Psoriasis and tattoos

Posted Thu 9 Oct 2025 18.47 by Rachel T

I have a lot of tattoos with many more lined up and have previously had no issues (have been going to the same artist for a while and always follow the same protocols) however I had a new piece a couple of months ago and part of it just wouldn't heal at all and I had a koebner reaction which healed well after a couple of days of using clobetasol. Has anyone else experienced this? I have been to see my nurse specialist today for my routine check up and told them about it as I have a tattoo session booked in a couple of weeks, I was told to go ahead with the session but also to be aware that if it continues to happen I may have to give up getting new tattoos. Thank you in advance

Posted Sun 12 Oct 2025 07.03 by OhNo_NotAgain?

@Rachel, One of the triggers for psoriasis outbreaks or flare ups is trauma, whether to the body eg in my case a hip replacement), or to the skin, for example sun-burn, grazes or tattoos. I would not be at all surprised that a tattoo seemed to trigger psoriasis. I would also not be surprised if someone had new tattoos without any flare up. I started with psoriasis in 1980 while at university, and inside a month it covered my entire body. Over the years it subsided, and by 1998 was limited to my elbows. Then I grazed my leg on a broken floorboard, a scrape that was about 2.5cm by 2.5cm. It scabbed over and thern devloped into a patch of psoriais. Meantime I have had tattoos in 1990, 1994, 2002, and never any sign of psoriasis associated with those.

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