JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Tattoos are becoming increasingly common in the United States. However, little information is available to help clinicians anticipate where, when and what patients will seek guidance on regarding tattoo care, complications, and removal.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to model web searches concerning general interest in tattoo application and removal, geolocation of tattooing services, and investigations of adverse reactions to tattoos.

Methods:

Relative search volumes (RSVs) were elicited from Google Trends, filtered to web searches in the United States made between February 20, 2008 and June 20, 2022. Longitudinal data was analyzed in GraphPad Prism and geospatial data was visualized with Datawrapper for general interest searches (“tattoo” and “tattoo removal”), geolocating searches (“tattoo shops near me”), and symptomatic searches relating to adverse effects (“itchy tattoo,” “raised tattoo,” “swollen tattoo,” “tattoo bumps,” and “tattoo fading”).

Results:

The topics of “tattoo” and “tattoo removal,” have experienced stable RSVs over the past 14 years, with the former peaking most often in July (11/14, 78.6%) and the latter peaking most often in June (5/14, 35.7%) and July (4/14, 28.6%). RSVs by state for the two search topics were loosely associated with lower latitudes (“tattoo” R2=0.2051, “tattoo removal” R2=0.2060). Searches for “tattoo shops near me” localized to the Southeast and Midwest over the time range with the highest RSVs being logged for Tennessee (100), followed by Alabama (91), Georgia (89), North Carolina (85), and then South Carolina (83). Regarding searches for symptoms related to adverse reactions to tattooing, “itchy tattoo” experienced the largest percent increase (1010%), followed by “raised tattoo” (736%), “tattoo bumps” (422%), “swollen tattoo” (301%), and then “tattoo fading” (64.4%).

Conclusions:

Clinicians should be aware of an increase in search interest regarding tattoos and their removal during the Spring and Summer. Geolocating searches for tattooing services are localizing to the Southeast and Midwest. Searches regarding pruritis and edema localized to tattoos are increasing relative to those for more generalized edema and tattoo fading. Clinical Trial: Not applicable.