hong Kong and Thailand while in the Navy. There were no commercially-available pigments then, they all had to be made out of organic ingredients. I have tattooed everywhere on the body (with some restrictions, however) and have never seen cancer (at least with my work). I developed my own organic pigments in 1989 specifically for ladies' permanent cosmetics including using them on the scalp at that time for their thinning. So I have personally seen the results of my pigments for almost 30 years now. So that is plenty of time.

 

Yes, many providers do indicate that their pigments are different, but peruse their websites and look at their experience and backgrounds. Not one of them has a resume or bio posted with any related experience and 99% have never even picked up a tattoo machine before doing SMP-MS (scalp micropigmention multi-sessions). Their "different" pigments are commercially-purchased pigments relabeled with their own name.

 

Lorenzo: But in the end, anything is possible with the lifestyles that we all live now. The important thing is that hopefully you can go into remission.

[pkipling]

Thanks for sharing this and for giving such an unbiased take on everything that has happened to you.

 

I would like to add that reading about everything you've gone through with the cancer really serves as an eye opener to me to help keep the other seemingly troubling things in my life in perspective... So thank you for that.

 

I truly hope the cancer stays away for good... And for what it's worth, your SMP/scalp looks amazing.

[Rashid36]

Thanks MarkWestonHair for been very transparent regarding your ink etc and I respect you been doing the treatments for such a time.

 

Lorenzo I wonder if you had the ink tested for a cancer link?

& if you know anyone else who had the same treatment and got cancer?

Was the ink you had put on carbon based?

 

I'm still in doubt and would not risk even if there is a small chance of a link with cancer.

 

Any other info would be helpful as my current situation is low donor supply and large balding area.

 

Thanks

[lorenzo]

Lorenzo I wonder if you had the ink tested for a cancer link?

& if you know anyone else who had the same treatment and got cancer?

Was the ink you had put on carbon based?

No I did not get the ink tested, not sure how I would do that and if so I am sure it would be expensive. I am not familiar with anyone else that got cancer after SMP. Not sure what was in the ink, it is the same ink used by alot of SMP clinic and is supplied from Italy.

Again I want to state I probably will never know what caused my cancer but I think its important to share my story.

[Rashid36]

You can send a report to the fda,

 

I read it is important to know what's the ingredients in the ink not just the pigment.

 

I'm still unsure just the thought of having so much of the product go through the body puts me off