A small study in the June issue of the journal Contact Dermatitis revealed that almost one in 10 people who get tattoos done experiences problems such as infection, itching, swelling and redness.

Getting inked can have long-term consequences beyond just having a tattoo made on your body for decades.

Researchers who conducted the study revealed that many people in the study had complications that continued for several years after the tattoo was inked.

Study co-author Dr. Marie Leger, a dermatologist at the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City said in a statement that she is not against getting inked as they appear beautiful when perfectly made. But people should know that there are certain risks that are associated with it.

Leger said she noticed that a surprising number of patients were frequently visiting her clinic because of issues related to their tattoos.

Later she began to wonder how common these issues were. After consulting with friends and colleagues, she realized they also had some or the other story about tattoo-related complications.

Furthermore, in order to understand how common these complications were, Leger and her team randomly selected almost 300 people with tattoos in New York's Central park and asked them whether they had any problem with their tattoos.

They found that almost 10% of the people said they had some complications. For some people, these complications lasted for a short duration such as bacterial infection right after the tattoo was inked, or temporary swelling and itching.

But six in 10 suffered from chronic problems. Many even suffered from itching or swelling that lasted for even years. Few of them even consulted doctor for their problem. Leger told Live Science that tattoo inks are not very closely regulated in the United States.

Some studies conducted in Europe showed that black ink often contains carbon-based pigments, whereas red dyes may contain 'azo-based hues', which contain nitrogen compounds.