Soumik Dey is a tattoo enthusiast. He has four tattoos — on his arms, chest and back. The Calcutta student has even persuaded his mother and girlfriend to go in for some skin art.

Thousands of people get “inked” everyday. Yet, not many of them know what a tattoo is all about. A tattoo is cool — but if you are not careful, it may turn into a prickly affair.

Tattoo as an art form is gaining popularity in India, especially with stars such as Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt going for it. There’s no harm in getting a tattoo done for fun or the love of it. But if you are not cautious it can lead to serious problems.

Management trainee Shantanu Roy, for instance, went for a tattoo that cost him only Rs 600. But it led to an infection and he had to spend a considerable amount of money to get it treated. He also had to take an injection to guard himself against hepatitis. “I thought it would take 10 minutes to get my favourite god Ganesh etched on my upper arm. But it turned out be a curse,” he recalls.

You have to be careful of the fly-by-night tattoo stalls that are coming up everywhere. A lot of youngsters opt for these because getting tattoos there is cheaper than in established tattoo parlours, where you can be charged anything from Rs 2,000 to Rs 50,000, depending on the place, the size and the intricacy of the art work. As there is no official certification or a formal degree required in India for a tattooist, it is important that a client be careful.

“Hepatitis B and C and HIV are extremely infectious and people going for a tattoo should guard themselves against these diseases,” says Dr Sachin Varma, consultant dermatologist and cosmetologist, Apollo Gleneagles, Calcutta.

Make sure that the tattooist you go to follows all the safety methods.

Lokesh Verma, owner of the Delhi-based tattoo parlour Devilz Tattoos, says not only can a tattoo look bad if not executed properly, it can lead to other problems if precautions are not taken.

Raja Pyne, a well-known tattoo artist of Calcutta, suggests that you do your homework before you go for a tattoo. “If you want to get a permanent tattoo done, it is important that you do ample research on the artist,” says Pyne. He suggests that first-timers should go through the previous works of the artist, and also check the work area and ask about the safety measures that the artist follows.

In the first place, you must make sure that the needles used for the tattoo are either sterilised, or, better still, new. Even the gloves worn by the artist and the colours applied should be unused. “The needle, gloves and colours should be in sealed packs and should be unpacked in front of you,” says Pyne. “Also, you must insist that the stuff used be destroyed before your eyes to ensure that they are not re-used.”

Not all tattoo parlours use autoclave devices which steam and sterilise needles. “Some tattoo artists find it difficult to operate the machine and consequently avoid using it,” says Mahesh Shah, CEO of Inktribe, manufacturer of tattoo machines.

If properly sterilised, needles are safe. But used needles make the tips dull and can lead to complications. Dull-tipped needles can cause serious damage to your skin.

So the best option is to ask for a new, sterile needle to be unpacked in front of you. Contrary to what an artist may say, the needle doesn’t cost a bomb. “If an artist tells you that a needle or any other tattooing device costs a lot, he is misleading you. A needle doesn’t cost more than Rs 30. So you better ask the person to change the needle in front of you,” says Shah.

Unsafe tattooing can lead to granuloma, an inflammation caused due to tissue injury as a result of improper use of machines. “You face these problems only when the tattoo has not been done in a hygienic condition,” adds Lokesh Verma.

Another area of concern is the colour. “A lot of colours used by artists are not standardised. Allergic reaction to colours is a common phenomenon,” says Sachin Varma.

According to Shah, sometimes even acrylic colours can have an adverse effect on the skin. Also, Varma warns that colours such as red and green cannot be removed even with a laser and the skin might require grafting to mask the area.

It is not possible to remove a tattoo without leaving a trace. So be sure of what you want — or whether you want it at all — before you go for it. Even a high quality Q-switch laser procedure, which is used to remove tattoos, leaves a scar.

These are also costly procedures, so you can’t afford to make the kind of mistakes committed by actresses Pamela Anderson and Angelina Jolie.

While Jolie had to remove her “Billy Bob” tattoo after her marriage to Billy Bob Thornton fell apart, Anderson had to change “Tommy” —tattooed around her left ring finger — to “Mommy” following her divorce with Tommy Lee. Anderson also got herself infected with Hepatitis C after she was tattooed with the same needle used by her ex-husband.

“I think the decision to get a tattoo is the most important step. You should know why you want a tattoo. Otherwise, you may have to regret it for life,” says Dey. “If you think you want to express your personality with a tattoo, go for it, but don’t be impulsive,” says Sachin Varma.

Once you have a tattoo, it’s your responsibility to take good care of it. “The first two weeks are important. It’s a wound and it should be treated that way,” says Amar Nath, a tattoo artist with Irezumi tattoo studio in Chennai.

Now that you know the dos and don’ts, go and get yourself inked to your heart’s content. Or if you have changed your mind, don’t worry —styles, after all, come and go.